“If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near,
“It is not a matter of if, but when.” This phrase is used when people say if when they mean when. Actually, the Hebrew word translated if here is also translated because, which makes more sense when reading the next phrase that, as Paul says, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. This guards against anyone using this as support for achieving sinlessness in this life. Even 1 John 2:1 provides Jesus as the Advocate “if” and when we sin. So when God is angry with Israel and judges them via Assyria and Babylon, no one can say they did not sin. They have no excuse, no recourse, no hope. They need a Savior.
And so do we. Praise God! He sent the Advocate to die for our sins and take them away, pleading our guiltlessness with his shed blood on the cross. Jesus Christ is the only reason that God is not angry with us due to our sin. We have an Advocate so we have no reason to worry that the accuser has a mountain of evidence against us. We have a taller mountain of mercy for us. We need it because it is not a matter of if, but when we sin. How glorious that we are declared not guilty before the Judge!
Dear Lord, thank you for defending us against the accusations of the devil by cleansing us. May we be lifted up, even when we fall short of your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church