Someone recently asked me what unbiblical preaching against sin would be. Because of the many discussions on these boards about open air preaching and about preaching against sin, I thought I'd share this here.

Regarding preaching against sins, this verse came to my mind quickly, the Lord said in

John 8:7
So when they continued asking Him, He lifted up himself, and said unto them, he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

If I were to preach against sins to anyone, I would :

l. Condemn and confess my own sins or sinfulness before GOD first.

2. Make sure that I don't practice whatever sins I try to preach against.

3. I would definitely use the approach of being one of the sinners, rather than projecting myself as some 'righteous' preacher.

Nobody, especially the unbelievers, would take a preacher against sins seriously if they remotely sense that the preacher has any sin issues in their own lives.

I hope these are biblical, sorry if they're not.

mml, :)

There is a time to clean out the temple, but Christ was pure righteousness Himself and was justified.

There is a time also to cast the first stone, which none is justified except Christ: His choice was go and sin no more, you are forgiven.

What did the Law do to Paul? It killed him. Rom 7:11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew [me].

In Christ: Phillip

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Phillip

Brother Jesse,

you wrote:

Jesse, you’ve been on my mind a lot lately, and I’ve been praying for you. I have been rejoicing in God for you. I think of Is. 44: 3: I will pour our my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.”

Lately you have raised some critical issues that we believers all need to address on a personal level. Because they involve us all, as part of God’s refining process.

I have discovered that the word, “preach” in the gospel is usually closely connected with the word ‘Gospel” or Good News. Preaching is a calling we all have if we are truly in Christ. In fact, it is an outpouring of what is within us. It can’t help but come out.

Sadly, the word, Preach, has come to be associated with much that is not preaching. In other words, it is not closely attached to the GOSPEL. It is like a dry wind.

The Gospel is LIGHT – that is the LIGHT of Christ. It is this bright, radiant Light that exposes what is in darkness – that is – sin hidden in the consciences of man.

When we merely try to “preach sin” (which is not really preaching) we cause our “victims” (that’s how they feel) to feel hopeless helpless, or they simply toss out what we have to say. They trample on the good things we may have to offer. We have lost their respect - not because they saw the Light within us, but because they failed to see the Light in us.

Lately I am being more and more convicted of own personal call to preach the gospel – that is, to LET THE LIGHT SHINE, through my life and through all that I do. It is either there or it is not. People see beyond my words. They see what’s there. And when the light within me shines on the darkness in their hearts, they feel convicted (by the Spirit)– even without any mention of their sin. I’ve seen it often. My role is to become more and more Christ-like. That is the best gift I can give the sinner.

We are called to be ready to give an answer for the faith that is within us. That means, that people will seek us out when they want to know. Many sought out Jesus. They came to HIM. He made himself available – walking on their turf, eating in their homes, and loving them as a servant. They came to him because the news had spread.

The Pharisees were threatened by Jesus, and jealous of him long before he preached his woes on them. They couldn’t take the LIGHT, and THAT is why they persecuted him.


Diane

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Diane

To somewhat piggy back off what Diane was saying, I'd like to add that when speaking out against sin, it's not simply enough to say "Do you do this and that? If so, don't do it anymore." Instead of just speaking against a sin, and what people SHOULD NOT DO, we should also speak for what the gospel says they SHOULD DO.

You can see this contrast a lot throughout the Scriptures. Take for example in Galatians 5, where the works of the flesh are set in contrast for the fruit of the Spirit. God doesn't desire for you to just stop stealing, instead God desires for you to be produce something.

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Jimmy H

No, I do not believe one can preach too hard against sin.

Now, exactly what is sin? Is it not anything that will separate one from God Almighty? This separation, unless repented of, will doom a person to hell. Do we have any concept of the horrors of hell? Do we have any concept of spending eternity in such a terrible place? Have we ever smelled the fire and brimstone of hell? Have we ever heard in our spirit the shrieks and cries of people so doomed? (My husband's uncle was a very ungodly man who never repented of his sins. He died while hospitalized with a nurse in attendance. She said his death was so horrible she hopes she will NEVER have to witness anything like that again!)

People become angry when you confront them about sin. They want to have the assurance of being saved without repenting of their pet sins. They have chosen to deceive themselves with lies. They will tell you they are not as bad as..... and justify themselves and then vilify you for challenging them.

On the other hand, when people become angry at you for pointing out sin, you can count that as a blessing! What is really disturbing is when you preach against sin and people are NOT moved or disturbed! Now THAT should give one pause for concern. The reason for this is because they are acting out of guilt and are trying hard to defend themselves. This usually happens in the early state of conviction settling in. Man will fight against what he knows to be true and if you represent that growing conviction you will become an object of his persecution. Now if people do NOT react against the message, it could well be they have become gospel harden, which is a tragedy that has fallen on our beloved nation in huge proportions.

Modern Christianity has seen very little of the gift of evangelism operating. During the heyday of evangelism, sin was exposed and people cried out in sorrow to God, imploring Him to have mercy on their souls. How often have you been stricken with this sense of your own sinfulness and asked God for his mercy on your soul?

A loving person will not allow a person to proceed on the path to eternal damnation without warning him. Now do I love enough to act in this way? So how do we warn the unrepentant sinner? By listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit: he will instruct you. All you have to do is be willing to speak. All you have to do is start talking. He will be there to give you the words to say and the emotion to match. Sometimes you will be so very gentle and maybe at times you will have to take them to the woodshed! The only correct method in confronting sin is to be in TOTAL obedience to the Spirit's leading. To act out of your own opinions/emotions is missing the mark.

Yes, a loving person will not allow a person to proceed on the path to eternal damnation without warning him.

ginnyrose

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Sandra Miller

I looked up every reference for “preach” in scripture (about 140), and not once do I see the phrase: “Preach against sin”. That, of course doesn’t mean that we are called to ignore sin and overlook it. But think for a minute: What is the most powerful attack against sin: Is it not the Gospel? No wonder we read over and over again in Scripture: “Preach the Gospel”, preach righteousnes, preach forgiveness, preach peace, preach the remission of sins preach the kingdom of God, and mostly PREACH THE GOSPEL

I fear that we don’t really believe in the power of the Gospel to transform lives. Friends, It is THE GOOD NEWS!!!! Consider this: When a cancer victim visits a doctor, it does little good to tell him that he has cancer because he smoked or ate too many free-radical-producing foods. Merely stopping those sins won't help. He needs to be told that there is HOPE. And he needs to be given that hope.

Of course, modern medical means are shaky at best. I fear that we view the Gospel in the same way: shaky at best. So we try to fix the sinner ourselves, by trying to pluck out his sin (the speck in his eye) If we really believed in the healing power of the Gospel, we would preach it! We would live it!

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Diane

In case it might seems like I’m suggesting that we should never point out another’ sins, I felt I should add a thought.

For me, personally, I have learned to see my sins through Spirit revelations combined with Scripture. I also learned about myself through discerning between Godly lives and godly-appearing lives. That helped me realize that I was a godly-appearing life and needed to repent of that.

Yet, there was one memorable time where someone did point out a sin. He noticed that I had been worrying about one of my children. After much prayer, and waiting for divine timing, he gave me the verse, “Whatever is not of faith is sin”. He then very tenderly pointed out that my worry was the result of unbelief. My spirit immediately agreed. I was deeply broken. What still amazes me is that I could not see it before that time.

Many times I have wanted to point out another’s sins. On occasion God allows me; but many times, just as I opened my mouth, the Lord closed it. A leader from the Canadian Revival Fellowship once said to me, ”Don’t hoe too close to the corn.” I guess that’s because you can damage delicate roots hidden under the surface, and maybe even kill the plant.

One more thought:
Has anyone here found that admitting your own sins, or your struggles with past sins is a very effective way of encouraging honesty in another? I have. Perhaps that’s because it puts us on level ground.
Diane

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Diane