But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  (Romans 3:21-23)

Dead In Sin

While a preacher presented a lesson on the burden of sin, a youth from the audience interrupted him by saying, “You tell me about the burden of sin. I feel none. How heavy is it? Eighty pounds? Ten pounds?” The preacher answered, “Tell me, if you laid four hundred pounds weight on a corpse, would it feel the load?” “No, because it is dead,” replied the youth. The preacher said, “That spirit, too, is dead which feels no load of sin.” (Donald Grey Barnhouse)

The death of Jesus Christ can only be measured by how much a person feels the weight of sin. When the Jews cried out for Pilate to crucify Jesus, they felt no guilt for killing the Son of God. The Romans heartlessly carried out the will of the Jews and killed an innocent man. Only a few of the people gathered at the cross felt the weight of the man dying in the middle. On the Day of Pentecost, three thousand devout Jews were pricked in their hearts when they realized the Son of God had been crucified. Throughout the stories of the Acts of the Apostles, thousands felt the weight of sin and obeyed the gospel. Conversion comes from conviction.

Sin has little impact on those who do not recognize the weight of the cost to redeem the world. The truth is that most people have no consciousness of sin. They are callous to its reality, denying it has anything to do with them. The sacrifice of Jesus means little or nothing to them because they do not understand the weight of sin and the wrath of God against all ungodliness. Conversion comes to the heart when a man sees sin for what it really is. It is then the sacrifice of Jesus comes into focus. Sin is not a mistake – it is the action of rebellion against the Most Holy God. A sense of fear comes from understanding the depth of sin and its consequences. There is a reality to an eternal answer to sin.

When a man denies such a thing as sin and ignores it, the heart becomes hardened. Like a dead body bearing the weight of four hundred pounds, there is no feeling. The gospel can be preached to a large crowd, and most will leave unimpressed and unimpacted by the message of grace. They leave thinking they are okay and there is nothing to worry about; not realizing the burden of sin weighs heavy upon them. If they do not realize the gravity of sin, they can become a corpse of spiritual refuse bound for perdition.

Sin does not have to destroy the soul. Jesus came to bring salvation through His blood. Until you realize the weight of sin, you will die in your sins. God has provided the remedy of sin through His Son, Jesus Christ.