Sermon
Two Prayers for Righteousness
Cross Church
Speaker: Jeff Crawford
July 20, 2020 · 34 min
Summary
Jesus contrasts a self-righteous Pharisee with a penitent tax collector to reveal that justification comes through humility and admission of sin, not external religious accomplishments. The tax collector's cry for mercy results in atonement—being declared just as if he never sinned—foreshadowing Christ's sacrificial work on the cross.
Highlights
Sin is sin. A lie will separate you from God as quickly as a murder, because sin is sin.
You are broken and you can't fix it, but Jesus got ready to crawl up on a cross and take on the sin of every human being that ever lived, is currently living, or will ever live.
To be justified means this: just as if I never sinned. Just as if I never sinned.