It has been a most sacred time of reflecting and rejoicing for Christians as we have had the opportunity to pay careful attention to what Jesus Christ did for us and why He did it.

In remembering His suffering and death, we were reminded that He paid a most high and holy price for us so that we can be forgiven of sin by trusting Him.

And in rejoicing in His glorious resurrection, we are reminded that He is victorious over sin and death; the cross did not defeat Him and the tomb did not hold Him, but He arose from the dead assuring those who will entrust their lives to Him that they can live forever in His presence.

Before we move too far from this season, I am convinced that we would all do well to often remember His gracious work for us.

To that, I also encourage us to think about why He did what He did for us.

Romans 5:8 provides a good summary: “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (NIV).

I expect we hear about God’s love for us on a fairly regular basis, and we should—that is a truth mentioned often in God’s Word. But the other thing that Paul mentions in Romans 5:8 we seem to hear less about in our day, yet it, too, is no obscure topic in God’s Word. That is the topic of sin. The Bible clearly reminds us that sin is real, it is destructive and it affects all of us.

Proverbs 30:20 paints an accurate picture of how much of the world views sin in general and personal sin in particular.

“This is the way of an adulteress: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.'”

While this verse mentions one particular sin, we do not misuse it to understand it as a representation of how all types of sin are approached by so many. One commentator wrote concerning Proverbs 30:20, “It is incredible that human beings can engage in sin and then so easily dismiss any sense of guilt or responsibility.”

How true!

As unpopular as it might be and how little may be said about it from most pulpits in our nation, sin is still real and destructive, there is a real Satan who desires to steal, kill and destroy the lives and souls of every person that he can, and there is a literal place of eternal destruction called Hell just as God’s Word declares.

Christ came and sacrificed Himself so we can be set free from the bondage that sin brings and be grated forgiveness of sin by believing upon Him.

To simply wipe our mouths and say we have done no wrong (as seems to be the popular attitude of modern society) will not make us righteous in the sight of God. But by admitting our sinfulness and taking advantage of what Christ provided for us as the only remedy brings us into the grace of God that we can neither earn nor deserve.

Sin is real, but the answer to the sin problem is real too!

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).