Shortchanging Sinners
by Andy Lapins

A while ago I ministered at a fairly large weekend retreat for young adults and college students. At this retreat I taught about personal evangelism and the necessity of using the Law to bring about the awareness of sin. We looked at how Jesus and the Apostle Paul used the Ten Commandments when speaking with people and we also looked at New Testament scriptures that spoke about the function and purpose of the Law in evangelism.

Shortly after that retreat I was at a large pastor’s conference in another city. During the conference, before one of the services was to begin, one of the campus pastors that was at the retreat a few weeks before approached me. We talked for a little while then he began to ask me questions about what I had taught about in regards to the Ten Commandments. He had never heard this type of teaching in regards to evangelism and personal witnessing. As we talked I went over again the Biblical function and purpose of the Law to expose sin to the sinner and reveal to them their true spiritual condition before God. After a little while of talking this pastor looked at me and said, “So you believe that we are shortchanging sinners if we don’t use the Law to bring the knowledge of sin and talk about the judgment of God.”

I had to use some self restraint to not fall over backwards in my chair. I felt that what this pastor had just said to me was such a gross understatement that it was almost overwhelming. Once I very quickly regained my composure I talked about how Christians and pastors are most certainly “shortchanging” sinners when we do not use the Law in evangelism and expose the sin of people’s lives. We both agreed that sadly most sinners who come to churches and hear preaching on the television and radio are being shortchanged and that it will have eternally tragic results. Let me try and explain why I say this.

When people are not clearly told that they have sinned (Romans 3:23) and broken God’s Law (I John 3:4), and because of this they are under the wrath (Romans 2:5; John 3:36) and condemnation (John 3:18) of God they must be given another reason to come and accept Jesus Christ. Most often this other “reason” (which is really no reason at all) to come to Christ is for personal fulfillment and life enhancement. In other words, most people today are encouraged to “accept Jesus Christ” so that they can go to heaven and have the best, most fulfilled and prosperous life that they can possibly have hear and now on earth. This false presentation of the Gospel does not produce sorrow for sin and contrition, rather it appeals to the selfish nature that we all have as human beings and lures people to “accept Christ” so they can then receive all the perks and blessings of Christianity that are described in the Bible.

Please do not misunderstand me. There are many wonderful and glorious blessings that God freely gives to those who are His children. I am deeply grateful most of all for God’s gift of eternal life, and every other undeserved blessing that God offers to those whose names have been written down in the book of life (Revelation 20:15). But all of these things are just that, blessings that we receive once we become Christians. None of these realities are reasons for someone to become a Christian. The only genuine reason that there is for someone to become a Christian is because that if they do not they will be eternally condemned to unimaginable torment in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15) where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:42).

If people supposedly come to Christ solely for a better life or help with their problems they will come lacking one of the absolute requirements in order for someone to be saved, and that is repentance. Jesus said very clearly that if people do not repent they will perish (Luke 13:3, 5). When the Apostle Paul was preaching in Athens he said that God “commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). Without both faith and repentance we cannot be saved.

The Law of God shows people what sin actually is and makes them conscious of its presence in their lives (Romans 7:7; Romans 3:20). If a person is not clearly told what exactly sin is how will they know what to repent of? The answer is that they will not and again without repentance people are not genuinely saved. The Law, sin, repentance, judgment and hell must be preached so a sinner will see their spiritual condition and understand their urgent need to be forgiven and saved. The great evangelist Charles Finney once gave these very wise words of wisdom: “It is of great importance that the sinner should be made to feel his guilt, and not left to the impression that he is unfortunate. I think this is a very prevalent fault, particularly in books on the subject. They are calculated to make the sinner think more of his sorrows than of his sin, and feel that his state is rather unfortunate than criminal. Make the sinner see that all pleas in excuse for not submitting to God are acts of rebellion against Him. Tear away the last lie which he grasps in his hand, and make him feel that he is absolutely condemned before God.”

If we do not faithfully do as Charles Finney spoke about we will continue to “shortchange” sinners by telling them that they are “saved” because they “asked Jesus into their heart” while they are in reality still in their sins and under the wrath of God. If we continue to preach a counterfeit message we will continue to produce counterfeit converts who will cry out “Lord, Lord” on the day of judgment but will be tragically condemned to hell because they were “evildoers” and came to Christ lacking repentance (Matthew 7:21-23). As long as someone is proud, it doesn’t matter how many times they “ask Jesus into their hearts”, God will oppose them until they are stripped of their self-righteousness and come humbly before God confessing their sins (James 4:6). II Corinthians says, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” If we truly love people we will quit “shortchanging” them and tell them the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).