Dear Reader,
I have decided to begin a series of posts for the glory of God --- a series in which I will be going through a most excellent book by Jerry Bridges; it is called 'Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate'. I haven't even finished reading it yet, and it's already opened my eyes incredibly to the detail of sin. Remember when Christ pointed out that being angry with someone was equal to committing murder? That's exactly like what this book does. We are quite aware of the major sins, but those little ones --- those ones that seem so small that you hardly know they are there --- are what this book helps us see and teaches us where to go to get rid of them.
To best prepare you for what to expect in this series, I shall herein insert the preface by the author. If it interests you, I hope that you will gladly return to read more, as I plan on writing one post approximately every week. I hope it convicts and inspires you as greatly or more than it has me.
"He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her" (John 8:7, KJV) Though many scholars today question whether the well-known account of the woman accused of adultery actually belongs in the gospel of John, the expression has become a part of our wider culture, along with a similar one: "Judge not, that ye be not judged" (Matthew 7:1, KJV).
This book, as the title announces, is about sin --- not the obvious sins of our culture but the subtle sins of believers, the target audience of this book. So let me say up front that I am not without the sins addressed in this book. In fact, you will find that I sometimes use my own sad experiences as examples of some of these sins.
The motivation for this book stems from a growing conviction that those of us whom I call conservative evangelicals may have become so preoccupied with some of the major sins of society around us that we have lost sight of the need to deal with our own more "refined" or subtle sins.
While seeking to address these "respectable" sins, however, I also want this to be a book of hope. We are never to wallow hopelessly in our sins. Rather we are to believe that gospel through which God has dealt with both the guilt of our sin and its dominion over us.
The gospel, though, is only for sinners, for those who recognize their need of it. Many Christians think of the gospel as only for unbelievers. Once we trust in Christ, so the thinking goes, we no longer need the gospel. But, as I seek to bring out in this book, the gospel is a vital gift from God not only for our salvation but also to enable us to deal with the ongoing activity of sin in our lives. So we still need the gospel every day.
This book by no means covers all the possible subtle sins we face. A number of friends in Christian ministry looked over a lengthy list of sins I had compiled and helped me reduce it to a manageable list of the the more common ones. To those friends I express my deepest thanks for their suggestions.
...And above all, to God be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
{end of quote}
Because this is only the prelude to the series, I'm not going to wait a whole week to post the first official part. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow --- quite fitting for a Sunday, don't you think? ;)
Please come back soon if God has put it on your heart to read more.
God bless! ♥
"The heavenly Potter's design may be thwarted in a number of ways, the most common of which is the toleration of sin in the life. It may be open sin or sin cherished in the imagination. It may be sins of the spirit such as jealousy, pride, covetousness, or sins of speech. Those may seem more respectable than the grosser sins of the flesh, but they are no more acceptable to God. Sin of any kind will mar the vessel."
-Spiritual Discipleship, J. Oswald Sanders
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