There is a great need to preach on sin today. I am not at all sure that sin is any worse or more prevalent today than in generations gone by for one can go back in history and find unimaginable sin. Human sacrifice, cannibalism, idol worship, all forms of sexual debauchery, witchcraft, mass murders (think Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot), you name it and you can find it in the history of the sins of mankind. History teaches us just how bad man can be.

It may also be that one can find others worse than himself as regards sin. So what? Does that make a man a success just because he can find others worse than himself? Does that make me sin free? No way! "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:23 NKJV) "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8 NKJV) "The wages of sin is death." (Rom. 6:23 NKJV) We all live condemned before the God of the universe based on the sin in our life unless it is forgiven.

Well, what is sin and what makes it so bad? "Sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4 KJV) or as the New King James Version puts it, "sin is lawlessness." It is disobedience to the law of God whether willful or otherwise. What makes it so bad? It displaces God as the rightful ruler of the world and puts man in God's place. It mocks God as if to say who is God that I (man) should obey him.

Why must sin be punished? Because if it is not God cannot be God. Law that is not enforced is in reality no law at all. God the lawmaker is not glorified but mocked if his law is not upheld. Disrespect or disobedience to the law is really a slap in the face of the lawgiver. Sin must be punished or else the lawmaker must step down and lose all authority to rule for if he will not enforce his law how can he rule? Remove punishment for sin and righteousness ceases to exist. What is right then becomes what the strongest man says is right. Hitler was in such a scenario only wrong because he failed to win the war. In a world without God there is no such thing as an absolute standard of right and wrong. You can only have God if God is God and will rule as God by putting teeth into his commandments enforcing obedience by punishing disobedience.

God gives to the world security. We know sin will be punished and will not ultimately win out. We know evil and wickedness will not last forever. To paraphrase a preacher I once heard if there is no hell or punishment for sin then Hitler got off scot-free for what happened to him happens to all men - he died. He died but so will you and I. He got away with mass murder if there is no punishment for sin.

The truth is the rational man wants sin punished. He knows without God there is no hope in this world for he knows he will grow old and die and he knows if God does not exist there is no hope of any afterlife. To have God you must have sin punished for God must rule. If sin is punished then God is and hope exists.

What then - was man created simply so God could rule and punish men for their sin? Not at all. Man was created to live with God eternally. "God is not willing that any should perish." (2 peter 3:9 NKJV) "'As I live,' says the Lord God, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.'" (Ezek. 33:11 NKJV) Man was created to give God glory throughout eternity. "Everyone who is called by my name, whom I have created for my glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him." (Isa. 43:7 NKJV)

God knew man would sin and knew he had to punish sin but made provision to do that through his son Jesus even before the world began. "Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world." (1 PETER 1:18-20 NKJV) Note the phrase "foreordained before the foundation of the world."

Another like passage is found in Eph. 1:4, "Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." (NKJV) Note again, "before the foundation of the world." Jesus is "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." (Rev. 13:8 NKJV) John the Baptist, when he saw Jesus coming toward him said of him, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." (John 1:29 NKJV)

No, God did not create man without knowing man would sin. It was never his plan that man be doomed without hope. God is love (1 John 4:8). He had a plan from the very beginning to both punish sin and yet save man while upholding his law and his authority. That plan involved Christ.

"Now, once at the end of the ages, he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." (Heb. 9:26 NKJV) "Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many." (Heb. 9:28 NKJV) He "bore our sins in his own body on the tree." (1 Peter 2:24 NKJV) As one preacher put it Jesus was born to die with the purpose of that death being to pay the penalty for the sin of man. Jesus died physically so we do not have to die eternally which is to say we can be saved from the punishment for our sins against God if we are willing to accept the sacrifice Jesus made by obeying the gospel. God punished sin through Jesus' willing sacrifice on the cross. Make no mistake about it God did uphold the honor of his law and did punish sin on the cross of Jesus at Calvary.

For the man or woman who is not willing to accept Jesus (in gospel obedience), who desires to serve himself and do as he pleases, the sacrifice of Jesus is of no benefit to him. Such a man or woman is at war with God, unthankful and unholy. He will show God who is boss. He will show God who is running his life. He will show God who is God, namely himself. What a fool such a man is. He is going to take on the creator of all that exists in the heavens and on earth, going to take on the one who has lived eternally. Wow! He is willing to take on God when he would run from a mean pit bull if he thought there was a chance of getting away. That is really thinking rationally - can't take on a mean dog but thinks he will win against God. Who can figure man out?

God is our only hope. We need to submit to his will. I have never known a man who thought the teachings of Christ as found in the New Testament were evil. All agree that if all men would live by those teachings we would have a much happier and safer world than we do today. Those teachings bring only good to man, no evil, and give good hope of a wonderful life to come.

How sad it is then that men today will not preach against sin, showing men their sins, confronting them with them, so that they might be made aware of sin and its consequences and be led to repentance, gospel obedience, and forgiveness.

If we preach the Bible we must preach about sin. Have you ever given it thought that if there was no sin there would be no need for the Bible, no need for Jesus the Savior, no need for the cross? Every man has sin and every man needs to have it forgiven if he is to obtain heaven. When we fail to preach on sin we leave sinners in sin thinking all is well with their souls and thus help them along the road to hell. Will there be preachers in hell? If I help a man get to hell I am probably going to have to pay for my sin in doing so.

No man will repent unless and until he knows he needs to repent. Men must be made to feel the guilt of sin if they are to be converted. "Godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation, not to be regretted." (2 Cor. 7:10 NKJV) It is the job of the church and every member to help bring godly sorrow into the lives of men and women who are involved in sin. They need to know what the Bible says about sin and need to know there is a way out through Jesus.

People living in adultery are a good example of the kind of thing I am talking about. The Bible only gives one reason for a second marriage aside from the death of one's spouse. "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery." (Matt. 19:9 NKJV) Unless there has been fornication on the part of one's spouse it is adultery to divorce and remarry and yet it is rare to hear preaching against this sin. Why not? Because many religious bodies that call themselves Christian have come to accept this sin and accept those involved in it as members in good standing. What does God say about it?

"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Cor. 6:9-10 NKJV) John the Baptist lost his head over this matter telling Herod it was not lawful for him (Herod) to have his brother Philip's wife (Matt. 14:3-4). This woman although married to Herod was always referred to in scripture as "Philip's wife" and not Herod's.

The same sin abounds today in America but rather than having men like John the Baptist preaching against it many religious bodies just welcome in the adulterous couple as full fledged members in good standing. They welcome them in on their way to hell with not a word to warn them. John the Baptist lost his head in preaching against the sin but who is to say the modern day preacher will not lose his soul for holding his silence refusing to preach against it and other sins?

When we fail to preach against sin we "have strengthened the hands of the wicked, so that he does not turn from his wicked way to save his life." (Ezek. 13:22 NKJV) Shall we be found innocent on the Day of Judgment because we remained silent in the face of sin lest we hurt feelings and be found to be disagreeable? What is needed is preaching and teaching against sin and not acceptance of it as though all is well.

I am glad I was raised in a time (50's and 60's) where I was able to hear fire and brimstone sermons about sin and hell. There was little to no hesitancy to preach against sin in those days. Such sermons were needed then and are needed now whether they are preached or not. Jesus did not go to the cross and die just so we can continue to be sinners. What has happened to the gospel of Christ? I fear it has been replaced by a social gospel and by benevolent societies calling themselves churches. I have nothing against benevolence but you can feed and clothe a man or woman until old age and death but that will not get them to heaven without repentance and obedience to the gospel of Christ. They will still have the problem of sin and you will have your own sin problem if you fail them in teaching them the truth about sin when you could have.

We can either preach on sin or we can let people die in sin thinking all is well. The trouble is not only will they reap what they sow but so will we. "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." (Gal. 6:7 NKJV) Why not encourage your preacher to preach on sin? To preach on sin is to save souls.

All of Denny's articles, over 100 audio sermons by Waymon Swain, a free online Bible correspondence course, plus access by links to many other Bible study resources can all be found on Denny's web site DennySmith.Net.