Jesus said He didn’t come for the righteous, but sinners. God saves sinners. Real sinners. Sinners dead in their trespasses and sins. Sinners watching porn. Sleeping around. Breaking marriage vows. Stealing from the elderly. Denying God’s design by playing the other sex. Getting high and drunk.

But God doesn’t save sinners because they cleaned themselves up. Because they started dressing nice and going to church. Because they learned to sing pretty, get straight As or make a lot of money. That’s like driving the speed limit after blowing a red light, it doesn’t erase the violation. What God requires of us is repentance.

Without repentance toward God, you can’t fix it, and despair sets in. So you hide. You hustle to stack good deeds on top of bad ones, but your ditch keeps getting deeper.

Just stop. The true God is rich in mercy and loving kindness. He raises the dead. He declares the guilty innocent. By His grace alone, through faith alone, the repentant who turn to Him are declared not guilty. By His great mercy, God forgives real sinners who turn to Him.

Most people think the church is full of good people.

It’s not.

Men are saved in an instant. God declares guilty men righteous in Christ. That’s justification.

There’s more to God’s work in us, and that “more” takes a lifetime. God declares a man righteous, but that doesn’t instantly erase sinful habits or desires. Born again, we still struggle with the weakness of our flesh.

The Christian man who repents and puts his trust in Jesus then has a duty to stop sinning. But this duty is helped by God’s Holy Spirit. The Christian man resists his temptation to abuse God’s grace by giving in to his sin. Instead, he learns and yearns to become what God has declared him to be — holy.

The church is full of sinful saints. Yeah, that’s weird. “Sinful saints.” But it’s true.

The Christian man still sins. And sadly, badly. Even the holiest Christian. Inconsistency and contradiction in the church aren’t new. Read 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Titus, and the letters to Timothy.

When we believe the lie that the church is full of goodness and holy living, seeing our sin, we think we are the weird one. When we hurt or grieve over our doubts and fears, we think we must hide and stay away from church. We think we are the only Christian who continues to struggle with sin and temptation.

No, absolutely not.

You are not the only Christian man who fights his sinful temptations. You are not the only man trying to hide his inconsistencies and hypocrisies. You are not the only man struggling against his fear and doubt. You are not the only man with marriage troubles and challenges raising your children. You are not the man filled with bitterness and resentment. You are not the only man clearing your internet browsing history.

Come to church and meet your brothers in Christ.

Hebrews 3:13 says “encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

Sin is deceitful. Christians need each other. Christians need the church.

In the church, Christian men are honest about sin and struggles. God is not deceived. The convenient lie that we all live good and moral lives is just that…a lie. And that lie is another sin!

The church helps us repent, confess, and grow in holiness.

Brothers and sisters, we must keep watch over each other’s souls. We must speak truth to one another. We must pursue holiness together. We must pray for one another, helping our brothers and sisters to cut off the supply lines to our lusts. Helping each other to say “no” with our feet, our eyes, our calendar, and our wallet.

Christian, if you’re hiding, stop. If you’re excusing, repent.

But not to earn your salvation. That is impossible.

Christ did not come to congratulate the righteous men, but to heal the sin sick men. Jesus came to justify the ungodly, then train them to be honest and fight their sin.

Come to Christ. Walk in His light. And when you fall, repent and rise — He will finish what He began. And in His church, your brothers will stand with you.