Sin is a dirty word for most people. It is a word full of guilt and shame and who needs any more of that in their lives? What we often forget is that sin is a dirty word for God as well.

That’s not the problem. The problem is that we are arrogant enough to pretend that it doesn’t exist, that we can justify it away, that we can ignore it. Not so. There is a reason why God is angry with this world and with you and me.

Until we come to grips with the concept of sin and understand God’s perspective on it, we won’t get anything that Paul is saying. We are broken. And we are broken because our relationship with God is broken.

And, yes, that relationship is vital to our humanity, our existence, our true selves. We are social beings. We depend on each other, influence each other, and help or hurt each other in deep and meaningful ways. No man is an island.

But we seem to be doing fine on our own, you say.

Really?

Do you consider this to be fine? The bar is extremely low for you, my friend. I, for one, want to live without pain and suffering and not have my life cut short by death just as a starter.

Then I want to talk about relationships, with my wife, my children, my friends, and my church. There is a lot of pain there. A lot of sin. But I don’t have to look beyond my own heart to see the darkness lurking at the corners of my mind.

The thing is that Christians tend to see more and more sin the more that they walk this Roman Road of Salvation. Once you have eyes to see it, you see it everywhere. It was always there but now you are facing it and not denying that it exists.

And now, as a Christian, you can deal with it in your walk on this precarious journey because you have the cross to help you. But more on that to come.

For now, suffice it to say, that without an honest appraisal of the human condition and the source of the problem, there isn’t much more to say.

Many people, philosophers, and psychologists would agree that there is something fundamentally wrong with humans. They might talk about the weakness of the will or the lack of love towards others, or even the selfish preoccupation with our own needs. However you want to slice and dice it, the truth remains. We are broken.

We have learned how to crawl, even how to take baby steps. Now it is time to learn how to walk on this Roman Road of Salvation. It is not easy. We may fall down time and again, but there is an internal need and desire to get this right so that we can move on into effective ministry and maturity.

Remember that there is nothing so embarrassing in heaven or on earth than the arrogance of those who ought to be ashamed of themselves. Sadly that applies to all of us.

Outline

Introduction

Chapter One – Don’t Kill the Messenger

Chapter Two – The Holy Hiatus

Chapter Three – The Dilemma of Love

Chapter Four – The Enigma of Evil

Chapter Five – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Chapter Six – No Wonder God is Upset

Chapter Seven – Suppressing the Truth

Chapter Eight – A Law Unto Themselves

Chapter Nine – Intelligent Design for Stupid Fools

Chapter Ten – Jesus Was An Alien (story)

Conclusion