CHRIST the DELIVERER: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins” (Rom 11:26-27). The Lord Jesus did not agonize at Calvary to save us from the sins we find distasteful and inconvenient. He “gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from EVERY lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14). Thomas Guthrie painted sin in these stark lines: “Sin is a debt, a burden, a thief, a sickness, a plague, a poison, a serpent. Sin is the sexton that digs men’s graves. Sin is the painted temptress that steals his virtue. Oh, let sin be your deepest sorrow, your heaviest grief,…the occasion of many visits to the cross of Calvary.” But far better to stay out than get out of sin. Better to let the Deliverer guide our steps than correct our missteps. Better “good works” than “lawless deeds.” Better to spend time in communion than in confession.