Photo by Jenny Venturo
Sin is an uncomfortable topic in today’s society. It always has been. The religious leaders’ reaction to Jesus’ parable in Mark 12:1-12 was one of murderous anger, “for they perceived that he had told the parable against them” (v. 12). When Jesus exposed their sin of rejecting their Messiah, they plotted to kill Him. Again, in Luke 18:18-23, Jesus exposed the rich young ruler’s idolatrous love of wealth, and “[the ruler] became very sad” (v. 23). Now, as then, nobody likes to feel guilty, and when you as a Christian stir up people’s already guilty consciences, they will not react kindly.
Some professing believers have sought to get around this problem by sidestepping the subject of sin. This leads to the propagation of false gospels like easy believism, wherein Jesus is presented as an “add-on” to life or a ticket to heaven. All that is required is to pray a prayer and Jesus will fulfill His wonderful plan for your life. Hell, God’s wrath, and the problem of sin are cast aside in favor of a more “loving” approach.
But true love cannot help but warn people of impending judgment. Like Jeremiah or the other Old Testament prophets, you may be the only one in your neighborhood, your town, or even your country who is aware that God’s just retribution for offenses against His law is imminent, and will be sudden and violent.
Understanding man’s sinfulness, then, is crucial for an appropriate presentation of the Gospel. Not only is it unloving not to warn people of the coming danger, it also leads to false conversions as people “try Jesus,” realize that following Him means rejection and persecution, and turn away because He was never their Savior in the first place. After all, if people never understand the danger they are in, why would they accept a rescue? Why would they keep holding to something that brings them pain if they don’t see that it is their only means of escape? The Gospel doesn’t make sense unless you understand your own sinfulness.
In our last study, we saw that understanding the holiness of God is crucial to understanding the Gospel. This is because we can never understand our own sinfulness or the reason for the Cross until we have a perfect standard by which we can measure ourselves. In this section, we’ll see what the Bible says about sin. We’ll see how seriously God takes lawbreakers. We’ll look at God’s standard of perfection and analyze the correct reaction to God’s Law. I hope you will come out of this series realizing that part of your job as a Christian is to expose people’s sin and warn them that it will someday catch up with them.
I’m hoping that you’ll also find assurance in your own salvation as you ask yourself the questions: Is Jesus my Savior from sin? What plea will I give when the Judge of the Universe opens the records and pronounces me guilty? Have I tacked Jesus onto my life, or am I clinging to Him as the only way to pull me out of the sin and guilt which will condemn me on the last day?
Who is Jesus to me?
Lord, help me to realize that I am a sinner who deserves your wrath. Help me to be bold about warning people that You hate sin.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Used by permission. All rights reserved.