Recently I came across a statement from one of the more well-known teachers of unbelief. He said, “When people ask me what appeals to me about heaven, it isn’t the streets of transparent gold or gates made of pearls; it’s the absence of sin. I’m tired of sin.” Perhaps he wished to sound very holy and pious, but in this context, his sentiment was counter-gospel. It is what I would expect from someone who has spent much of his life using Christian vernacular to speak against the power of God. Such a loser. So weak.

In the first place, when someone asks me what appeals to me about heaven, that is the chance for me to scream about Jesus Christ. My longing for heaven is not fundamentally negative, but positive. The gospel means good news to me, not just the absence of bad news. Heaven appeals to me because of the presence of God, not because of the absence of Satan (Psalm 73:25). But heaven is in me even now, because I am the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). By faith, I do not need to ask Jesus to come to me, but his words are in my heart and in my mouth (Romans 10:6-8). Even if Satan ascends to heaven, I can smite him down by the name of Jesus, a name above every name (Philippians 2:9-11). And I can do that even now.

I am not tired of sin, because I have been separated from sin (Romans 6:2, Colossians 3:3). The Bible says that God has translated me out of the power of darkness and into the kingdom of his Son (Colossians 1:13). I am living in righteousness, but I will make sin tired of me. I am not afraid of sin, because Jesus has conquered sin. I am more than an overcomer through Jesus Christ (Romans 8:37), and I will make sin afraid of me. I am not even tired of sin in other people, because my feet are prepared with the gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15), and I march forth with the message of power, the good news that will save anyone who believes (Romans 1:16). What is there to be tired about? I have the solution. I live the solution. I preach the solution. I am invigorated by the solution day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16). I am not tired of sin. I am energized by righteousness now, and I will be energized even more later.

What is there to be tired about? The Bible says that the thief comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy, but Jesus came that I might have life, and to have life abundantly (John 10:10). I have abundant life now. What is there to be tired about, unless you do not know the gospel? The Bible says that those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength, and they shall mount up with wings like the eagles (Isaiah 40:31). What is there to be tired about, unless you do not wait on the Lord? The Bible says that God has not given us the spirit of the world or a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind (1 Corinthians 2:12, 2 Timothy 1:7). What is there to be tired about, unless you are still possessed by the spirit of the world and a spirit of fear?

How can I be tired of sin? The Bible says that he who knew no sin became sin for me, so that I might become the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:21). How can you be tired of sin, unless you have not been made righteous by faith in him? The Bible says that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). I am not tired — I am free from sin and full of life. How can you be tired of sin, unless you are still bound by the law of sin and death? The Bible says that I have overcome, because greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). How can you be tired, unless the greater one is not in you?

Why would I be tired? The Bible says everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith (1 John 5:4). How can you be tired, unless you have not been born of God, and unless you have no faith? The Bible says the Lord is my shepherd — he is with me, his rod and his staff, they comfort me (Psalm 23:1, 4). The Bible says he prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies; he anoints my head with oil, and my cup overflows (Psalm 23:5). How can I be tired of sin in myself, when I am not ingesting sin but righteousness, and living by his grace? His grace is stronger than my sin. How can I be tired of sin in others, when I am feasting at the Lord’s table even in their presence? Praise the Lord! My cup overflows. How can I be tired? The Bible says surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Psalm 23:6). With long life he will satisfy me, and he will show me his salvation (Psalm 91:16). By faith, I can live in heaven even when I walk through hell.

If you are tired, it is because you have been running by your own strength (Psalm 18:29). The Bible says that we should receive a spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that we would grasp the exceeding greatness of God’s power toward us who believe, which is the same power that he exercised when he raised Christ from the dead (Ephesians 1:17-20). How can you be tired, unless you do not have the wisdom and revelation to grasp this power? The Bible says that God is able to do far more than we can ask or think, according to the power that is at work within us (Ephesians 3:20). How can you be tired, unless you do not have this power in you, that can accomplish more than you can ask or think? The Bible says to be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might, putting on the whole armor of God, so that you might stand against the schemes of the devil (Ephesians 6:10). How can you be tired, unless you have not put on his strength and armor? The Bible says that Paul preaches Jesus Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that he might present everyone mature in Christ, and that he works toward this end with all the energy that God powerfully works in him (Colossians 1:28-29). How can you be tired, unless this powerful energy of God does not work in you?

You say, “You are too judgmental. Isn’t this just a difference in perspective?” Even if it is only a difference in perspective, what a difference in perspective it is! You say, “Perhaps you have taken him out of context, or you equivocate somehow.” Well, perhaps you are taking me out of context, and perhaps you equivocate somehow. But it is not that simple. Does this Bible teacher, or those who are like him, speak like I do above? I have only been telling you what the Bible says, and that I live what the Bible says. It is clear that this is not only a difference in perspective, and using his whole body of sermons as context would only make him look far worse. What I have shown is that a perspective of weakness entails a comprehensive rejection of the gospel promises and realities that belong to those who have faith in Jesus Christ, because life, and strength, and victory pervade the gospel.

This leads to another point that we must force Christians to acknowledge: Unbelief toward certain aspects of the gospel — such as the working of miracles by faith, the gifts of the Spirit, the promises of healing and material provisions, and so on — will always translate into unbelief toward the entire gospel. Those who follow a teacher from this perspective might think that they are receiving nourishment, but they are being poisoned by unbelief more and more. This is why, for example, I warn against following a cessationist theologian even when he is not talking about cessationism. The unbelief is still there. It will be on every page of a book and every minute of a sermon, but unless you are accustomed to a gospel perspective, you will not notice it. Years of study then produces only a defeated and self-righteous faith, not a strong and mature faith. It is a faith that is tired of sin, rather than one that is energized by righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17), and that overcomes sin in ourselves and in others by the good news, which is the fantastic and overwhelming power of God that blasts through every opposition to save all those who believe.