Here’s the third chapter in my upcoming book, You Are Saved: The Christian’s Assurance!
You can read the Intro free and unlocked here, Chapter 1 here, and Chapter 2 here.
Greatest of treasures and it’s mine today,
Though my sins were as scarlet,
He has washed them away.
- Jewell M. Whitey Gleason, His Grace Reaches Me
It’s a well-worn technique for building suspense and fear in a movie to reveal that there is a large, looming threat, and yet wait as long as possible to show it. Knowing that there is some terrifying foe lurking around and stalking the protagonist, but not knowing how big, bad, and scary it actually is, lets the imagination go to work.
Yet, in many cases, when you actually see the monster, it’s a bit underwhelming.
Coming face to face with the threat puts limitations on it. Now you know exactly how big and bad it is, but more importantly, you know how big and bad it isn’t. It can now be defined and understood.
This same principle applies to our grasp of sin.
Every Christian knows sin is a problem. They know it separates us from God. After all, all have sinned (Romans 3:23), and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), so we know we have to take it seriously.
But when it comes to assurance, our understanding of sin makes a world of difference. When we don’t understand it well, it can be the kind of shadowy, monster-movie villain that we’ve only faintly glimpsed. This fills us with the dread of uncertainty, as we’re not sure if we can ever overcome it.
On the other hand, taking a clear look at it reveals how serious and ugly it is. But it also reveals how sin can be defeated through Christ.
Unfortunately, unclear understandings of sin are all too common today, and these misunderstandings are among the biggest hindrances to assurance. Christians can lack assurance both by overestimating and underestimating the depth of our sin problem.