Go and Sin No More

Why is it that it’s so easy to tell people that God loves them and that they should turn to Him so that they can go to heaven, but it’s so very hard to tell them that they are a sinner?  It’s hard to tell people…family, friends and neighbors that they need to repent of their sin and believe in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross for their sin and be saved?
 
Jesus loved the sinner, but He wasn’t soft on sin.  He didn’t try to make people feel better in their sin.  He didn’t say that it was all okay because God loved them.  Instead He had the perfect blend of repentance from sin and the message of salvation provided by God and motivated by His perfect love for them.  (John 3:14-18)
 
Think of the woman caught in adultery…after her accusers left one by one…Jesus asked her, “Where are your accusers?  Has no one condemned you?”  (John 8:4-11)  She responded, “There are none.”  The only One who could rightfully condemn her because of her sin, said, “Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more.”  The reason Jesus could do that is because He knew that He would bear her sin on Calvary’s cross.  That His blood would be shed to pay the penalty for her sin.  That her sin would be removed as far as the east is from the west.  He came to pay the penalty for her sin and mine.
 
One reasons that I have a hard time telling people that they are a sinner in need of a Savior is because of my own sin.  Not only am I not perfect…there are times when I willfully choose to sin.  I may have a wrong sinful attitude and don’t want to repent.  Or I may have a good faith walk with the Lord these days…but never far from my memory is a past sin…a big fall.  I’m afraid to bring up someone else’s sin because they may call me a hypocrite. 

When I’m focused on my sin, instead of my Savior and the forgiveness that He wrought on the cross, I’m walking in unbelief.  Doubt and unbelief is a sin too.  It’s the sin that kept the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years. 
 
While sin is wrong and horrible it may be something that the Lord can use in my testimony with others.  I can be tender and delicate in helping them remove the spec from their eye because I had to remove a log from my own eye.
 
God is so good at redeeming things…and even using my past to help me gently but directly deal with someone else who is sinning.  To let them know that there is forgiveness in Jesus Christ and they can have peace with God and know with assurance that they have been forgiven and will go to heaven.
 
What a sobering reminder that I need to be a clean vessel.  I must be quick to repent from sin…ready to die to my own self will, directed by my sinful selfish nature. 
 
If I can’t tell people the bad news that of sin and the eternal consequences of hell, how will they understand and appreciate their need for a Savior and the good news of forgiveness and salvation found in Jesus Christ.