Finding Grace in the Sinner’s Place
When you no longer have to cover up your unrighteousness with self-righteousness.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord” — and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” — Psalm 32:5 (NIV)
In Stanley Voke’s wonderful little book, Personal Revival: Living the Christian Life in Light of the Cross, he writes, “The hardest thing for anyone is to take the sinner’s place.”
Simply put, the sinner’s place is where I take the blame, own my sin without excuse or defense. It is the place where I am real — morally honest and spiritually vulnerable.
Nobody naturally runs to the sinner’s place. We resist it like a five-year-old facing a plate of boiled Brussel Sprouts.
But the Spirit knows what is good for me, and what is good for my marriage and every other relationship. So, he leads me (sometimes kicking and screaming) to the sinner’s place. Not to condemn, but to help me see Jesus stand in the sinner’s place for me.
In the gospel, the cross is the ultimate sinner’s place.
