Psalm 51:13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

Then and only then can I teach. When is that? Consider that there are twelve verses prior to this one pleading with God to change us before we can effectively act. The issue here is about effectiveness not desire.

When I was first baptized I tried to witness to my brother. His response was less than gracious. He mocked me and did many things to prove that I was no better than he was. It was true. Being a babe in Christ does not give us the ability or the history to reflect change.

We can get very excited about our initial conversion and rightly so. That doesn’t mean we have the means to understand or teach the finer points of salvation. It takes time. Verse ten asks for God to create in us a clean heart. That takes time as Jeremiah warns us that the heart is deceitful and who can know it. Asking for change is only the beginning of change. It takes time for change to go into effect.

My brother could rightly call me a hypocrite when I was first baptized. Change had not been completed and my witness was weak. Discouragement set in because I didn’t have the maturity to understand the difference between imputed righteousness and imparted righteousness.

Imputed is declared, it is God view of His new creature. The world does not see as God sees. Those around me still see that sinner I was in that day.

Imparted is the outward expression of our change over time. All the promises of God are true but they do not all show up at the same time. Some of our salvation is instant, some of it is new every day and some of it awaits us.

Ecclesiastes 3 says there is a right and proper time for everything. Be patient.

Mark 2:16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?

I so much want to answer the scribes and the Pharisees here.

Here is a man of God who has no home, no house he can call his own. These who have nothing give everything they have to sit with him and share. You who have everything have offered him nothing.

The sitting is fellowship, to come to know each other, to open up and reveal yourself. Jesus had nothing to offer except himself. Those who had nothing were eager to receive Jesus.

Those who had much had a heart to keep all they had and gain more. Jesus had nothing to offer them in their eyes. To sit with Jesus would have meant to expose themselves to the righteousness of God and they possessed their own righteousness and were not willing to part with any of it.

Matthew 6:2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

The scribes and Pharisees give only with the intent to build their own reputation and image.

All the sinners and publicans had to offer where their sins, and Jesus took them gladly.

Jesus would have taken the sins of the scribes and Pharisees also, but they chose not to sit with Him.

They were not willing to give up their sins.

Jesus begs, come sit, give me your all.

Will you sit?