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We often speak of how people cannot comprehend the wonder of grace unless they grasp the badness of sin. And that is true. But it is equally true that people cannot grasp the badness of sin until they grasp the goodness of the life that sin corrupts.

When we do not understand the destructiveness of sin, we are more concerned about getting punished for our sins than the way we are punished by them.

Does God tire of forgiving the same sins?

Does the persistence of sin in my life threaten my salvation? People don't generally ask aloud, but they wonder: How much sin can there be in my life before I need to start worrying? In other words, is there a level of sin that is in the acceptable zone for a Christian, but if you go higher, you're in danger—like the level of mercury in Lake Michigan? Is there a low tolerance for impurity—like FDA standards for homogenized milk? Or is it more like the purity standards for hot dogs—lots of room for junk?

Is it possible to be a Christian and just never grow?

The problem with these is that they are the wrong questions. The issue is not whether God will stop forgiving sins. Jesus told Peter he needed to forgive an offender not seven times, but seventy times seven. And he wasn't saying Peter could withhold forgiveness for transgression number 491.

Jesus' point was that forgiving is always the right response to sincere repentance. God is not worried that he might be taken advantage of. He is not afraid that some bad boy will use his charm to put one over on heaven.

The problem is that, eventually, I become as used to my sin as I am to the watch on my wrist. I habituate. It doesn't bother me any more. I stop even wanting to be rid of it.

Sin damages my capacity for God. Sin blinds. The danger is not that God won't respond to my repeated repentance; the danger is that I might become so ensnared that I become simply unable or unwilling to repent. This is the dynamic at work when Paul says, "And God gave them over to a depraved mind."

So the question isn't "How much sin am I allowed?" The question is "Am I moving toward the darkness or toward the light? Am I growing toward God, or away from him? Am I becoming more sensitive and responsive to Jesus?"

It is because of this that sin is to be taken so seriously. Paul says to the church at Galatia: "Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted."

He doesn't just say: "Invoke church discipline if there's a sexual scandal." He says we're to help one another move toward freedom from sin. From all kinds of sin.

It is interesting in our day that many churches speak much of Matthew 18:15 and the need for values around resolving conflict. But that is only one application of the larger need stated in Galatians 6:1, which is for Christians not just to confront conflict but more generally to confront sin.

This can be done in a way that is not judgmental, because the reality is that we are in no position to judge the actual amount of spiritual growth that has taken place in another person; we do not see the genetic material they wrestle with; we do not know the forces that have shaped them.