Respectable Sins:
Confronting the Sins We Tolerate

a review by Adam Pohlman

If we are honest, we must admit that we are far from perfection. That is something we will not attain until the Lord returns. However, when our hearts are regenerated and we become Christians, God begins the process of purging the sins from our lives. Many of us may have radical testimonies of instantly being freed from the temptation of some pretty serious sins. Other testimonies are better described as a steady growth in holiness. There are still however those sins in are life that aren’t as dramatic that tend to be overlooked by the rest of the body.

Jerry Bridges discusses many of these sins that the church tends to see as “acceptable” in the book Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate. We can all nod our heads in agreement when discussing murder, rape, fornication, homosexuality, or abortion. But, when we bring up some of the more common sins found in the church we tend to “sweep it under the rug” to avoid conflict. It is important to understand that every sin in our lives, no matter how “small,” is an assault on the infinite glory of God. The apparent size of the sin isn’t so important; “The more important issue, however, is how our sin affects God.” (pg. 26) Every sin, from gossip or a white lie, to adultery and murder is enough to condemn us. “[H]erein lies chiefly the malignancy of sin. Christ suffered because of our sins.” (pg. 30) The infinite Son of God bore the wrath for our sin, even the small ones.

As the body of Christ we are to be growing in holiness and encouraging others in the body to do so. By ignoring the sin in each other’s lives for the sake of unity, we are not seeking true unity in holiness and truth, but a false unity based in ignorance. Jerry Bridges purpose in this book is to encourage us to repent of our pet sins that we can so often make excuses for:

• Ungodliness
• Anxiety and Frustration
• Discontentment
• Unthankfulness
• Pride
• Selfishness
• Lack of Self-Control
• Impatience and Irritability
• Anger
• The Weeds of Anger
• Judgmentalism
• Envy, Jealousy, and Related Sins
• Sins of the Tongue
• Worldliness

He spends time on each one of these sins that tend to be accepted in church today, explaining how they tend to be manifested in our lives and examining some scriptures we can study to overcome them. “[This book is] to help us honestly confront the subtle sins we tolerate in our own lives so that we will tend to walk more humbly before God and with respect to the unbelievers toward whom we may be so judgmental.” (pg. 86)

To avoid complete hopelessness in being convicted of sin, Bridges writes the first few chapters to remind us of the gospel. He explains that God never simply overlooked our sin because He loves us, but that Christ already paid the debt we owed. “God does not forgive because He wants to be lenient with us. He forgives because His justice has been satisfied.” (pg. 39) With this knowledge in mind, and our repentance and trust founded in His righteousness, we can move forward with confidence that despite our inability to cleanse ourselves of these sins, His Spirit steadily removes the sin from our lives and at the judgment God will see as righteous.