Did you know that there are basically two kinds of people in the Church? Those who like to talk about sin and those who don’t. And you’ve probably noticed that those who like to talk about sin typically don’t want to talk about their sin. They would much prefer to talk about yours. Among those who don’t like to talk about sin, there are two more groups: those who don’t like to talk about it and so they don’t and those who don’t like to talk about sin but know it’s necessary. Just as a patient must be willing to have the hard conversation with a physician about the diagnosis before the pursuit of a cure can begin, so human beings must be attentive to the hard reality of our sin if we are to benefit from God’s transforming grace. When we come at it from this angle we discover a trajectory that should characterize all our talk of sin, from diagnosis to cure, from sin to holiness. This same trajectory is seen in Ezekiel 36, in which the prophet declares the various ways that the people of God have profaned God’s name only then to point forward to the coming gracious act of God to sanctify his people. Along the way the Israelites needed to learn what God’s people must always be learning: God’s reputation is our responsibility.
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