On the road to Damascus, Jesus blinded Paul by the light of His magnificence. Yet, during His earthly ministry, Jesus’ mission was to cure blindness, not cause it. Throughout the entire Bible, He is the only one on record who restored sight to the blind, fulfilling the messianic prophecies of Isaiah 35:5 and Psalm 146:8.
Paradoxically, in our physical world, we can be blinded by both extreme light and the total absence of it – darkness. In the spiritual realm, living in complete darkness is the condition common to us all, until we see and experience the truth of God’s grace embodied in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
What blinds us to God’s grace and Jesus’ redeeming power is sin, all-pervasive and ever-present, as Paul wrote in Romans 3: 10: “None is righteous, no, not one.”
We are blind to our sin until we have our own “Road to Damascus” moment with Jesus, after which the scales are removed from our eyes and we see our true fallen condition. Jesus is the only cure.
Blind To Sin
The sorry state of our spiritual blindness – even among professing Christians – is revealed in a recent survey among 2,000 adult Americans conducted by Dr. George Barna of the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University.
While a surprising four out of five Americans (84%) believe that sin exists, including 61% of non-Christians, more worrisome is the finding that only a slight majority (52%) believe that everyone has sinned and the same narrow majority admit that they are a sinner.
Among self-identified Christians, somewhat more (66%) believe that everyone has sinned, but fewer (60%) see themselves as sinners. Dr. Barna suggests the 40% of Christians who refuse to accept the “sinner” label may believe that because Jesus has granted them forgiveness of their sins, they are no longer sinners.
However, for Christians, that is a spiritual blindness of the most pernicious kind. While true Christians may live in the assurance that their sins are forgiven, they are in no way free from the persuasive power of sin.
Cultural Worldview Is At Odds With God’s Worldview
A further spiritual blindness is also exposed in the survey. A vast majority of self-identified Christians (72%), including 70% of professing Born-Again believers, said that while sin is real, “people are basically good at heart.” Because of that widespread cultural worldview, Dr. Barna said Christians are therefore not inclined to “pejoratively” characterize others as sinners.
While Jesus warned us against judging our brothers and sisters – “First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” [Matthew 7:3-5] – our base sinfulness, whether the size of a log or a speck, blinds us all to the truth that all humans are fallen.
Churches Falling Short
In summarizing the survey results, Dr. Barna found that just 14% of self-described Christians have a core theology of sin that is biblically accurate. That finding is even more shocking since two-thirds of the survey sample claim to be Christian.
Specifically, only one out of every seven Christians hold to these four foundational tenets of Christianity:
- Sin is real
- Every person commits sin
- I am a sinner
- No human being is good at heart, i.e. Original Sin
Dr. Barna explains, “Describing all people as ‘basically good at heart’ is a culturally-comfortable dismissal of sin that millions of people use to ignore the possibility that their love affair with disobedience to God is a life-threatening spiritual disease with eternal consequences.”
Especially harmful is the belief that sin is another person’s problem, not a personal one. “Taking refuge in the idea that other people have a sin problem, but they personally do not,” is a path that leads to destruction, Dr. Barna suggested.
Citing a 2019 Pew Research study that analyzed nearly 50,000 sermons across the country, which found just 3% of all sermons even mention sin, he called on parents, pastors and influential Christian leaders “to keep basic biblical truths before the Christian body, including the reality of sin and its repercussions.”
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” [1 John 1: 8-10]
Satan Is On the Loose
We are warned: “Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith.” [1 Peter 5:8-9]
If a shocking 40% of Christians do not think they are sinners, what do they need Jesus for?
And while six out of ten non-Christians believe that sin is real gives hope for the Gospel message to reach non-believers, how can we argue that Jesus paid the penalty for sin, if first we don’t firmly stand convicted of our own sin and that all have sinned and need forgiveness?
We must have an all-encompassing conviction of our sinfulness to effectively present the full Gospel message: that Jesus bore the penalty for our sin in His death on the cross and that His resurrection to life proved He paid the price for our sins that God’s justice required. Only through our faith in Jesus’ redeeming work are we granted a place to dwell in His heavenly kingdom for all eternity.
The Book of Common Prayer confession provides a reminder of just how omnipresent our sin is, even in our assurance of forgiveness:
“Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.”
Forgiveness Starts With Repentance Of Sin
Increasingly, the culture, even professing believers, are resistant to the idea of sin, thus rejecting the need for a Savior to pay the penalty of that sin and redeem us to everlasting life.
We are blinded to our sinful nature by pride, discomfort in admitting our mistakes – our sin – and being culturally indoctrinated to the belief that people are basically good, when in reality, all are corrupted by sin.
We are called to admit to our fallen nature – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” [1 John: 9] – because there is truly hell to pay if we don’t.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Romans 6:23]
Only then can we rest in the assurance of the great hymn of the faith, “Jesus Paid It All,” by proclaiming, “Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.”