For the past several years I have heard stories of churches who are endeavoring to refrain from speaking of sin. Instead, it is said that they only wish to speak of love. Topics such as one's purpose, self-esteem, self-enhancement, self-realization and just simply being a better person fill the pages of their sermon notes. I must admit that I do not understand, and nor do I seek to, this philosophy of preaching and ministry that has found its way into some of our churches.
In his first letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul wrote, "I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." Why was "Jesus Christ and Him crucified" the focus of Paul's message? Can any reputable answer to this question leave out the matter of "sin"? Did Paul not know the sobering truth that the "the wages of sin is death"? And was he not inspired to proclaim that "the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord".
In 1 Timothy 1:15 Paul wrote, "It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am the foremost of all." I write this article believing wholeheartedly that one cannot rightly preach about God's love without addressing the matter of sin. One might say that it is impossible to truly know God's love without knowing of sin. I'm not suggesting that sin is a good or positive thing, but it is on account of God's dealing with sin that we can know His love.
There is an unwavering truth spoken of in Romans 3:23 where we read, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". But in Romans 5:6-8 we read the following glorious account of God's provision. "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
We do not tell the truth about sin to trample upon the sinner. Or to be like the Pharisee who went up to the temple to pray and proudly thanked God that he was not like the "tax-gatherer" who was also there praying. We do not speak of sin to promote some false sort of self-righteousness. We include the matter of sin in our preaching and teaching so that by God's grace the sinner may be brought to gaze in awe at the sinless One. That by faith, he or she may come to believe in and adore the One who died for their sins.
In 1 John 3:16 the beloved apostle was inspired to write, "We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us". And in 1 John 4:10 we read, "In this is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." So how can men stand in the pulpits of our churches and preach about love while purposely neglecting to address the issue of sin? Apart from knowing sin, its consequences and God's provision in Christ, we can not even know the highest form of love, God's love.
For those who have been granted the privilege and responsibility to speak or to write in the name of Christianity; Do not neglect to speak of sin and thereby fail to tell the whole glorious truth of God's love that is in Christ. The Apostle Paul was inspired to give his "true child in the faith", Timothy, many exhortations that were intended to be beneficial to both Timothy and the body of Christ. I will close with one that is found in 2 Timothy 4:2 where Paul wrote, "preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction."
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