Carey 2010 5

The second paper of the morning was from John Benton entitled "Going soft on sin?" He had four points

1. The calamity of going soft on sin

He spoke of the biblical understanding as deviation, culpability, rebellion, debt, deviation, etc. It is Satanic
and is the central problem. He took us to Genesis 3 to flesh things out. Hell, of course, shows the seriousness of sin as does the remedy - Christ's death on the cross

2. The causes of going soft on sin ere he sketched some of the way that sin has been redefined in our society. People speak of alienation, break down of relationships, etc, not sin. Victimhood is common. Ecology is emphasised over morality. Over the last 50 years we have moved, he contended, from a moral culture to an emotional one. he had some striking statistics on the how newspapers now speak so often of self esteem, etc. 3. Consequences of going soft on sin.

There is confusion about sin, compromise of the gospel and the emptying of the churches. He spoke about the new perspective which emphasises Lord rather than Saviour, righteousness as a technical term not a moral one, belonging rather than anything moral. Justification re-interpreted in relational terms and what ever the argument for it is from early Judaism it is suspiciously like modern culture.

There were also quotes from M Watts on why the English stopped going to church, which was liberalism. What liberalism began is now being carried on by others. 4. The cure from going soft on sin Our lives must be holy, our theology must hold to creation and fall, our preaching must declare the Law (not just for conviction but also for holiness), churches need to be holy and how we must pray.