Biblical References
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Category Archives: sinners
Why ‘Love the Sinner; Hate the Sin’ is Opposite to Jesus’ Teaching
Have you heard believers say they ‘Love the sinner but hate the sin’? At least you likely have heard of them. In fact, they don’t love the ‘sinner’ at all—at least not the way Jesus loves people. As we read … Continue reading
Posted in alienation, Jesus, legalism, love, Pharisees, sin, sinners
Tagged John 3, Love the sinner; hate the sin, Luke 13, reconciliation
94 Comments
Who Does God Refuse to Forgive?
When I was a child I witnessed a perplexing sight. The pastor had preached his sermon (on sin, no doubt) and gave the altar call. For those who don’t know, an altar call is given at the end of sermons … Continue reading
Posted in doubt, God, sin, sinners
Tagged forgiveness, Hebrews 6, Mark 1, Mark 3, Matthew 11, unforgivable sin, unpardonable sin
86 Comments
Are ‘Sins’ Primarily Sins against God or against Other People?
Some believers think all sins are primarily sins against God. Stephen Witmer makes that very statement: All sin is primarily sin against God. Where sin is understood as merely a moral concept rather than mainly a religious one, where it … Continue reading
Posted in alienation, behavior, God, Jesus, legalism, love, love your enemies, sin, sinners, The Father
Tagged Matthew 5
43 Comments
The Misguided Concept of ‘Loving the Sinner and Hating the Sin’
Legalistic believers often feel it is their duty to confront sinners with their ‘sins’. This sometimes includes telling sinners how bad they are and urging them to accept Jesus. And they don’t stop there; they also confront fellow believers with … Continue reading
Posted in Jesus, judgment, legalism, love, Paul, sin, sinners, the Good News
Tagged 1 Corinthians 4, Love the sinner; hate the sin, Matthew 7, Romans 14
55 Comments
What Does Jesus Say about Sin? Not Much!
As followers of Jesus, it doesn’t matter much what the Old Testament writers thought about sin and forgiveness. We take our cue from Jesus who has the clearest insight into the Father. And it is his words and actions in … Continue reading
Posted in Jesus, Pharisees, sin, sinners
Tagged forgiveness, John 5, John 8, John 9, Luke 23, Luke 7, Mark 2, Matthew 18
59 Comments
What Do We Learn from ‘Jesus Begins His Work’?
For the past few weeks we looked at the beginnings of Jesus’ work of teaching and healing in Galilee. This period closes just before Jesus chooses twelve apostles to help expand his work even further. While we witnessed many healings, … Continue reading
Jesus Calls a Fifth Follower—and What a Loser!
Sometimes I look at myself and all my faults and failures, and I don’t see how I was ever qualified to participate in expanding God’s will and his kingdom on earth; it’s just too much for me. Perhaps you feel … Continue reading
Posted in Jesus, judgment, Pharisees, sinners
Tagged book of Matthew, Levi, Luke 5, Matthean Community, Matthew, Matthew 9, tax collectors
24 Comments
This is the Anniversary of My Most Viral Blog Post Ever!
This time last year one of my posts, 6 Religious Beliefs that Cause Tremendous Harm, soared to become my most popular post of all time in only 13 days! It still stands as my most viral post ever. It begins: In … Continue reading
Posted in baggage, Bible, creationism, evolution, favorite blogs, gays, God, hell, inerrancy, legalism, sinners
5 Comments
My Most Popular Post of 2014
In September of this year one of my posts, 6 Religious Beliefs that Cause Tremendous Harm, soared to become my most popular post of all time (two years) in only 13 days! It begins: In my opinion, six mistaken beliefs … Continue reading
6 Religious Beliefs that Cause Tremendous Harm
In my opinion, there are six mistaken beliefs among Christians that cause incalculable pain, suffering, and lasting damage. On this blog I focus a lot on these baggage issues, as summarized on my About page: The belief that the Father … Continue reading
Posted in baggage, creationism, evolution, gays, God, hell, inerrancy, legalism, sinners
Tagged Christian Evolution, Jonny Scaramanga, Lana Hope, Rachel Held Evans, Samantha Field
50 Comments
What Kind of ‘Sinners’ Feel Welcomed by Your Church?
REKNEW asks. ‘What kind of sinners feel welcomed by your church?’ “Perhaps the greatest indictment on evangelical churches today is that they are not generally known as refuge houses for sinners—places where hurting, wounded, sinful people can run and find … Continue reading
3 Important Considerations in Loving Others as Ourselves
As we begin to live by the principle of loving others, instead of following religious rules, we sometimes meet two significant barriers. The first is dealing with the enormity of human pain, distress, and need in the world. The second … Continue reading
Gays and the Inclusiveness of Jesus
When I began to consider whether God accepted gays, I started studying. One advocate stated definitively that Jesus himself accepted gays. This was very encouraging and I listened eagerly for the evidence because I couldn’t think of any scriptures to … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, gays, Jesus, Pharisees, sinners, the invitation
Tagged 1 Samuel 18, homosexuality, LGBT, Luke 11, Luke 5, Luke 7, Matthew 11
67 Comments
The Problem of Impersonal Evangelism
There is nothing more delightful to me than sharing the good news of Jesus with someone. It is rewarding to watch as they discover the love the Father has toward them and to see how it changes their lives. However, … Continue reading
Posted in God, hell, sinners, The Father, the Good News, witnessing
Tagged 1 Peter 3, legalism, personal evangelism, relationship, saved
22 Comments
Why I Quit the Soul-saving Business
A few years after finishing Bible college, I became manager of the denominational bookstore in the city where our denominational offices were centered. This made me a minor, but very visible, figure in one of our church departments. Though I … Continue reading
Posted in hell, legalism, sinners, witnessing
Tagged being saved, Ephesians 4, gift of evangelism, personal evangleism
24 Comments
How I Became a Successful Personal Evangelist and Why I Quit
When I was in tenth or eleventh grade, a missionary to Cuba spoke at the Free Will Baptist church my father founded and pastored. I was enraptured as he spoke of his work among the native-Americans of the island—I wanted … Continue reading
Posted in sinners, witnessing
Tagged Evangelism Explosion, Free Will Baptist, personal evangelism, Roman Road
23 Comments
Why Sin Matters (McMinn): a book review
Why Sin Matters: The Surprising Relationship Between Our Sin and God’s Grace, by Mark R. McMinn, 179 pages, was published in 2004—almost ten years ago. How I First Encountered Why Sin Matters I was a final judge for the Evangelical … Continue reading
What Does Jesus Say to People about Their Sin?
In Jesus’ day, the religious leaders—the Pharisees—prided themselves in their biblical scholarship and very detailed observation of rules and ritual behavior. Most common Jewish people were unable to keep all those strict rules, so many of them grew careless as they … Continue reading
The Parable of the Joyous Father (Part three of three)
We have talked of the parable of the wayward son and the parable of the resentful brother; now we will discuss the parable of the joyous Father. These are all approaches to the parable we usually call The Prodigal Son. … Continue reading
Posted in God, Pharisees, sinners, The Father
Tagged parable, Pharisees, the joyous father, the prodigal son
9 Comments
The Parable of the Resentful Brother (Part two of three)
Have you ever heard the parable of the resentful brother? I am sure you have. I suggested recently that this might be a better name for the parable we know as The Prodigal Son. You may wish to read our … Continue reading
Posted in Pharisees, sinners
Tagged lost, older brother, Pharisees, resentful brother, the prodigal son
3 Comments
Jesus Without Baggage 