The Society for the Advancement of Ecclesiological Theology

July 20, 2010 by Gerald Hiestand

Stephen Witmer on Sin

Stephen Witmer (one of our SAET Fellows) has written a great article, just recently posted at Reformation 21 entitled, A God-Centered Understanding of Sin. Here’s the intro to Stephen’s article:

The most important truth about sin is the one least recognized in our day. It is this: all sin is primarily sin against God. Where sin is understood as merely a moral concept rather than mainly a religious one, where it is seen primarily as a person-to-person problem rather than as primarily ‘theocentric,’ motivation for fighting sin is decreased and confusion about the character of God is increased. While recognizing the ‘horizontal’ (person-to-person) nature of sin, the Bible consistently presents sin as mainly a ‘vertical’ (person-to-God) offense. My purpose in this article is to promote a God-centered understanding of sin by outlining the biblical evidence for the vertical nature of all sin and then reflecting on the manifold pastoral implications of this view. If we are to understand the seriousness of sin and to help ourselves and others think about and fight sin the way we ought to, we must have this God-centered view of sin.

A great perspective here, particularly the second half of the article where Stephen shows how the vertical aspects of sin trump its horizontal aspects. I encourage you to read the whole thing. A great example of ecclesial theology. Stephen is a pastor at Pepperell Christian Fellowship in Pepperell MA, and blogs regularly at the Pastor’s Blog.

Categories: SAET Fellow Publications | Stephen Witmer