In recent weeks we’ve been looking at how the Bible describes Christians as ‘the righteous’; those whose faith leads them to WANT to obey God’s ways. In contrast, the label it reserves for non-Christians is ‘sinner’.
Why then does our preaching always point out the different ways we Christians still sin? Have we mixed up the Bible’s categories? Are we being unfaithful to the Bible’s language? Are we simply trying to make Christians feel bad, by declaring that we act no different to non-Christians?
While the Bible never describes Christians as ‘sinners’, it does say Christians will remain ‘sinful’ this side of heaven. The burden of the preacher is to figure out how best to fight that sin, so we can exhibit ‘the obedience of faith’ (Rom 1:5).
Step 1 is to be realistic about how Christians still sin. Christians must NEVER be racked with guilt about our sin though, as the cross has atoned for that completely. Step 2 is to investigate what the human heart is actually looking for in that sin; i.e. find the sin behind the sin. For example, people lie to protect their reputation; people steal for more financial security. Step 3 is to explain how the gospel speaks into that underlying sin. For example, the gospel says we have no reputation to protect, because Jesus had to DIE for our sins; the gospel says we have full security in Christ, because Jesus WILLINGLY died for our sins.
It is the gospel that inspires Christians to WANT to follow Christ more nearly; to WANT to fight sin. The reason our preachers point out our sin each Sunday is not because we like our people feeling guilty; we SHOULDN’T! It is because we are best equipping our people for ‘the obedience of faith’.
Brendan McLaughlin
