God Wins

Here is a sermon from this past Sunday addressing the doctrine of Hell.

Hoping vs. Wishing for an Impermanent Hell

As I prepare this week to speak on the doctrine of Hell, I am struggling a bit with my feelings. I think Michael Wittmer summarizes well the tension I have:

Our hopes are only as strong as the reasons we have for holding them. Some hopes are nothing more than a wish—I hope that it doesn’t rain tomorrow or that my team will win the game. But Christian hope, the kind that makes the top cut with faith and love (1 Cor. 13:13), is grounded in the promises of God. Such hope is “an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (Heb. 6:19), because it rests in what “God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time” (Titus 1:2).

I wish that God would empty hell, that he would save everyone who has ever lived. But I can’t say I hope for that, because I don’t have a promise from God to hang my hope on. Christians may have lots of good wishes for deceased atheists, but we don’t have hope. Not because we are mean or stingy, but because we dare not offer more hope than God promises in Scripture. That would be false hope, the cruelest hope of all.


Michael Wittmer, Christ Alone: An Evangelical Response to Rob Bell's "Love Wins," (Edenridge Press: 2011), Kindle Edition.

Is God Celebrating Osama bin Laden's Death? Should We?

There is a palpable joy in the streets because a man is dead.

This isn't going to win me any elections, or friends, but it needs to be said. God is not happy that Osama bin Laden is dead; not if you understand happiness to be a feeling of pleasure. God certainly brought about this death, as he does with all deaths. And in my opinion I believe both human and divine justice were served by this death. But there is no pleasure in this for God, and something sick in the human heart is revealed when we find there a pleasure that God himself does not share.


Consider Ezekiel 18:21-24
21 “But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22 None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. 23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? 24 But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die.

The rhetorical question is answered explicitly in vs. 32, just in case you thought God was just asking questions and not communicating a proposition.

"For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live."

Osama bin Laden's death should be a somber, sobering occasion for anyone who knows the Lord, who understands the weight of sin because of the price paid for it. Justice glorifies God's holy character, his sinless perfection, and his utter rejection of all evil, but it brings him no joy at all.

So why are so many in the street celebrating justice like their team just won the Superbowl? There are probably lots of reasons. I'm not saying everyone standing in the street draped in a flag is sinning just like I'm not saying everyone who reacted calmly is righteous in their hearts. Instead, I think this occasion is a fine time to check our hearts to see how close to Christ we are on the issue of justice and joy, and I think Ezekiel can help us.

Meditate on this changed scenario and question:

Osama bin Laden is captured and imprisoned. He is tried and convicted of his crimes and receives capital punishment. During the trial, he has a change of heart. He hears a message of forgiveness in Jesus and understands the grave sin of his heart and life. He is transformed by the Holy Spirit. He puts his faith in Jesus and goes to the gallows with the peace of knowing he has been forgiven and will be with Jesus in a few short moments. He will never receive any punishment from God for the 9/11 attacks, because Jesus died for that sin.

Compared to reality, does this scenario bring you more or less joy?

Thankful to...

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone.

Remember, there is always an object to thankfulness. A general feeling of thankfulness is the popular sentiment of Thanksgiving. But what is that? If you give thanks, you must give it to someone. So remember to take some time today to thank the Lord, whose face shines on his people in so many ways.

Psalm 67
To the Choirmaster: With Stringed Instruments. A Psalm. A Song.

1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us, Selah

2 that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.

3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!

4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth. Selah

5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!

6 The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall bless us.

7 God shall bless us;
let all the ends of the earth fear him!

A Few Days with Dallas Willard

God molded me in two different ways over the past two weeks. Both were spiritual challenges, but one came through the molding of my mind and the other the molding of my heart.

As I mentioned in the last post, I took two trips back to back. I'll cover the first trip in this post. The first was a conference with Dallas Willard as the keynote speaker. It is not an overstatement to say that Dr. Willard's work has been one of the most influential factors in my Christian life. To spend a few days with him listening to his insights on the state of human depravity and the call to make disciples of Christ-like character was both a thrill and a challenge. It was an honor to be able to sit down with a man like this and thank him for the influence he has been on my life.

A few quotes will give you a taste of my experience:

On the question of original design: "What did God create us to be? For many Christians there is no answer to this question."

On the source of the human problem: "All of the troubles and failures of human existence are rooted in failure to think rightly about God."

On the Lord's prayer: "Unless we desire to hallow his name, then we will not want his kingdom to come or his will to be done."

On the full message of the Gospel: "Put your confidence in Jesus and live with him as a disciple now in the present Kingdom of God."

On the question of who we are: "You are a never ceasing spiritual being with an eternal destiny in God's great universe."

On the relationship between faith and knowledge: "We are a people of knowledge, not of faith. Faith is based on knowledge." "It is on the basis of knowledge that people come to faith."

On the sermon on the mount: "We make a mistake when we try to do the things in the sermon rather than trying to become the kind of person who would do these things naturally."

On the relationship between grace and effort: "Grace is God accomplishing in my life what I cannot accomplish on my own." "Grace is not opposed to effort. It is opposed to earning. Those touched by grace exert tremendous responsive effort."

On the use of God's commandments: "Once you begin to grow in the Christian life, you see that God's commandments are a natural expression of who we are."

On becoming like Jesus: "As Jesus' apprentice I am learning from him how to lead my life in the Kingdom of God as he would lead it if he were I. I am with him in all my circumstances learning to be like him."

Dr. Willard's thought inspires to think more deeply about my spiritual growth. We are told to be renewed through the transformation of our minds, and I believe Dr. Willard is a Spirit-led guide for those pursuing this sort of transformation. If you are thinking of reading something from him, I highly recommend The Spirit of the Disciplines.

You Give and Take Away...

How do you understand the trials of life? Do you explain them away? Do you believe there are certain aspects of reality over which God has no control? Or do you, like Job, James, Paul, Peter, and Jesus himself, give God the glory for everything, understanding that he is in full control?

The Story of Zac Smith from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.

Election as a Call to Love First

I have enjoyed carefully examining a short portion of Jesus' discussion with his disciples during the last supper in John 15:1-17. Over the last few days I have been pondering 15:16, a verse that I am sure will raise some eyebrows tomorrow when I discuss it in the sermon. It stands out for its theological bluntness on the doctrine of election.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. John 15:16 ESV

What it says is plain enough. We did not choose Jesus. Jesus chose us. His move was primary, and any decision we feel we've made with regard to Jesus is a result of his sovereign choice. That's clear enough; but what I've been pondering is the location of this particular bit of theological precision. Jesus is talking about his love and how we as his beloved friends are to abide in his love and love others in the same way he loves us. Why, seemingly out of the blue, does Jesus switch to the topic of his sovereign choice?

And then it hit me. Election is not only Christ's sovereign choice of the people for whom he will sacrificially give his life; election is also the model for how we are to love others first. Now, my thoughts on this are just now simmering, so I would welcome any perspective or critique you may bring to them.

Here's what I think I'm seeing. In 15:12, Jesus says we are to love others as he has loved us. This means sacrificially, which is clear from the next verse that says no one has greater love than he who gives his life for his friends. Now that's challenging enough. To love to the point where you are willing to die in the place of the other person is beautiful, costly love, and it is absolutely the central message of the cross, because Jesus dies as the substitute sacrifice for the sins of his people.

But 15:16 heightens the challenge by showing us yet one more aspect of Jesus' love for his people that must be modeled in the loving fruit they produce, namely, that we are to be the people who love others first. The disciples didn't choose to love and abide in Jesus. Jesus chose them when they were perfectly content to keep on fishing, collecting taxes, etc. without any love for Jesus at all.

I've talked to enough people, done enough counseling, and searched my own heart enough to know that we humans are not inclined to love first. What I am inclined to do is love conditionally. I will extend love as an invitation to others, and if it is accepted, friendship begins. When it's rejected, I assume the other person is not worth my love and move on. That's what my sinful heart wants to do. I want to revoke the invitation.

But Jesus' love isn't an invitation, it's a selection. He chooses us, and we become his beloved friends. As such, my love isn't to be simply an invitation, but a choice to love. I don't get to decide how and to what extent I'm going to love other people anymore than I decided how and to what extent Jesus was going to love me.

Now of course, my love for another person is not irresistable like Jesus' love. My love doesn't bring about new birth or new creation in another person. But it is not the doctrine of irresistable grace that Jesus references. It is the doctrine of unconditional election, and to that end my love for another person must pour from me regardless of how it is received.

Imagine if everyone who followed Jesus realized that they were chosen, in spite of themselves, by Jesus, and used that love as a model for loving everyone else. Imagine if we said, "No matter what you do to me or how you receive me, I am going to love you first as unconditionally as Jesus loved me first, even if it kills me."

Another Reflection on John 15:3

Following the service yesterday I had a great discussion with my wife about John 15:3, a seemingly enigmatic little sentence in the middle of Jesus' analogy of the vine and the branches.

"Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you." 15:3

The word clean here is the same as the word prunes in 15:2, so Jesus is saying that the eleven remaining disciples are pruned, fruit-bearing branches. Judas is the ideal example of the dead branch that seemed to be "in Christ" but whom the Father has "taken away."

At this point in the sermon I made the comment that what Jesus says next is directed to fruit-bearing branches. Rachel told me that she wondered whether she would have understood Jesus to be speaking to only one kind of branch following this verse if I hadn't pointed it out. This caused me to go back to the verse and have another look at it.

This short verse is even more important than I thought. Here's why:

1. Often people quoting or referencing this passage will start in 15:4. "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me."

2. Had Jesus begun his speech here, you might be able to make a good case that Jesus is arguing for a sort of works righteousness, where it is the responsibility of the individual to stop being a dead branch and start producing fruit that God will accept. Try reading 15:1-2, skipping 15:3, and moving right to 15:4 to see what I mean.

3. 15:3 is the pronouncement of grace. The Gospel has cleaned these remaining eleven apostles. They are being pruned by the vinedresser to bear more fruit. Their responsibility is not to clean themselves, but to endure and partner in the continued discipleship process by abiding in the source of their spiritual life, Jesus Christ.

4. 15:3 and 15:6 work together to make certain that fruit-bearing branches realize it is God's sovereign grace that saves them and allows them to bear the fruit of Christ-like love.

What an important little sentence!

Focusing on the Cross this Easter

Over the last 6-7 years or so, Rachel and I have tried to increase our focus at Easter on Good Friday, something that neither of us observed in great detail growing up. Easter Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection of Christ, and rightly so, but it is Christ's substitutionary atonement on Friday that makes any sort of celebration on Sunday possible.

We've done this in various ways, and if you're interested I'll tell you about them. But one of the ways I have been trying to increase the depth of my understanding of the cross is by using this time before Easter to read one of the many excellent books that are being written lately that focus on the cross. I don't always get to do this, but I'm trying to make it a personal tradition. Just glancing over my shoulder at my bookcase I see several:

The Cross of Christ, John Stott (This one is particularly good.)

In My Place Condemned He Stood, J.I. Packer and Mark Dever (Read this last year.)

The Great Exchange, Jerry Bridges and Bob Bevington

The Future of Justification, John Piper

The Passion of Jesus Christ, John Piper (Contains 50 reasons why Christ suffered and died!)

The Cross and Christian Ministry, D.A. Carson (I took Dr. Carson's course in which much of this material was taught.)

The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, John Owen (This is one is daunting, but at some point I'll take on the challenge.)

And there are others. Many, excellent others. But this year I am reading Pierced for Our Transgressions, by Steve Jeffery, Michael Ovey, and Andrew Sach. It focuses on the glory of penal substitutionary atonement. Over the next few weeks leading to Easter, I will share interesting bits with you.

It is absolutley essential for growth in Christ to ponder and plumb the depths of the cross. I encourage you to use this time before Easter to do just that. Live the cross.

The Gospel is for Believers

"And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ." Acts 5:42

This is the most solid assurance I have yet found in Scripture that the Gospel is not simply the gateway into the Kingdom, but the full substance of what is taught to those who follow Jesus. The apostles did boldly profess Jesus to the unbeliving council (5:29-32), but after being beaten, charged not to teach in Jesus' name, and released, they went right back to speaking Jesus' name and explaining that he is the Messiah (Christ.) And they did this not simply to the lost. The text explains plainly that they taught in the temple and from house to house, the two places we know the church gathered (Acts 2:46).

Is it redundant to hear the Good News of Jesus life, death, burial, and resurrected new life over and over again, week after week, day after day? Not if your goal is that every thought, feeling, and action of your life would be lived as a testimony to the cross. Not if you are a living sacrifice to Christ. In fact, every moral teaching or life-changing command found in Scripture is designed both to convict us of our need of the cross and to instruct us how to live in light of the cross. Without this perspective, we lose focus on the grace of God, and we begin to treat obedience to him like something used to earn his favor.

So let's move past this erroneous notion that somehow the message that Jesus is the Messiah is the starter message only; that salvation comes by grace through faith but is maintained by works and right living. Grace cannot be assumed in the message of the church. The church needs to be constantly reminded of the glorious news that Jesus has died for our sins and given us new life, because it is the first thing we are apt to forget, and it is the truth of the cross that God uses to shape us into fully devoted followers of Jesus.

John Stott on the Use of Our Bodies

The following addresses the use of our bodies for those of us who have been created by God, purchased through Christ's blood, and indwelled by the Holy Spirit.

Our body has not only been created by God and will one day be resurrected by him, but it has been bought by Christ's blood and indwelled by his Spirit. Thus it belongs to God three times over, by creation, redemption, and indwelling. How then, since it does not belong to us, can we misuse it? Instead, we are to honor God with it, by obedience and self-control. Bought by Christ, we have no business to become the slaves of anybody or anything else. Once we were the slaves of sin; now we are the slaves of Christ, and his service is the true freedom.

John Stott, The Cross of Christ, p.179

Being Led by the Spirit into All Truth

Check out Kevin DeYoung's article on the work of the Holy Spirit here. Note especially his very sober look at what it means to be led by the Spirit into all truth. Certain people I have encountered within the Church, particularly people I have counseled, have excused their disobedient behavior or poor theological stands by calling for spiritual revelation apart from Scripture. The idea is that the Holy Spirit will provide fresh revelation from God that will address their particular circumstance as opposed to simply pointing to the truth already revealed in Scripture that speaks to the issue. This is usually just an excuse; a way of getting around the Bible. As DeYoung makes clear, that's not what being led by the Spirit is about at all.

The Bad News Part 5: Sharing the Whole Gospel with Humility and Love

Here's the last thing I want to share on the topic of the role of sin in evangelism, at least for this little series: If you can't share the consequences of sin and the life-changing news of the Savior with humility and love, please don't share them at all. At least, don't share them until you fully understand and embrace the love and humility of Jesus.

I can't think of a more humbling doctrine than the truth of pervasive, human-shattering sin. Can it really be that all the evil of the war in Afghanistan, the horrible human trafficking in South East Asia, the genocide in Africa, the drug-related gangland killings of South and Central America, and the continuing violence in North American cities is a product of the same evil that makes me struggle to keep my eyes pure, my pride checked, and my money from becoming my idol?

I don't live the life of a drug addict, but I've worked with them. Recovering addicts have been my friends in the past. And perhaps one of the most profound lessons I have learned from those relationships is that those men and I are the same. I could share Jesus with them because they knew I was just as sinful and in need of a Savior as they were.

When you share the problem of sin and the solution of Jesus, please do so as one of the sinners. We weren't saved because we're better than anyone else. We were saved by grace through faith in Jesus. That faith is a gift we did not earn and do not deserve. There is no reason for any sense of pride on our part. The only thing we can boast about is the greatness of Jesus, and when that's our perspective we are sure to share in humility and love.

The Bad News Part 4: The Consequences of a Sinless Gospel--My Thoughts

Ok, I get it. My fault. I posed a question, hoping for some comments, but stated your answer would reflect your knowledge of the Gospel. Who's going to answer that one! Sorry about that. Let me rephrase. How you answer the question will tell you something about how you see the Gospel.

Here's what I'm getting at. Many people would read the accounts of Bob and Don and immediately see Don as very in need of help. Bob, to most of his friends and family, is doing fine. So, if faith in Jesus is designed to bring help in this life, obviously Don needs Jesus far more than Bob.

But that is wrong. Bob and Don both need Jesus desperately. The error is in thinking the Gospel is designed to cure life's difficulties. Jesus does not make your life better; he takes your life, throws it out, and gives you a new one. Sin corrupts our lives to the point of death, but Jesus' death in our place gives us life free from the bondage of sin; freedom to love and glorify God.

If you take sin out of the story of Jesus, then Jesus died for no reason. Many in the church today want to share Jesus, but don't want to tell anyone they are sinners deserving death. So instead, they lead with Jesus as the solver of problems and the healer of wounds. Who wouldn't want that? I'll tell you: Bob. And Don will end up hearing about a God who can solve his problems without hearing about his ultimate problem. We end up with therapeutic deism, a God-solution for those whose lives don't seem very happy.

Can you start sharing Jesus by addressing the felt needs of a person? Of course! Jesus did this all the time: the woman at the well, the blind man, the lame man who came through the roof, just to name a few. But as it was for Jesus, felt needs must be an in-road to contemplating the real issue of sin if your friend is ever to realize his need for new life, not just a happier old life.

The Bad News Part 4: The Consequences of a Sinless Gospel--A Question

Because Kevin DeYoung beat me to the punch and unloaded a haymaker to the "New Gospel," I'm going to illustrate the consequences of a sinless Gospel with a little exercise. We'll see how helpful this is.

Consider Bob. Bob is your average guy with a good job, a wife, and a couple of kids. He works hard, pays his taxes, and is generally known as a great guy. You can catch him on weekends walking the dog, having a little date at the coffee shop with his wife, or throwing the football around in the backyard with his boys. His marriage has all the usual fights, but he and his wife get through them and they are doing better than most of their friends whose marriages are far more rocky. Bob brings home enough money for the family, and they live quite comfortably, though no one would accuse them of living extravagantly. Ask anyone in the family, and they will tell you everything is going just fine.

Consider Don. Don's wife just took the kids and moved in with her parents because Don's online gambling addiction, which started as what he called "harmless fun," has depleted the family savings and burned through the paychecks to the point of ruin. There's not even money for food. Don loves his family and wants them back, but his wife won't return until Don gets the help he needs and breaks this addiction.

Which man is more in need of Jesus, Bob or Don, and why? The way you answer this question will give you some insight into how well you understand the Gospel. What do you think?

The New Gospel

The following article is a must read for any of you following along in my Bad News series. Please read it carefully here.

Now I almost don't even need to write on the consequences of a sinless Gospel, though I will!

The Bad News Part 3: Is it Intolerant to Talk About Sin?

Intolerant is conversation stopper. Today its used to label people who hold views that others find too restrictive, however they define restricitve. The moment you are accused of being intolerant, you have to either back-pedal and choose a different opinion that doesn't really match what you think, or you have to accept the label and be socially ostracized as an unenlightened moron. That's because intolerance has come to mean having a view of truth that excludes other people's views of truth.

But the popular use of the word intolerant today is incorrect. It is not intolerant to have an exclusive view of what is true. Truth, by definition, is exclusive. It excludes all views and propositions to the contrary. Anyone who states an opinion or holds to a view of truth (even the view that there is no truth) does so in distiction from contrary opinions. A person can hold a view and tolerate the views of others, even if he thinks those other views are wrong.

Let me try to clarify. Here's a dictionary definition of tolerance:

A fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one's own.

According to this definition, tolerance has nothing to do with your view or what is actually true. It has to do with how you treat the views of other people. I can disagree with someone completely and passionately without becoming intolerant. The beauty of the "permissive attitude" of this definition is that it allows me to be kind and generous, tolerating another person's opinion and practices, permitting them to make their own decisions even if they are, in my opinion, profoundly wrong.

So let's take up our original question: Is it intolerant to talk about sin? Though people who talk about human sin and evil are often labeled intolerant, I hope you can now see that this question has no answer. Tolerance doesn't address a person's view; it addresses the responses to that view. If you share with someone that the Bible calls sinners to repent and turn to Jesus, the only intolerance that could come from that encounter would be from the person who listens and must now choose how to respond. Ironically, some of the most intolerant people in the world are those who insist on ridiculing the views of others by inappropriately labeling them intolerant!

Don't be bullied by the tolerance police. If you share your view lovingly and get labeled intolerant, simply ask the question, "Why are you not willing to thoughtfully, carefully, and lovingly consider my view. Are you intolerant?"

The Bad News Part 2: Speaking of Sin as a Universal Problem

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned...
Romans 5:12

One of the reasons it is so hard for us to share the problem of sin with other people is that we aren't broad enough in our discussion of the problem of sin. A very natural response to the statement "You have sin in your life" is either a harsh charge of intolerance (see Part 3), or the more benign, "yeah, but no one is perfect." In fact, most people when faced with their sins will simply turn to the rest of the world and state how comparitively normal they are. Where we see a problem of sin, they see normalcy.

I would contend that they are right. Sin is normal. It may seem like a problem, but it's everyone's problem. It's like the national debt: Yeah, it's there and it stinks, but what can we really do about it.

So how do we help our friend see the weight of his own personal sin debt against God and his need for a Savior? I believe it actually helps to start with talking about sin as a universal problem. The Bible speaks of sin as a disease that entered humanity through the sin of Adam, which has resulted in our own disobedience. This means that every human is born into a sinful state as an enemy of God. The result is a world full of every kind of evil, which is evident today. This is the doctrine of original sin, a teaching of the Bible that needs to be reclaimed and understood by the church.

Talking about the universality of original sin does a few things.

First, it puts all of us in the same boat. No one is holier than anyone else. Finally the pope and I have something in common!

Second, it shows how the evil we see out there in the world is a result of the evil I see right here in my own life and heart. The damage done by termites to the destroyed foundation of a house is the result of thousands of tiny creatures taking tiny bites of wood. The result of evil in the world is enormous, but it's the result of the evil of individuals.

Third, it gives the proper persepctive for assessing sin responsibility. If you start with individual sin and compare outward, individual sin seems small and inconsequential. When you start with the evil world and the disobedience of all humanity, it's easier to see your own part in it.

Fourth, salvation is seen not as a personal choice for living morally, but a freedom from the world's slavery to sin.

And finally, focusing my friend's attention on the universal problem of sin will allow me to humbly share Jesus and his Good News. You now approach the topic as sinner saved by grace, not a religious zealot.

For further reading, look over Romans 5, where Paul discusses the universality of sin through Adam as compared to the grace that comes to all people through Jesus.

The Bad News Part 1: The Truth that Makes the Good News Good

The good news that Jesus died on the cross for me makes no sense outside the context of my sin. Sin gives the cross its purpose. Human sin and rebellion against God, with its impending and deserved punishment, is bad news that makes the good news about Jesus good. Consider this summary of sin and the gracious gift of Jesus from Will Metzger in his excellent book Tell the Truth.

Grace only functions as grace when it comes to people who have absolutely nothing to recommend them as a candidate for God's favor. People deserve the very opposite--his disfavor in this life and for eternity. Grace is magnified when I see myself as undeserving. I have no right to and no claim on God's mercy. God is not obligated to love me. He does not exist just to make me happy. Grace is highlighted by my inability to keep from sinning. Salvation by my efforts is unattainable, no matter how hard I try to improve myself.

This may seem obvious to anyone who follows Christ, but I believe it is a point of vital importance for the believer as it pertains to how we think about our own faith in Christ and how we share that faith with other people. For many who talk about Jesus with others, the reality of sin, the bad news, is never shared as part of the good news.

Why? If the good news is that we can be saved from the punishment of our sins by the God who created us and took the punishment himself in our place, why wouldn't we share that?

Over the next several posts, I am going to try to unpack this question under the following titles:

The Bad News Part 2: Speaking of Sin as a Universal Problem
The Bad News Part 3: Is it Intolerant to Talk About Sin?
The Bad News Part 4: The Consequences of a Sinless Gospel
The Bad News Part 5: Sharing the Whole Gospel with Humility and Love

I'm excited about the discussions this will raise. Please post your thoughts in the comments section and feel free to interact with me and each other on these topics.