Sin, the Gospel and the Love of God We live in an age where the Biblical doctrine of sin has been much demeaned by society as a whole, but also and of far greater concern, by much of the "church". Too much preaching and teaching these days leaves out essential teaching on sin and its consequences, the result of which is that a cheap salvation is offered which is in fact no salvation at all but a cheap imitation of the reality. The hearers and adherents are deluded into a false assurance of salvation that falls far short of the full salvation that God offers in His Word through faith in Jesus the Messiah. Many of these "converts" will soon fall away or live a christian life that is far short of the standard set by the New Testament. A gospel that omits to teach the dire consequences of sin is no gospel at all! If sin is not a terribly serious issue we could do away with the whole Bible, we could ignore the fact of Jesus' coming to the earth to die on a cross, we can do away with the testimony of the New Testament, we no longer need to have churches. The whole world can carry on just as it is and everything will be fine. That sort of thinking is nonsense, of course! But you would hardly think so from some of the so-called evangelistic preaching heard today. What do we hear? Statements such as, "God loves you, he doesn't mind your little sins," "Its ok to live with your partner, God knows you love each other," "All you need to do is let Jesus into your heart." Statements such as these ignore the Biblical doctrine of sin and delude the hearer. Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God's love is not some sort of slushy, soft and harmless emotion, it is not a love that you can feel in your heart and gives you a warm glow that makes you think that everything is fine. God in His love for the world sent His Son Jesus to die on a cross and pay the penalty for our sin. That is how God demonstrates His love. If you want others to see and understand the love of God you must point them to the cross that they may see Jesus suffering on their behalf. Evangelism that does not point people to the cross of Jesus to see Him suffering there the penalty for our sin is not evangelism at all! Romans 2:4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance. Titus 3:4-6 But when the kindness of God our Saviour and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit whom He poured upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Initially, comprehension of God's love is not going to give anyone a good and pleasant feeling. God's love will lead us to repentance, God's love will lead us to see Jesus as our Saviour. God's love will lead us to feel like unworthy sinners: men, women and children who are not fit to stand in His presence. God's love will lead us to a place where we will want to cry out to Him for mercy. God's love will bring us under a conviction of our sinfulness, of the awful predicament that sin puts us in and of our hopeless condition in the face of God's righteous judgement; God's love causes Him to reprove and discipline (Rev. 3:19). Furthermore it is the work of the Holy Spirit to bring the lost sinner under conviction of these things, as foretold by Jesus in John 16:8. If you want the Holy Spirit's help and power in your witness and preaching, do as He does and teach about sin, righteousness and the judgement to come! If our preaching does not leave unbelievers feeling uncomfortable about their sin, we are not preaching the true gospel. Acts 2:37,38 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sin; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Peter had preached a simple gospel, without adornment of any kind he presented the simple and straightforward facts of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. His preaching pierced men to their hearts, so that they cried out, "what shall we do?" This is no "namby pamby" gospel that says "God loves you, continue as you are, it will all be ok." No, this gospel confronts men with some profound and uncomfortable truths: You are sinners without hope; God sent His Son Jesus to die an horrific death in your place; Jesus rose from the dead; Forgiveness of sins is therefore offered to you in Jesus' name; Repent and be saved. The true gospel faces the uncomfortable truth uncompromisingly. The true gospel gets to the heart of man's greatest problem - sin: Sin separates from God (Isaiah 59:2); the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23); God has sent His Son to deal with sin and now offers eternal life to all who will repent and turn to Him in faith. If sin is not dealt with no-one can know God or even draw near to Him. Imagine going to visit the doctor because you have a life-threatening but curable disease. What do you want the doctor to do? You want him to get straight to the root of the problem before it is too late. You don't want to listen to the latest theories of the cause of the disease, you don't want to hear about all the possible cures and treatments, you don't want to hear about how nice the surgeon is, you don't want to wait while he discusses it with his mates! No you want the cure and treatment immediately and if he's a good doctor and knows the answer he's going to get you fixed up right there and then. The gospel is the cure for man's greatest disease - sin. The consequence of sin is dire - death. The time of every individual's death is uncertain, it is foolishness to delay the offer of the cure. To withhold the cure is surely a great evil, it is just as bad to offer a false treatment which doesn't effect a cure; for such reasons the apostle Paul stated that those who preach a false gospel are accursed (Galatians 1:9). Sin has a horrible consequence: Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death 2Thessalonians 1:7-9 ... the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. No one is free from sin: Romans 3:10,11 There is none righteous, not even one, there is none who understands, there is none who seeks after God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one. Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is an answer to sin: Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. 1Corinthians 1:21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. Luke 13:5 Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. It is high time for christian believers to stop being ashamed of the gospel. To stop adorning it and dressing it up with fancy methods. To stop belittling its efficiency. To stop distorting it to suit the whims of the world. To stop missing bits of it out. To stop denying lost sinners the opportunity of eternal life. Preaching the true gospel Repentance from dead works and faith toward God is the first foundation of the christian life mentioned in Hebrews 6:1. If the foundation is not correct it is sure the rest of the building cannot stand. Those who are not brought to Christ through a sound teaching of sin, repentance and forgiveness that is based around the life, death and resurrection of Jesus will always be "shaky" in their faith. Many will fall away, many will live a mediocre christian life chasing the teachings of false prophets and never entering into the fullness of blessing that true discipleship brings. What gospel are you preaching to others? What gospel is your church/fellowship preaching and teaching? What gospel are the missionary societies and christian organisations that you support preaching? If it is not a gospel that includes Biblical teaching on sin, righteousness and judgement; on repentance; on the cross and on faith in Jesus Christ then it is not the gospel of the Bible. Luke 24:46,47 And He said to them, "Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem." Acts 17:30 Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent. The present day failure in evangelism to preach and teach the truth about sin is one of the great travesties of our age. It is a failure that condemns many to a false promise of salvation and sets many on the first steps to accepting the many false doctrines propounded by the current multitude of false prophets and teachers. Read through the gospels and The Acts of the Apostles; look carefuly at the content of the preaching, surely you will not go far before seeing and understanding that teaching about sin and repentance is at the heart of the gospel message. Mark 1:14,15 Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the gospel." Pay close attention to yourself and your teaching, persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. 1Tim. 4:16