Foulness of Sin
Lent 2017 is well underway and for this post I thought sharing briefly on the foulness of sin. Recently, I came across these words from the nineteenth century Anglican bishop J.C. Ryle: "The very animals whose smell is most offensive to us have no idea that they are offensive, and are not offensive to one another. And man, fallen man, I believe can have just no idea what a vile thing sin is in the sight of God whose handiwork is absolutely perfect." Ryle was writing on the subject of holiness, and the quote above comes from a section grappling with the matter of sin. What struck was the way he killed it on the true foulness or vileness of sin before a holy and righteous God contrasted to the way that fallen people more often than none go nose blind to our wretchedness. Sure, it is very easy to pray, “God, I thank You that I am not like other people” (Luke 18:11, NASB), but that somebody else. What we fail to see is the way our sin no matter how small is an offense to th...