That Christian Next Door

Hi,

As I’ve grown as a Christian, my definitions and views about sin have twisted, turned, done somersaults and landed flat on its face. At the heart of the matter and actually at the heart of all Christian matters, there exists a core set of rules and beliefs that govern our actions. These rules and beliefs can be collectively referred to as the Gospel.

At the heart of the Gospel is God’s love which exists without prejudice for each and every person. One outflow of that love is that when we come in contact with it, it changes us (to use a Christian terminology, we are wrecked) and brings us to a place where we begin to love Him. In the Bible, 1 John 4:19 speaks about how Christians love God because He loved us first. A second outflow of God’s love for us is that we love others truly as we love ourselves.

A central Christian belief is that all have sinned and, if they remain in that state, they fall short of the glory of God (found in the book of Romans chapter 3 verse 23) because the consequences of the original sin of Adam and Eve were passed down to all that came after them. The book of Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 9 describes the human heart as “deceitful” and “desperately wicked.” Psalm 51:5 is more blunt: the Amplified Bible Classic Edition reads “Behold, I was brought forth in [a state of] iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me [and I too am].”

For many this would constitute a tough read and for many it acts as stumbling block to salvation. However, part of subjecting ourselves to God and the Lordship of Jesus Christ is bringing ourselves low and accepting God’s view on life and who we are outside of Him.

The key to understanding sin is understanding the idea of being outside of God. A crucial part of God’s design for human life is that we cannot be masters of ourselves. We either serve Him or are slaves to sin. We can never be both or neither. As such, we are on the road to sin when we seek to remove our dependence on Him. Sin itself occurs as we live our lives independent of God and His guiding principles.

One of my favorite thought processes is doing the math of what God is worth. This “math” is impossible by the way but one of the lessons I learned following this line of thought was that my sin does not strip God of His worth – He can never lose it. God is worthy (there’s a lot to unpack in that phrase, but that is for another time.) In creating and loving us, God’s worth is passed down to us. In abiding in Him and bearing fruit, we fulfil His plan and His desire. In being anything but who God created us to be, we go outside of His creative intentions. In achieving His goal for our lives, we consolidate the worth that we have been given.

Worth is theoretical until it is borne out or lived up to. So, if God created us to be living sacrifices that are holy and acceptable to Him (see Romans 12:1), we are not living up to the value we have until we meet those criteria. Seen this way, sin is a value, a value of worth, that we are worth more than.

A few more things to say about this:

• Sin is not part of God’s design. God designed our freewill which we can all use to choose Him or something else. He designed the consequences of loving Him and living our lives in line with His guiding principles. The consequences of sin in a person’s life are not part of His design but simply a function of God’s absence from that life.
• Sin is not a person. It is not the opposite of God. It is an inanimate, abstract construct built on lies about God that people believe. It is opportunistic and cunning just like it’s instigator.
• Romans 6:23 describes the end-result of sin as death. Sin thrives on using God’s law to achieve this end. When we fall short of God’s glory, sin provides the devil with the ammunition to require death. God’s good laws and guidelines about how we are to live our lives are meant for instruction and correction, but sin only uses it to require punishment and death.
• Romans 8:1 is a beautiful scripture-gem. It means that sin has no power to condemn to death anyone who is in Christ Jesus and walks led by God’s Holy Spirit.

You can take the first step on your Christian journey by inviting Jesus Christ into your life today.

Be blessed.