QOD - That would be Question of the Day.
I'm pretty sure there are books on this subject by Theologians all over the map.
Let me throw out some thoughts and lets discuss it.
Sin seems to be 2 fold - by that I mean man has an inherited Sin Nature (Romans 5:12) and man makes sinful choices.
Have you ever met anyone who never puts their needs and wants first? We are born with a nature that puts our needs and wants on the throne of our lives. That throne should be occupied by God.
If the Law (and laws) are put in place to show the standard expected then what is it about that law that makes us bristle and buck? We want our own say!
If Sin is missing the mark (I have heard that teaching before - archery term), then it begins to make some sense to me. God set the standard from the beginning - don't eat the apple, be Holy, it is very good. Our response - pick and eat, do what is right in my own eyes, what is good for you may not be good for me.
Coming back to that archery idea... God set up the target. We pull our bow and take a shot. At our very best we might get the arrow over the starting line, but even Mother Teresa or Paul could not hit the target - much less the bulls eye. So what did God do? He sent Jesus to get our arrow and put it in the very center of the bulls eye! He didn't need our help, He didn't ask us to do things to get it there, He did it for us.
If your arrow is now in the center of the target, does it make sense to try again and again to shoot at the target? That is like saying to Jesus, "Thanks for that, but I want to do it myself!"
Now that your arrow is in the bulls eye, you can get about the business of letting the Holy Spirit make you into what God created you to be in the first place (It is very good!).
Sin has no hold on me! There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. I have been set free.
Scandalous freedom! Crazy Love! Unexplainable? yes! True? yes!
Lots more to talk about on this... so lets talk.
It is interesting to me that we so often talk about sin by what we do. And the Bible speaks to that. Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." We've done sin, and therefore, we fall short of God's glory. His standard is perfection. (Matt. 5:48)
ReplyDeleteBut isn't sin more than that? Isn't it something that is inherit within us? Paul in Romans 7:17 says that sin "lives in me." If sin is something that lives inside of people, then would the sins that we commit be an outflow of the sin that lives in us?
I like the archery illustration above, but I think that we can take it one step further. It would be like an archer stepping up to the starting line without the bow and arrow. The sin in us prevents us from even making an attempt to try to hit the bullseye - i.e. to reach God.
That is why we have a need for a Savior. We can't save ourselves. We don't have the right tools, the right heart.
Romans 14:23b says, "...whatever is not from faith is sin."
What is sin? Maybe it is faith in self instead of faith in Jesus.
My 2 cents at this time.
Blessings.
Ron R.
PS - Hey Double D, if you have a new email address, I'd like to get it!
Double.d is my blog handle. I still use the same email.
DeleteI've heard Sin and sins as a distinction like you mentioned. Sin is that fallen nature while sins relates to the acts. The Sin nature was redeemed at the cross while the sins are being addressed by the in dwelling of the Holy Spirit - teaching and helping us as He makes s into what we were created to be. I'll spend some time locating scripture specific to that line of thought.
Great to hear from you. How gets the prep for your departure?
I really need to proof these before posting! This is more like texting. You never really know what you said til after the fact!
DeleteThis is a test of my Google account. I aspire to be active on your blog.
ReplyDelete