"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." —James 2:10

       Who's the biggest sinner? I am! You are! We all are! WE HAVE SINNED! Put down your stones you self-righteous hypocrites! It is human nature to look upon the sins and faults of others, while often overlooking our own sins. This is hypocrisy. One of the worst deceptions is overlooking our own faults. The Word of God proclaims in James 2:10 that committing even ONE SIN makes a person GUILTY in God's eyes of breaking every command in the Bible. James 2:10, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” This is a startling doctrine that is hardly touched upon in churches today.

If you are a Christian the whole world is waiting for you to fall. Sermon uploads that would change lives are fortunate to receive even a hundred hits; but you upload some juicy gossip about a preacher sinning and millions of people want to know it. This evidences the hypocrisy and desperate wickedness of the human heart, just as Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” If you are truly right with God, then you see yourself as the biggest sinner, because you know yourself better than anyone. Do you know what a hypocrite is Biblically? It is a person who thinks that someone else is a bigger sinner than them self.
 

Christian Leaders Who Sin

The faithful man of God, Pastor Bob Gray Sr. of the Longview Baptist Temple Church of Longview, Texas wisely states:

It is not a difficult thing to recognize from the Scriptures that a man who is following Christ has a right to lead God's people. This does not mean he forfeits that right to lead because someone following him does not follow him as he follows Christ.

Is this man following Christ perfect? Absolutely not. God only has imperfect men preaching a perfect Book to imperfect people in hopes of perfecting them to be a little more like Christ.

Sometimes men say a Pastor has forfeited his right to lead because he does not "rule" his own children in his own house. That word "rule" simply means "lead." A man provides the "lead" and hopefully his children will follow in his leadership.

However, you and I know of dozens who do not follow the lead of their dad or mom. Does he forfeit his right to lead a church? Absolutely not! If that be true then there will be no one filling the pulpits this Sunday.

SOURCE: Why I Am Not Panicked About The Slander From The Daughter Of A Great Man

Even the best and most faithful Christians are still sinners saved by grace. The Apostle Paul was arguably one of the best Christians and ministers who ever lived; yet he contended with the flesh regularly as evidenced in Romans 7:15-25.

David, the man after God's own heart, wilfully sinned when he murdered Uriah to cover-up his adulterous affair that impregnated Bathsheba. David got Uriah drunk in an attempt to deceive him. David did evil, but God forgave him when he repented. God didn't try to conceal David's sins to protect his name or whitewash the Scriptures; but rather, the Lord openly published David's sins in the Bible to help, encourage and warn all believers about sin, and what to do when we sin. Once again, may I quote Dr. Bob Gray...

“God only has imperfect men preaching a perfect Book to imperfect people in hopes of perfecting them to be a little more like Christ.”

SOURCE: Why I Am Not Panicked About The Slander From The Daughter Of A Great Man

I've heard wicked people, slanderous critics, maliciously attacking Christians who have sinned, saying that those fallen believers haven't repented, as if they know, and as if that justifies slandering them again and again. Those same critics call for the fallen Christians to repent publicly. The truth is that repentance is between the fallen person(s) and God, not the public. It's not our place nor right to decide whether or not we think someone has repented. God sees the heart, but man looketh upon the outward appearance. 1st Samuel 16:7, “for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”

Conclusion

Would to God that more believers today would realize the extent of their wickedness in the eyes of God. We are a sorry bunch. Our only hope is the precious Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation that He freely offers to us, paid for by His own shed blood...

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1st Peter 1:18,19).

If it weren't for the literal precious blood of Jesus Christ, we'd all be doomed to the Lake of Fire. God is a good God... “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Amen!

One day I had preached a rip-snortin', shingle-pullin', window-rattlin', hell-fire and damnation sermon to a group of about 80 people in Chicago. After the sermon I stepped outside for some fresh air. I glanced over and noticed a gentleman smoking. He felt embarrassed and said, “I'm sorry reverend for smoking in front of you.” I replied, “I preach against sin from the pulpit; but away from the pulpit I'm just as much a sinner as anyone else. You're in good company friend. You need not apologize.” He had wrongly esteemed that he was a bigger sinner than me; but I am the biggest sinner I know. If you want to see the biggest sinner, then just look in the mirror. You and I are as guilty of sin as anyone else.

Never quit on God because man fails you. And don't join the bandwagon of internet critics who condemn fallen believers, never allowing them to be restored without climbing a mountain of manmade expectations and demands. When the man from the church at Corinth commit fornication in 1st Corinthians 5:1-5, Paul said to reprimand the gentleman. The man repented and in 2nd Corinthians Paul said to forgive him lest he be overwhelmed. 2nd Corinthians 2:7, “So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.”

Only God can see into a person's heart. It's not our place to decide when we think a person has or hasn't repented. We have no right to go tell everyone that someone else hasn't repented yet. You don't know that. I'm not saying that a fallen leader should be reinstated to a position of influence in the Church, for the Bible plainly teaches that a leader must be above reproach, lest he fall into the condemnation of the Devil. 1st Timothy 3:7, “Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.” No one has to merit being loved, prayed for and treated humanly; but there are strict qualifications for being a pastor, deacon, evangelist or youth director.

Job 20:4-5, “Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth, That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?”

Church—A Hospital For Sinners
(mature Christians say “We have sinned!”)