“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
(Romans 6:23, ESV)
(Romans 6:23, ESV)
In the 1980’s computers were just coming into common use. I didn’t use a computer for word processing and sermon writing until the late 1980’s, preferring the old-fashioned methods of paper and pencil. In the 1990’s, I remember using a word processor to write my sermon on a computer. I was using a new version of Microsoft Word. This “new” version of Microsoft Word was touted as being wholly modern and useful for writing. It was the first word processor program I ever used that had a dedicated spell-check as well as a grammar check.
While writing my sermon on the new Word Processor program, I typed in a scripture. Then, I set to writing my sermon. Invariably, the Word Processor and grammar checker corrected my typing errors and misspellings. I loved it! Then, I began to receive an error over and over. The grammar checker of the program kept beeping at me whenever I wrote the word, “sin”. The topic of the scripture was sin. The topic of my sermon was overcoming sin. Each time I typed in the word sin, the program beeped at me. When I finally checked to see what the grammar checker desired, it said that “sin” was too harsh a word….. couldn’t I use a more positive term?
That was my first introduction to the liberalization of the Bible and writing. The programmers of Microsoft Word had thought the word “sin” was too negative, too harsh, too antiquated to use. They didn’t have a word to suggest otherwise, just that I needed to remove the word “sin” in my document. Of course, I did not remove the word. I did not change to a more “positive” or “nice” topic. I did, however, remember that as a sign of something changing in our world. Sin was becoming a topic “civilized” people did not talk about or write about.
Just as my grammar check wanted to remove the word, “sin” from my sermon, many people want to remove the topic of sin from hymns, sermons, conversation, and even Bibles. I have seen books that rewrote verses from the Bible about sin and changed the word, “sin”, to “error” or “wrong”. In a way, all these are attempts to hide the deadliness of sin. These politically correct revisions of the word “sin” try to remove the stigma of sin, hide its deadliness, cover over its destructive potential.
Dozens of times, members of my churches have urged me to “speak softer” or say nicer words from the pulpit or in Bible Studies by omitting the use of sin as a concept or topic. Even today, some seminaries teach pastors to be more politically correct in their sermon writing by not talking about sin and other negative concepts, preferring the pastors sound “nice”, “more refined”, “more tactful”. Trust me when I say this: to ignore the word, “sin”, or the concept of sin would be a spiritually deadly mistake. Sin is the enemy. The book of 1 John even states that anyone who does not admit he or she sins is a liar (1 John 1:10). Today’s scripture equates sin with death. Romans 6:23 reminds the reader that the cost or “wages” of sin is “death”. Sin even competes with “eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”! Wouldn’t you rather be educated about sin, taught about its temptations and dangers, knowledgeable about how to defeat it?
“After a minister had spoken strongly against sin one morning, one of his members said, “We don’t want you to talk so plainly about sin, because if our children hear you mention it, they will more easily become sinners. Call it a mistake, if you will, but do not speak so bluntly about sin.”
The minister went to his medicine shelf and brought back a bottle of strychnine marked “Poison.” He said, “I understand what you want me to do. You want me to change the label. Suppose I take this ‘Poison’ label off the bottle and put on a label like ‘Peppermint Candy.’ Can’t you see the problem? The milder you make the label, the more dangerous the poison’s presence is.”
It is high time we put a “Poison” label back on the poison of sin. We must not be afraid to be as plain as the Bible is about the tragic consequences of sin…or about the antidote for that poison: the blood of Christ. (Billy Graham, Wisdom for Each Day, p. 83)
Our sin caused the death of Jesus. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was to overcome sin. Sin is a danger to every living soul. Sin is the devil’s playground. Sin is the one thing that will inevitably come between a person and God, a person and eternal life. Is it no wonder that forgiveness of sins is required for salvation? The blood of Christ overcomes sin. Jesus’ saving grace destroys sin but does not cover it up!
Is there a sin posing a danger to your faith today? Do you realize how sin and poison have common effects? Sin threatens your eternal life with Jesus. It is a deadly serious matter. Never forget that.
While writing my sermon on the new Word Processor program, I typed in a scripture. Then, I set to writing my sermon. Invariably, the Word Processor and grammar checker corrected my typing errors and misspellings. I loved it! Then, I began to receive an error over and over. The grammar checker of the program kept beeping at me whenever I wrote the word, “sin”. The topic of the scripture was sin. The topic of my sermon was overcoming sin. Each time I typed in the word sin, the program beeped at me. When I finally checked to see what the grammar checker desired, it said that “sin” was too harsh a word….. couldn’t I use a more positive term?
That was my first introduction to the liberalization of the Bible and writing. The programmers of Microsoft Word had thought the word “sin” was too negative, too harsh, too antiquated to use. They didn’t have a word to suggest otherwise, just that I needed to remove the word “sin” in my document. Of course, I did not remove the word. I did not change to a more “positive” or “nice” topic. I did, however, remember that as a sign of something changing in our world. Sin was becoming a topic “civilized” people did not talk about or write about.
Just as my grammar check wanted to remove the word, “sin” from my sermon, many people want to remove the topic of sin from hymns, sermons, conversation, and even Bibles. I have seen books that rewrote verses from the Bible about sin and changed the word, “sin”, to “error” or “wrong”. In a way, all these are attempts to hide the deadliness of sin. These politically correct revisions of the word “sin” try to remove the stigma of sin, hide its deadliness, cover over its destructive potential.
Dozens of times, members of my churches have urged me to “speak softer” or say nicer words from the pulpit or in Bible Studies by omitting the use of sin as a concept or topic. Even today, some seminaries teach pastors to be more politically correct in their sermon writing by not talking about sin and other negative concepts, preferring the pastors sound “nice”, “more refined”, “more tactful”. Trust me when I say this: to ignore the word, “sin”, or the concept of sin would be a spiritually deadly mistake. Sin is the enemy. The book of 1 John even states that anyone who does not admit he or she sins is a liar (1 John 1:10). Today’s scripture equates sin with death. Romans 6:23 reminds the reader that the cost or “wages” of sin is “death”. Sin even competes with “eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”! Wouldn’t you rather be educated about sin, taught about its temptations and dangers, knowledgeable about how to defeat it?
“After a minister had spoken strongly against sin one morning, one of his members said, “We don’t want you to talk so plainly about sin, because if our children hear you mention it, they will more easily become sinners. Call it a mistake, if you will, but do not speak so bluntly about sin.”
The minister went to his medicine shelf and brought back a bottle of strychnine marked “Poison.” He said, “I understand what you want me to do. You want me to change the label. Suppose I take this ‘Poison’ label off the bottle and put on a label like ‘Peppermint Candy.’ Can’t you see the problem? The milder you make the label, the more dangerous the poison’s presence is.”
It is high time we put a “Poison” label back on the poison of sin. We must not be afraid to be as plain as the Bible is about the tragic consequences of sin…or about the antidote for that poison: the blood of Christ. (Billy Graham, Wisdom for Each Day, p. 83)
Our sin caused the death of Jesus. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was to overcome sin. Sin is a danger to every living soul. Sin is the devil’s playground. Sin is the one thing that will inevitably come between a person and God, a person and eternal life. Is it no wonder that forgiveness of sins is required for salvation? The blood of Christ overcomes sin. Jesus’ saving grace destroys sin but does not cover it up!
Is there a sin posing a danger to your faith today? Do you realize how sin and poison have common effects? Sin threatens your eternal life with Jesus. It is a deadly serious matter. Never forget that.