p. 6 | The Lost Sense of Sin

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 25, 1910

The Lost Sense of Sin

THE Bible teaches that sin is the most deadly evil in the world. Not only are great crimes exceedingly sinful, but all manner of sin is hateful in the sight of God and ruinous to the soul. There are no little sins. Sin is treason against the only perfect government and the only perfect Sovereign. There is a remedy for sin, but it is very costly. Nothing less than the blood of the Son of God can atone for sin, and repair the damage of sin in the world. Men ought to be sorry for their sins, and to grieve over them and be ashamed of them. No soul should be content until he has the witness of God that his sins are all forgiven.

A new doctrine of sin is now being industriously promulgated. Some religious teachers, instead of insisting that sin is exceedingly sinful, are insisting that sin is insignificant. They seem to be afraid that men will worry too much over their sins, and try too hard to be rid of them. They are trying to console men in their sins rather than to make them ashamed of sin. It is not a common thing now to hear men and women bemoaning their sins, and crying out, “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Who is tormented, who suffers agony, because of his sins now?

A new kind of preaching has helped to cause the loss of the sense of sin. . . . When a minister proclaims the loving pity of God for lost sinners, he does well; but when he says nothing about the justice of God, the wrath of the Lamb, the terror of the Lord, and the bitterness of sin, he misleads the people, even though he is proclaiming a good doctrine. One may lay stress on the pity of the Lord in such a way as to teach dangerous error. It is all the more dangerous that these soft truths are being taught by the most learned of teachers, men whom the people naturally look up to as men of authority. Little is said by these men about sin, but much about the safety of the sinner in the care of the Father.

Some religious teachers are trying to state their theological doctrines in scientific language, and are making bad work of it. The theology of evolution has come to be accepted by some, and it is thought necessary to find an interpretation of the story of creation and the origin of sin which will fit in with this new theory. Hence we are told that sin is not an intruder any more than night is an alien element. Sin is just as natural and as necessary as righteousness. The mixed character of the moral life of mankind is a natural consequence of the manner in which man came into existence, and sin is a part of our heritage.

We must not antagonize science, but much that is set forth as science is mere speculation. This is true of this sort of reasoning concerning the moral condition of mankind. Science has done wonders for men, but it will travel a long way before it can tell us anything about the origin and nature of sin. Science knows nothing about the origin and nature of sin. Any poor sinner with a broken and contrite heart knows more about the nature of sin than the wisest philosopher who never tasted the bitter cup of repentance.

The fruits of this new doctrine of sin are bad. The consequences following the fading out of the sense of sin from the hearts of men are apparent. Who is afraid of sin now? The average man is much more afraid of being found out than he is of the sin itself. If a young man can take the money of the bank or of his employer, and replace it before he is discovered, he considers himself a lucky and sharp fellow. He imagines that his hands are clean. Teach men that there is no judgment to fear except that of the county court, that there is no detective to escape save the policeman, and they will soon conclude that they are shrewd enough to evade these. To destroy the sense of sin is to open the door to vice and crime. If a man does not have a watchman in his own bosom to restrain him, he will not be restrained. The city and the country can not be saved from crime and vice by learning, or by law, or by prisons. Unless we are saved by a living conscience, we are lost.

They tell us the world is growing better, but the tide of moral progress seems to have received a check. If we go on at the present rate of increase in crime and vice for twenty years, can we be sure that the world will not be growing worse? Let us hope that this black tide of iniquity will be turned back. But if it is, it must be by closing the floodgate by which it has been admitted. Let the sense of sin be revived by teaching the truth. Let ministers and teachers show men that sin is exceeding sinful.

Many good things might be said about conditions which surround us in this day; but one thing must not be overlooked. The people are more insensible to the appeals of the gospel than they were fifty years ago. Where is the pastor who does not know that it is more difficult to secure conversions and revivals of religion than it was in time past? Why should we expect it to be otherwise? Why should any one confess his sins, if sin is not an intruder? Why should any one repent, if sin is nothing to repent of? Why should any one be converted, if there is nothing to be converted from? Is repentance possible to one who has lost the sense of sin?

Is it not time to consider whither we are drifting? Sin is always busy, but we were never startled as we are to-day by crimes breaking out in circles where we had a right to expect better things. It is plain that multitudes of respectable people are living a double life. They are making a fair show outwardly, and cherishing secret sins, hoping to escape detection and never lose their respectability. They care more for their respectability than for their integrity. It is plain that very strong preaching is needed to-day. It is no time to mince matters. It is not a time for soft words. We must preach the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, until men shall feel that sin is exceeding sinful.—New York Advocate.