Did Jesus talk about Sin? Should we?
This tweet speaks for many today who believe that Jesus did not say much about sin. Is this true?
First, the question “who is your neighbor” is connected to “love your neighbor” a commandment of the Lord in the OT that Jesus in the gospels claimed (along with first and foremost, loving God) is what all the Law and prophets hang on. To not obey the Lord on this is called…hmm…
Second there are some fallacies here. A word count fallacy and an etymology fallacy. Jesus does in fact address sin repeatedly and clearly in the gospel accounts. But an initial question for this individual is okay you claim Jesus doesn't say that much about sin in gospels...but compared to what?" (this question is borrowed from the economist Thomas Sowell who asks it in a different contex but is applicable here) The truth is even if Jesus only addressed sin once (he actually did hundreds of times-in the gospels and beyond--see below), understanding sin would be still of infinite importance. A second fallacy is an etymolgical falalcy. The idea here is that the term "sin" in the bible has to be found or else it is not present. Yet many synonyms or related terms that refer to the same very important biblical truth concerning sin and Jesus ministry to defeat it: trespasses/debts, being lost, lawbreaker, hypocrites, etc. Just because the exact word "sin" is not used does not mean the concept or idea is not present. I'd venture to say that probably at least every other story recorded in the gospels about Jesus has the concept of sin present in it.
Christology error. Jesus is the divine Son of God the second person of the triune eternal Godhead…he is the Lord incarnate. From Genesis to Revelation Father, Son and Holy Spirit co-equally reveal the truth of the Word and talk thousands upon thousands of times about sin…where the Bible speaks, Jesus speaks…and God speaks thouands upon thousands of times about sin in HIs Holy Word...we are not Marcionites who cut what we don't like and cherry pick parts of the Bible. The Gospel accounts are awesome and wonderful but they are not more inspired by God than the other books of Scripture and to ignore the rest of Scripture is the ignore the voice of God. Vox Dei est in toto Verbo Dei.
It is true we should not obsess over our sin if by this we mean hyper-focus on sins without Christ or out of some vain effort to think we could ever cure or heal ourselves of sin. But the Bible clearly calls us with sin to: mark it, know it, put it to death, repent of it, flee from it, hate it, forsake it, give it to the Lord, confess it, avoid it, preach it, be innocent if it, not speak of it, etc. So yes as a Christian you better be doing these things with sin and if you are accused of being "obsessed with it" make sure it is from a faithful brother or sister who has closely watched your life and that they bring you back to the gospel of Christ.. If you don’t do what Scripture says concerning sin, what you have is (almost certainly) a demonstration of a false profession (aka an unregenerate deceived, hardened heart that is devoid for of the Holy Spirit and is not in Christ).
Sin is a central pillar of the Gospel that the Holy uniquely worthy Creator God has intentionally revealed (see 1 Corinthians 15 ). No focus on sin or a failutre to see it as the dominant problem human beings face and you do not hold to biblical truth no matter what you claim. Nuff said. If you do not preach, teach, speak on sin and if you do know what sin is so you diminish it, you deceive yourself and others and you do not preach the same gospel orthe same Christ as recorded and revealed in the Bible. To downplay sin's depth and power as the chief source of our problems is to devalue Christ’s awesome unique sin atoning death on the cross. Let us not blaspheme God but talk and teach plainly about what the Word of God tells us concerning sin. It is far more dangerous and common for people in our day—even professing Christians to downplay, redefine or altogether ignore sin. And in fact to do any of these with sin is eternally dangerous and will cause great suffering here on earth and into eternity. Sin, according to the God of the Bible is mankind’s greatest problem. And sin is precisely what Christ came to deal with completely and definitively to the glory of His Father.
“Till sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet.” -Thomas Watson
16 When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?”
17 And hearing this, Jesus *said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:16–17)
“I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” (Luke 15:7)