Sin?

"I was warned so many years ago, that if I overemphasized sin in my preaching it would drive people away, if I preached too frequently on sin it would offend people and people wouldn't come, and if I continued to preach on sin, it would wear people out.

"I don't believe that. I never have believed that if you try to deal with sin people aren't going to come because they don't want to be exposed to that, it's too intimidating and threatening.

"Listen I know one thing about the true children of God, their inner person desires holiness, and they will pursue an environment where they are aided in fulfilling those longings." - John MacArthur


This is what I love about John MacArthur. I mean, look at that first paragraph of the quote above. Isn't that what the church in America believes these days? Isn't that what we're taught? Our seminary's and Bible colleges are teaching us not to proclaim the very Gospel! And it takes a man like MacArthur to stand up against that and say, no, I don't believe that, it's contrary to the plain teaching of the Bible.

No wonder the modern Gospel is watered down, sugar-coated and powerless. We're taught to take out the very reason that we need a Savior. We're being taught to entertain people, to work on their self-esteem and have fun. Our up and coming pastors are being trained as "goat-hearders" rather than true shepherds proclaiming the truth of the Gospel. No wonder it's so hard to find a good church in America these days.

But then look at the last paragraph of the quote. True children of God will desire this, they will pursue holiness, they will want to remove sin from their lives whenever it's found, not attempt to ignore it and see how much they can get away with while still avoiding hell. This is the difference between true and false converts.

How do professed believers react when you bring something like this up to them? They might say, 'Well, we can't know their hearts', but I say find that in the Bible. Instead, I find, "You'll know them by their fruits" (Matt 7:16, Matt 7:20, Matt 12:33, Col 1:10).
I find where we ARE to judge those inside the Church (1 Cor 5:12), and not to associate with those who call themselves believers, yet continue in a lifestyle of sin (1 Cor 5:11).

Do you know what "judgmental" means? I looked it up, since people always seem to take it in a negative way. But here's what I found.
Judgmental
1. involving the use or exercise of judgment.
2. tending to make moral judgments

Word Origin & History - "inclined to make moral judgments," 1952, from judgment.
Online Etymology Dictionary, C 2010 Douglas Harper

So, the next time someone calls me "judgmental", I think I'm just going to thank them. According to that definition, it's a compliment to my ability to make moral decisions.
What about "judge not, lest ye be judged"? Context, people, context. If you continue reading (Matt 7) you will find that you must remove the log from your own eye, and then it is permissible to judge a brother, in love. This was written to a hypocrite, so don't be one of those by quoting it out of context. Continue reading and you'll get to the part where Jesus says, "You'll know them by their fruit."
Use your discernment, make a righteous moral judgment, based on Scripture (John 7:24).