Seeing the good in light of the bad

I am currently reading the book, Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges.

I am picking up with the beginning of Chapter 3. In this chapter Bridges begins by discussing the destructive power of sin. Not only does sin destroy our union with God, but it also has destructive effects in other areas of our lives as well. And this is not just something that the unsaved must deal with, the Christian must deal with it as well.

Bridges states, "Now, here is the unvarnished truth that we need to lay to heart. Even though our hearts have been renewed, even though we have been freed from the absolute dominion of sin, even though God’s Holy Spirit dwells within our bodies, this principle of sin still lurks within us and wages war against our souls. It is the failure to recognize the awful reality of this truth that provides the fertile soil in which our “respectable” or “acceptable” sins grow and flourish." (Bridges, Jerry. Respectable Sins (p. 16). NavPress. Kindle Edition.) 

In this chapter Bridges compares sin to cancer, something that he has personally felt the impact of in his own life. He shares how his wife was diagnosed with and then died of the disease. Sin, like cancer, is bad news. But that is part of the point of the gospel. If we don't see the bad news, how can we embrace the good news? But if we see the bad news as bad as it is, then the good news looks glorious! 

I will end with this quote from Chapter 3, "God forgives our sin because of the shed blood of Christ, but He does not tolerate it. Instead, every sin that we commit, even the subtle sin that we don’t even think about, was laid upon Christ as He bore the curse of God in our place." (Bridges, Jerry. Respectable Sins (p. 22). NavPress. Kindle Edition.) When we begin to understand the meaning of that, the meaning of grace, the depth of our sin, then we can begin to appreciate the meaning of the gospel message.