- Do your thoughts, plans, hopes, intentions, and actions revolve around something other than God?
- Have you felt worshipful toward any images of God, Jesus, or false gods? Do you reshape your “vision” of God based on your own passions, prejudices, or any source other than His Word?
- Do you use His name flippantly or without reverence? Have you taken the name of “Christian” for yourself but look and act no differently than those who deny Christ is Lord?
- Do you consider Sunday just another day to work or play? Do you give God a couple hours of your attention in church each week and then go your way like you’ve “done your duty”? Do you work yourself to the bone and reject rest because you feel like the weight of the whole world is on your shoulders?
- Do you talk disrespectfully of (or to) your parents, or disregard their rules or wishes? Do you ignore their needs? Do you skip opportunities to bless or honor them?
- Have you ever felt hatred toward another human being or treated them like dirt?
- Do you gaze lustfully on anyone other than your spouse? Do you compare your spouse negatively to others, or let other relationships become more intimate than your relationship with him or her? Do you disrupt your unity with them with self-serving moods or actions?
- Have you taken, borrowed, or used something that was not yours? Did you want to?
- Do you say things about other people that are not true, or speculate things which you have not verified? Do you talk negatively about anyone behind their backs? Do you throw people under the bus? (Note – if you have literally thrown someone under a bus, see #6.)
- Have you ever felt miffed, upset, or angry because someone had something you don’t have? Have you been discontent with your lot in life? Have you begrudged someone more fortunate than you? Have you been angry because you could not obtain something you wanted?
These are just a few of the many symptoms of a debilitating and terminal disease called SIN. Lack of treatment will result in certain physical and spiritual death. Many remedies promise to take care of the symptoms, but the one and only cure can be found in the pure, unfiltered blood of Christ, shed for your salvation. Thankfully, this priceless treatment is totally free of charge, guaranteed to work, and readily available to all mankind!
O, ye who are weary and burdened with sin, take hope. Healing is found at the foot of the cross.
WARNING: This treatment may will result in joyful liberation from guilt, lifestyle changes, increase in good works, love and compassion for other people (even the horrible ones), peace, hope, thinking less of yourself, giving without getting (or expecting) anything back, willing self-sacrifice, persecution, and in some cases, death by martyrdom. Some effects will not be immediate. See Bible for details.
“Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it – the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” – Romans 3:19-24
I feel I should note here that I don’t believe we are merely sick with sin before we are saved – the Bible says we are dead in it! (Colossians 2:13, Ephesians 2:5.) You could say we were the walking dead. 😉 But sickness worked well for an analogy. You could say we were “as good as dead.” One foot in the grave. Doomed. You get the picture!
Good summary for evangelism!