It is not uncommon to hear that the church never talks about sin anymore. We need to deal with sin. We need to confess and repent. We need to commit to obedience and holiness. While it is certainly true that, as believers, we must never ignore sin, the reality is that Israel had 1500 years of reminders of sin. Passionate and creative calls to repentance were made, and harsh consequences for not listening were experienced. It didn’t make a difference. It didn’t change anything. We talk and act as though if I just repented of that one hidden sin that messing up my life, then everything would fall into place. If we, as a church, would just root out that one sin or sinner, then we would grow and be healthy. If we as a nation would just repent, stop killing babies, and put prayer back in school then our nation would be okay. None of those things are true, but it is the myth that drives our constant need to root out hidden sins and repent.

You would think that 1500 years of history proving that approach doesn’t change anybody would open our eyes to the need for something more. Unfortunately, we are slow learners. Galatians 3 says that the Law was a schoolmaster, but it was never a schoolmaster to produce holiness in anyone’s life. It was a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ. Titus 2 tells us that grace is the schoolmaster that changes our lives. Grace is what trains us in godliness. Grace is what transforms hearts. Grace is what gives us hope. 1500 years of failure pointed us to the need for grace. Grace appeared in the person of Jesus Christ. 1500 years of rooting out sin, and calling for repentance proved only that we are a broken and sinful people. Grace changed all that, and is still changing us. Let us be a people of grace. Let us embrace grace. Let us live grace. Let us speak grace. Let us rest in the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.