Thought, Word, and Deed

Romans 3:9-20

⁹What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,

¹⁰as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;

¹¹no one understands; no one seeks for God.

¹²All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

¹³“Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.”

“The venom of asps is under their lips.”

¹⁴“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

¹⁵“Their feet are swift to shed blood;

¹⁶in their paths are ruin and misery,

¹⁷and the way of peace they have not known.”

¹⁸“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

²⁰For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Having been a part of a liturgically worshiping church for my entire life there are parts of the worship service that fall from my lips as easily as my own name. Every Sunday we speak the words of the Confession together and then together hear the words of forgiveness as well. When I read the passage from Romans that is up for us today the words of that confession immediately swirl through my mind. They are timeless and born out of God’s Word.

“Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve Your present and eternal punishment. For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to the glory of Your holy name. Amen.”

When we speak these words we are in agreement with what Paul writes to the Romans. “We have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed.” All three aspects of our lives are covered in this passage and all three conspire against us so that we have no part of ourselves that is not ravaged by sin.

My thought life: This one comes first because it is the place where all sin is born. James says our sins is born of desire. He’s right. Sin starts in the brain. But we have a few lines of defense in this area as well. First of all, what do we pump into our brains? Is it God’s Word and wholesome, positive things? Or do we fall victim to the filth of the culture. Admittedly that filth is prolific and hard to miss. But our choices can mitigate some of that influence. Then we do as Paul suggests in 2 Corinthians 10:5. “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” The battle for our minds begins with giving every evil thought over to Christ before it has a chance to take root and bloom in our lives. Again – an intentional choice.

My words: The person with control of their tongue is to be admired. My husband is just such a person and I daily stand in awe of his ability to withhold words that need not be spoken as I am the most frequent benefactor of that gift. I daily ask God to guard my mouth because it gets me in trouble.

My actions: Each of us has to examine our own lives to see where we might fall down in the area of actions. For me it probably has to do with my expertly honed ability to waste time. I can spend more time doing nothing than anyone else you know.

As we confess our sins of thought, word, and deed we also seek forgiveness from Jesus.

“For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us . . .”

Here is where we are rescued from ourselves. Even as I contemplate my sinfulness I also embrace the work of Jesus as my Redeemer. He alone saves me from my sins of thought, word, and deed and for that I am and will be eternally grateful.