Proclaiming the Doctrine of Sin

Mark Dever writes the following on page 148 of the book "Telling the Truth" edited by D.A. Carson...

"Sometimes we share the Gospel with people while secretly only half-believing it's true, wondering what they will concede to us, and not wanting to say much more than that lest we look ridiculous...Don't be put off by the current fad of the times. People need to grasp not only the theoretical concept of evil and wrong, but also the fact that they are evil and wrong. They need to experience their own consciences. This is difficult in postmodernism, because the self tends to dissolve away, to disappear. in many ways, that may be the biggest problem we have when we try to communicate the idea of sin today. Postmodernism encourages the evacuation of the responsible self.

But the real reason people don't acknowledge the legitimate moral claims of God is not because of any philosophy; it is simply because it is not in their self-interest to do so."

Sin and evil are two of the most difficult topics to discuss, especially when sin and evil become personal. But if there are certain things that we as Christians are absolutely convinced of, it is that sin is real and that the heart of sin is unrighteousness and ungodliness. Sin is opposition to God. This leads us to the reason for our evangelism; namely that as certain as we are that sin is real, we are certain that there is Good News and redemption from the power of the slavemaster of sin and reconciliation with God through Jesus, the Messiah.

So far in our study in Acts, we have seen Peter bring the charge of sin against Israel for crucifying the Prince of Life. Let us prayerfully consider how we may effectively communicate the depths of sin to those whom are around us today.