The Holy Spirit and Sin

It is sometimes super hard to follow through in speaking out against sin. What a temptation there is to skirt around it. I've heard men in preaching bend and twist to get through their sermon without condemning sin, even specific sins, for the detestable deeds that they are - and even when the passage they're preaching on clearly warrants some time spent addressing sin. It's a snare for many reasons.

I thought Paul Washer had a good point though. He said:

It is a primary ministry of the Holy Spirit to come and convict the world of sin. And so know this... that when you do not deal specifically, passionately, lovingly with men and their depraved condition, the Holy Spirit is nowhere around you.

What a reminder. The Holy Spirit cares a lot about men coming to see their sin, for men to believe and confess their own sinfulness. In all that could be said about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we must not forget about his holiness and determination to convict of and expose sin. It's like one of my pastors said, "You don't go to the book of Acts to learn about the Holy Spirit. You go to the gospel of John." It is there we read John 16:7-10. What a helpful tempering. Amidst all the miraculous moving and working of the Holy Spirit, we should see men anointed to preach against sin, and that truth driven into the heart by the Spirit.