Several years ago I dad found out, as I like to say, he had the gout. Gout is a complex form of arthritis, which gives birth to sudden and severe attacks of pain in the joints. My dad proceeded to do what I’m sure anyone would do, he scoured around to find all the information he could on treating gout. He consulted with his doctor, others who’d had it, and everything the Internet had to offer. Before the diagnosis he had no interest in the treatment whatsoever, but after the diagnosis he was consumed with the answer to his problem.

And so it is with sin. To see the nature of sin is to see the need for a Savior. This is why we must speak clearly and boldly about the nature of sin. If someone doesn’t know about their problem of sin, why would they have any interest in a Savior? Truly understanding the plight of sin gives you a longing for a powerful Savior.

If you are not a Christian, I pray you would see the true nature of your sin, it’s power and penalty. You need the bad news in order to love the good news. Good news, notice, that comes in 3:24-25, where Paul says, “[Sinners] are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” Faith in redemption of Jesus, which came when He died on a cross, can you be yours tonight if you would just turn from your sin and trust in this Savior.

Here are three final implications that a full understanding of sin brings to our disciple-making.

Understanding the nature of sin brings . . .

Earnestness in disciple-making. If every person in the world lives under the power and penalty of sin, should there not be earnestness in our disciple-making efforts? One of the greatest schemes of Satan is to not only make us complacent about our own sin, but also to that of others’ sin. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “Nothing can be more cruel than that leniency that abandons others to their sin.” If you’ve found your soul in a season of leniency towards sin, pray for God in His grace to forgive you and renew your understanding of sin’s danger, and awaken you to Spirit-wrought, Word-shaped earnestness in disciple-making at home, at work, and in the world.

Seriousness in disciple-making. The labor of making disciples is concerned with matters of eternal weight; sin is no mere thing to rifle with. I think the nature of our conscience reveals the seriousness with which we treat sin. The more biblically tender our conscience the more serious our understanding of sin. What does your conscience say about the seriousness of sin?

Happiness in disciple-making. We should not be surprised by our sin. It’s the condition in which we were born and would have been content to stay if God, through Christ, hadn’t made our dead hearts alive. That we are sinful is not surprising, but that God has saved us is totally astonishing. When was the last time your salvation surprised you? Happiness grows when we understand He has saved us in order to bear witness to His glory, glory revealed at the cross of Christ. So then the work of disciple-making is a profound privilege and happy responsibility. The most faithful disciple-makers I’ve ever met are those happiest in Christ.

Let us see afresh the totality and vanity of sin. May it lead us to earnestness, seriousness, and happiness in our disciple-making. For sin shows us our need for a Savior.

This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “Disciple-Making & Sin,” on Romans 3:23.