Question: Conviction of Sin?

Question

There is a lack of conviction of sin in these days. Will you please give help to preachers and Sunday School workers in regard to their message in order to help to bring this out?

Answer

As a picture is thrown into relief by its dark background, so the glorious features of the Gospel can only be brought into prominence by emphasising the dark background of man’s sin and his need of God’s mercy. Peter emphasized to the Jews their guilt in rejecting their Messiah, but thereafter told them of the remedy. Peter told Cornelius the facts of the life, death and resurrection of Christ, but thereafter emphasised their bearing in relation to sin. Paul preached repentance toward God first and then faith in Christ Jesus. If God’s forgiveness is to be known, sin’s gravity must be felt. So all who spread the Gospel should see that their messages contain an allusion to sin, its gravity and its consequences. Let them call attention to the various words God has employed to describe it – transgression, guilt, iniquity, etc., etc. Let them illustrate by David’s great grief and the prodigal’s misery. Only the Spirit of God can bring about conviction of sin, but the servant of the Lord may cause some to awake out of their sleep to become conscious of its existence. Let none of us, in ourselves, treat sin lightly for such carelessness in ourselves will result in carelessness on the part of others. Sin must be dreadful, since it necessitated the death of no-one less than God’s Son to put it away.