Sin and the Gospel

An argument that the bad news of sin must precede the good news of salvation.

In Matt 7:13-14, Jesus says that the way to eternal life is hard and, “those who find it are few.” The consistent teaching of Scripture is that the vast majority of people will eventually face eternal hell as punishment for their sin. Since most people end up spending eternity in hell, the obvious conclusion is that many people hear the message of the gospel and yet they reject it. There are many theological explanations as to why a person rejects the message of the gospel, many of which will eventually be discussed in the future. Though, for today’s purpose, I would like to focus on one particular topic that greatly impacts the way we approach the command of our Lord to evangelize.

While there are many superficial reasons that people may give for rejecting the gospel message, I submit that one of the main reasons people reject the gospel of Jesus Christ is not because they do not clearly understand it’s message. Instead, it is because they do not clearly understand the doctrine of sin and it’s eternal implications. The problem is not necessarily a lack of knowledge about Jesus’ sacrificial, saving death. The problem is that people don’t understand what they need to be saved from. People don’t understand the eternal weightiness of their unrighteousness before an infinitely holy God. The problem is not that people in America aren’t being evangelized. The problem is that they are not being evangelized properly. We have no one to blame for this but ourselves.

The good news of salvation means nothing to people who don’t think they need to be saved! The good news of the gospel MUST be preceded by the devastating news of man’s depraved condition. Look at the book of Romans for example. Romans is Paul’s explanation of the gospel to the church at Rome. In this epistle, Paul spends the entire first two chapters dealing with man’s sinful condition and God’s righteous judgment as a result of man’s sin. Paul doesn’t even begin to explain the salvation that we have in Christ until he has completely and thoroughly explained the doctrine of sin. If people don’t understand that they are sinners, and that their sin condemns them to spend an eternity suffering in hell, how in the world can we expect them to even care about the good news of a Savior? We rush past the condemning truth about sin in order to explain the good news of salvation. What good is a message of salvation to people who do not know that they are lost? If people do not understand sin, they cannot possibly understand salvation. People who are without sin are people who do not need grace. Rom 3:10-18 makes it clear that this sinless person does not exist.

Because all have sinned, all are in need of grace. But until people understand sin and their slavery to it, they will never understand their need for the grace offered through Jesus Christ. If people do not understand their need for grace, they will reject the message of the gospel. We have a responsibility not only to tell people about Jesus as Savior, but to first help them understand sin and why they need salvation from it’s consequences. This first step in evangelism is often forgotten, and as a result people don’t see themselves as the wicked sinners that they are, desperately in need of grace and salvation. The good news of the gospel must be preceded by an understanding of the condemnation of sin.

BY HIS GRACE (1 Cor 15:10) – FOR HIS GLORY (1 Tim 1:17)