CALLING SIN BY ITS RIGHT NAME
When he comes, he will convince the world concerning sin...because they do not believe in me. John 16:8, 9, R.S.V.
She cried as one who would not be comforted. She had been "labored with" by a fellow church member regarding some sinful thing she had done. He had been "calling sin by its rightful name," and she freely admitted that she had done it. "The Spirit is really convicting me," she said, "I feel crushed!" She seemed surprised when I suggested that the Holy Spirit might not necessarily be the one behind her convictions.
Strange as it may first appear, Satan is also in the business of convicting of sin. Some people he persuades to care nothing about sin except to find new ways to plunge into it. But he has a special approach for the conscientious. He tells them that sin is fundamentally selfish actions, but he wants them to know nothing of a relationship with a forgiving Saviour who alone can heal this selfishness.
The Bible certainly does address the sinful actions that we humans find so easy to do, but Jesus knows that there is little value in sending the Spirit with an unabridged list of sinful actions to prohibit. Those sinful actions are but the symptoms of a broken relationship with our Creator. To focus on the actions without first healing the relationship would only drive guilt-ridden, intimidated sinners further from a holy God.
Satan's convictions of sin center around behavior, and the aim is to crush with despair. The Spirit's convictions of sin center around relationship, with an aim to reconcile rebels into trusting belief in God.
Perhaps this should give us pause to consider our human endeavors to call sin by its rightful name. We seldom have problems spotting the outward signs of other people's inward hurting--those things we call sins. It could possibly even minister to our pride to be able to point them out, to "rightly name" them.
But unless we know why people are inwardly hurting, and unless we know how to walk them back to the arms of Jesus, we may well be participating with Satan's crushing endeavors. When we come to the place where we can never talk about sin without talking about Jesus Christ, where sin makes sense to us only in terms of broken relationship with Him, then we are ready to be used by the gentle Spirit.
When he comes, he will convince the world concerning sin...because they do not believe in me. John 16:8, 9, R.S.V.
She cried as one who would not be comforted. She had been "labored with" by a fellow church member regarding some sinful thing she had done. He had been "calling sin by its rightful name," and she freely admitted that she had done it. "The Spirit is really convicting me," she said, "I feel crushed!" She seemed surprised when I suggested that the Holy Spirit might not necessarily be the one behind her convictions.
Strange as it may first appear, Satan is also in the business of convicting of sin. Some people he persuades to care nothing about sin except to find new ways to plunge into it. But he has a special approach for the conscientious. He tells them that sin is fundamentally selfish actions, but he wants them to know nothing of a relationship with a forgiving Saviour who alone can heal this selfishness.
The Bible certainly does address the sinful actions that we humans find so easy to do, but Jesus knows that there is little value in sending the Spirit with an unabridged list of sinful actions to prohibit. Those sinful actions are but the symptoms of a broken relationship with our Creator. To focus on the actions without first healing the relationship would only drive guilt-ridden, intimidated sinners further from a holy God.
Satan's convictions of sin center around behavior, and the aim is to crush with despair. The Spirit's convictions of sin center around relationship, with an aim to reconcile rebels into trusting belief in God.
Perhaps this should give us pause to consider our human endeavors to call sin by its rightful name. We seldom have problems spotting the outward signs of other people's inward hurting--those things we call sins. It could possibly even minister to our pride to be able to point them out, to "rightly name" them.
But unless we know why people are inwardly hurting, and unless we know how to walk them back to the arms of Jesus, we may well be participating with Satan's crushing endeavors. When we come to the place where we can never talk about sin without talking about Jesus Christ, where sin makes sense to us only in terms of broken relationship with Him, then we are ready to be used by the gentle Spirit.
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