Conviction of Sin

A quote from Gresham Machen:

“Modern preachers are trying to bring men into the church without requiring them to relinquish their pride; they are trying to help men avoid the conviction of sin.” Consequently, the church “is busily engaged in an absolutely impossible task—she is busily engaged in calling the righteous to repentance.”

If we take the offense out of the gospel we rob the gospel all its power. Christianity has no power unless it first demolishes the foundation of self reliance in our life. This is the offense of Christianity - we must first deal with the unpleasant condition of our heart before we can accept Jesus. Jesus did not come into the world to save the "healthy". Instead Jesus came to save the sick. We are all spiritually bankrupt. The good news is that Jesus is interested in spiritually bankrupt people. The only question is if we are willing to admit our spiritual bankruptcy to Jesus and ask for his death to cover our sin.