(Continued from page 247.)
IN a previous article on this subject, we pointed out chiefly two things: first, that there is the greatest possible difference between the sense of sin and the practice of sin—sin itself is of the creature, but the sense of it is of God; and secondly, that it is clearly the teaching of the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit produces a sense of sin in conversion and sustains the same in sanctification. It is manifest, therefore, that the absence of this sense implies the absence of the work of the Spirit which is necessary to salvation. Many, indeed, are the evil results of the absence of the Spirit’s work in His convincing and enlightening operations. The sinner who has religious convictions of a kind, and is not humbled before God by a sense of his sins, is beset with grave spiritual dangers. In fact, it has been remarked by thoughtful students of the things of the kingdom of God that no great error in doctrine or departure from the Scriptures has ever taken place, but an insufficient sense of the sinfulness of sin lay at the bottom of it. A deep conviction of our own sinfulness and liability to err, will keep us submissive to the wisdom of God as expressed in His word, and dependent on the teaching of the Spirit of truth, who cannot lie. We now proceed to observe:—
3. Some all-important departments of religion from which the sense of sin is absent at the present day.
It is conspicuous by its absence from the general preaching of the time. Let it be noticed that the theology which is popular in the larger religious denominations takes little account of the fact of sin. The inspired account of the Fall is treated by many more as myth or poetry than as simple truth, while the doctrine of the total depravity of the race in relation to anything spiritually good is practically, often emphatically, denied. Divinity students who have never been savagely taught of God themselves, and who imbibe seriously-defective views of sin and salvation at theological Halls, will necessarily give expression to these views in the pulpit when they become ordained and responsible ministers of the Gospel. Thus it has come to pass that the average preacher of the day is a man who does not seem to have any sense of sin himself, and makes no effort to impress his hearers with the necessity of having it. He was never convinced in his own soul that he was a fallen, lost sinner before God, or that he possesses a heart that is “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jerem. xvii. 9), and so these solemn realities have no place in his thoughts or his preaching. He stands up with the aspect of a just and good man who never thought or did anything particularly wrong or sinful in his life, and addresses his hearers as if they were very much like himself in this respect. They need, no doubt, to be instructed or corrected on some minor points, or consoled in view of troubles and disappointments they have experienced in their daily life, and he administers the supposed instruction or comfort required. Further than this he seldom, if ever, goes. Sin, if it is handled at all, is chiefly treated in its bearings on one’s neighbour or fellow-creature. Moral evil, as between man and man, is at times largely descanted on and strongly denounced, but sin, as committed against God and incurring His holy displeasure and righteous curse, is not discussed or proclaimed. The Bible doctrines of sin and its consequent punishment—hell—are regarded by many preachers as the gloomy notions of an unenlightened past, in nowise fit for the ears of the cultured people of to-day. We have surely fallen upon evil times when the unerring truth of God’s Word cannot be spoken or listened to in the professing Church of Christ, and when blind leaders of the blind so largely occupy the Christian pulpit. We do not touch the various consequences of this popular preaching meantime: we simply note the fact that the sense of sin, both as a doctrine and an experience, is absent from it to a fatal degree.
The sense of sin is also conspicuously absent from the exercise of public prayer. The Lord Jesus, as the Head of the Church, taught His disciples to pray: “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us” (Luke xi. 4). And the Apostle John, as an inspired teacher, addressing the children of God, declares, “If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John i. 8, 9). These infallible testimonies clearly prove both that a sense of sin is an important element in Christian experience, and that sin should be matter of confession and supplication unto God on the part of those who walk in the light. Now, we find that this feature is very seldom to be observed in the general ministerial prayers of the present day. There is no confession of sin, or entreaty for forgiveness. The cry of the broken spirit, which is in God’s sight a pleasing sacrifice, is not to be heard from professional lips—a sure indication of the reign of spiritual death. What is generally to be heard is a series of thanksgivings for blessings received—”We thank Thee; we thank Thee; we thank Thee”—a manner of address too suggestive of the Pharisee’s prayer in the temple: “I thank thee that I am not as other men are.” The supplication of the Publican—”God be merciful to me, a sinner,”—is far away. Let us not, however, be understood for a moment as decrying the spirit of true thankfulness to the Most High for His goodness, or the appropriate expression of it. This is admirable and necessary in its own place. But it comes to this, that when no sense of sin or need is expressed, the discerning hearer is apt to call in question whether the leader in prayer has ever received any of the saving blessings of the Gospel, and, as a result, whether he is capable of rendering spiritual thankfulness to God for anything whatsoever. The most highly favoured of God’s servants feel their own sins and shortcomings most, and the need of constant application to the throne of grace for forgiveness and cleansing, and for quickening, renewing, comforting, and strengthening influences. They count not themselves to have apprehended, but “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. iii. 14). The absence of the sense of sin from the devotional utterances of those who ought to be an example to others will have an injurious effect upon the views of the people who listen to them. The tendency will be to choke the sense of sin and need, even where it is to be found. Unconverted ministers are bound to destroy much good and to do incalculable harm to their fellow-sinners.
The sense of sin is, further, absent from the general religious life of our time. We use the word life in a modified sense. The life that is so much talked of is for most part only a form of death. Spiritual death has its activities as well as spiritual life, and these activities bewray themselves, for they do not run in the channel of God’s Word. Let it be noticed, then, that the sense of sin is absent from many supposed conversions. This important change is now generally reduced to one category, decision for Christ. All that the convert is expected to say is that he believes in and intends to follow Christ. There is no word of conviction of sin, and ruin, and helplessness. A lost sinner, crying to the Lord for mercy and pardon and faith through Jesus Christ, and not ceasing until He is helped and saved from above, is not the newer Christian at his beginnings. He believes and decides by his own native ability with hardly a pang of conscience, and this is what is called conversion. True it is that a decision to follow Christ is part of a true conversion to God, but it is not the whole. It belongs to the fruit rather than the root of the matter. None can truly obey the Redeemer but one who has been saved by Him from sin in its guilt and dominion, and this implies an inward change of soul—a new birth—that is generally attended with many inward struggles and agonies on account of sin.
The subject will (D.V.) be resumed in a future issue.