Grace before Law: The Preface to the Ten Commandments (Deut. 6)

[Sung Psalm: 119:1-16]

I remember preaching a sermon in Scotland one Lord's Day. I told the congregation – "I know what your worst sin is! You don't love God!"

There was one woman sitting right in the middle of the church – and she looked almost angry as she shook her head, as if to say, "how dare you say that – of course I love God!"

So I veered off my manuscript to say, "Do you want to know why I say that? Because every time you sin, you are saying, 'I don't love God'! If you always loved God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, then you would never sin! Your biggest problem is that you don't love God!"

I don't know what sins you are struggling with today. But as long as you only focus on how you have sinned against others – or how your sin has affected yourself – then you are not dealing with your sin!

Your biggest problem is that you don't love God! It's why David can say, "Against you, you only have I sinned..."