The Absence of Sin — E.A. Johnston

The Missing Doctrine of Sin

We have in our pulpits today much talk about God and Heaven, about Jesus and eternal life. But there is a noticeable absence that fails to sound forth. There is an absence of sin. The sad reality is that very few preachers today will mention sin, let alone preach hard against it.

But if we don't preach about sin, how can we warn sinners about the punishment of hell? If we don't preach on the sinfulness of sin, how can we ask sinners to turn from their sins in repentance to a holy God?

Sin and the Necessity of the Cross

If we fail to preach about sin, then we negate the power of the cross. Jesus was fastened to the cross with nails in his hands and feet, and the reason he was crucified on that ignoble tree was because of sin.

Sin's Penalty and the Incomplete Gospel

You remove sin from the gospel, and you have no gospel at all. Without the mention of sin, how can you preach on sin's penalty? In 2 Thessalonians we read that they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

In our churches today, throughout this land, we have pleasure in our unrighteousness because nobody warned us about the penalty of sin in a devil's hell. That's why the lives of church members today remain unchanged because they have never been touched by God.

Holy Spirit Conviction and Awareness of Sin

Those who have not been touched by the Holy Spirit are not aware of sin. Those who are not aware of sin cannot accept salvation from a Savior from sin. That's why we have boatloads and boatloads of people who sit in church each Sunday, but who live like the devil through the week.

Sin's Separation from God

How can you preach that it is sin that separates us from God? As seen in Romans 5 .12, which declares,. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned.

But we have sin in religion today because we failed to preach God's truth, as seen in Isaiah 59 .2. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you that He will not hear.

Repentance, Faith, and the Need for a Savior

I don't believe God hears half the prayers from church folk today who have never gotten their sins washed in the blood of His Son. The result of a watered-down gospel is we have folks in church today who teach a Sunday school class or stand in a pulpit, and they've never ever came under Holy Spirit conviction, never ever were awakened to their lost condition, never ever saw their sins, never ever saw their need of a Savior from sin, and they never ever have exercised repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ, because if you miss repentance, then you miss faith, and you remain dead in your sins as you carry your religion like a suitcase on your way to hell.

Sin's Hatred by a Holy God

If we fail to preach about the destructive nature of sin and how sin is hateful to a holy God, then no one will fear God, and everyone will love their sin. But it was sin that crucified the Lord of glory.

Christ Bearing Sin and the Father's Forsakenness

Your sins, my sins, are filthy, wretched sins that made the Father look away from His beloved Son on that bloody cross, because when Christ became sin for us, God had to look away. It was the turned face of the Father that pierced Jesus more than those nails.

It made Him cry out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The absence of sin results in the absence of the real gospel of the Son of God. This is the reason folks aren't getting saved today. They're just joining the church.

Judgment and the False Profession of Faith

How can they be saved if they don't know they're on their way to hell? Folks today, just make a mental flip for Jesus they have never met, and because they never knew Him, He will one day say to them, I never knew you.

Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.