Sin of Sin

TALK:      

            The sin of sin, or the sin of religious standards, questioning the whole what is right or what is wrong. Have I done too many bad things or not enough good things? “How good is good enough?” (which is also the title of a good book if anyone is interested) has been an ongoing topic for thousands of years. As of recently there have been several books on this discussion and from a biblical perspective bringing this question back to “what did Jesus really preach?” Biblically, as Christians we are to be like Him and this is a great topic to look at; what did Jesus really preach? Now let me challenge anyone who wishes to stop there; if your understanding of Christianity stops at what Jesus taught, even if you follow His teachings to the tee, you are still in danger of sinning with sin. Your focus will be on what is right or wrong, acceptable or not. These points of course have their value and can help one grow, mature and please God (there is a difference between pleasing God versus His loving you) but they will never hit the real point of who Jesus really was and why He came.

            The Old Testament Pentateuch, contains 613 commandments which can be divided into 248 positive “thou shalt…” perform duties and 365 negative “thou shalt not…” or abstain from commands. Deut. 5:6-21 gives us a starting point with the 10 commandments, and Lev. 23 with several feasts we are to perform. Deut. 6:5, and Jesus picking up on it in Mt. 22:37, that the ultimate command is to love God with all that you are (and all the other commands stem from this). There has even been debates that after Jesus died on the cross that these commands are all voided, have no value, or even that Jesus is showing a more evolved way of living in the sense that the laws were of less evolved status. I suppose in some sense the last point may hold validity if the laws are viewed as a starting point; not creating a new set and throwing out the old. Jesus Himself said in Mt 5:17-18 that He “didn’t come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it.” He even goes on to challenge in Mt 5:20 that you need to be even more perfect then the Pharisees (who were near perfect at following all 613 laws) to enter into the kingdom of God. Jesus then adds over the next few verses (to verse 44) depth and expansion (not reducing or taking away) by saying several times, “you have heard …(insert a law), but I say to you… (adding depth).” He takes the laws and forces them to inward character, motivations, and heart conditions, not just outward actions. Jesus makes the laws harder not easier. Mt 7:21-23 has followers of His coming to Him and He turns to them and says, “I never knew you; depart from me.” They were following His teachings to the law and Jesus points out their sin of sin. In Mt. 7:14 Jesus warns us that “narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

            So how does one enter? The laws are increased, standards raised and narrow is the gate! One can analyze, study and practice all of what Jesus taught and still miss the point. Jesus’ life wasn’t the point (as great and useful as it was); it was His death and resurrection that truly matters for us.

            Rom. 7:1-4 illustrates a legal standing with the law; we belong to the law until we die, then we are free and can move into something new. We can’t be in a relationship with God while bound to the law, as we are not perfect and God is (oil and water can’t be mixed.) Jn. 1:12-13 and 2 Cor. 5:17 tells us we need to die to the law and live again anew in Christ. God isn’t reforming our life; He must have a brand new person born of God. Therefore it isn’t about good or bad, but are you human needing Jesus as a sacrifice. The law requires death to occur to be freed from it. The law still holds relevance and is completely useful (Rom 6:1-7), but the penalty of it is paid for (death/blood). The law, after Jesus, is like knowing what pleases a spouse or what will make them upset. You do or don’t do those things because you love them, not because you have to. Rom. 6:6-8 and 1 Pt. 1:23 describes that we have died with Christ and will be raised again anew in Him. Rom 7:1-4 explains this legal union as a marriage. Before Christ, we were married to the law and death; but once death occurs we can be married and live in Christ. Jn 3:5-6 says, “unless one is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”, and “that which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of spirit is spirit.” So again, it doesn’t matter if you are good or bad, but are you flesh or spirit; part of the law or life in Christ?

            Jn 3:16 says, “for whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life” and Rom. 5:8-10 explains that those who believe in Jesus have shared in His death and share in His new life. So the real standard of sin has little to do with right or wrong, but with do you have Jesus or not? John 3:18-19 says, “He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who doesn’t believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God and this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men(people) loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.”

            The real sin is picking yourself over Jesus as ruler of your life. Jn.14:23-24, Jn. 3:20-21, Jn. 12:44-50, Jn. 5:24, and 1 Jn. 5:11-12, all state that if you pick Jesus you’ve picked God and life; if you refuse Jesus, you’ve picked yourself, the law, and death. In other words, are you god, or is God god? This was the same challenge facing Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. Verse 5 has the snake tempting them with “you will be like God.” The sin was picking their way over God’s, or in other words making themselves god over God Himself.

            The term in John 3:16 of ‘believe’ in Jesus, is more then just mental assent to something. It is one thing to believe there is a parachute next to you on a plane versus actually putting on that parachute, clipping it on, trusting in it and jumping out of that plane. James 2:19 says, “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe and tremble.” The verses surrounding verse 19 puts this into context with belief versus actions and life style. Verse 26 says, “Faith without works is dead”, or faith without lifestyle is just mental assent. Mt 5:20 showed Jesus explaining this is what the Pharisees had; mental assent and no real relationship. A bunch of laws, viewing sin as a bunch or right and wrongs; and Jesus said you’ll have to follow the laws even more perfectly then the Pharisees (which was another way of saying it isn’t going to happen.) Rom. 4:16-21 illustrates that faith produces works, not works produces faith. It is belief, in Christ as ruler over your life, that produces works, not works that gets you into a relationship with Christ.

            Mark 16:16 uses the same ‘belief’ word as in John 3:16. The term is ‘Pisteuo’ which means to commit or trust in God as opposed to one’s self. So Mark 16:16 reads, “He who believes will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” Gal. 3:11 explains why, “No one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall live by faith.” And as we just saw, faith is belief in Christ and making Him ruler over us. So if you have chosen the sin of sin, or trying to work out your own walk with God by your own ways, by what is right or wrong, then you’ve missed the point. Hab. 2:4 shows that pride and faith are opposite. “Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by faith.” Unbelief is just camouflaged pride. Rom. 1:16-17, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation…for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘the just shall live by faith.”

            You are either choosing yourself or God; everything else that comes along in your life falls under one category or the other. This could be choosing religion (whether as the title ‘Christian’, some other form of spirituality, or various forms of atheism, which is still a belief system/religion) and laws to earn your way, or picking God; there are no in-betweens.

           

WALK:

I would now like to challenge everyone at their attempts to come to God, or your avoidance all together, and have they been hindered by a view taught or perceived that it is all about laws, rules and what is right or wrong? Has someone sucked you in or tricked you into falling into the sin of sin? If this is the case, don’t let pride get in your way, whether because you want to do things your own way, or pride because you don’t want anyone to know you were tricked into believing it was all about rules, but free yourself by simply beginning to talk with God or searching out the true reality of who He is beyond rules and regulations. Over the next few topics that are coming up, I hope to introduce you to a God that will hopefully blow your mind and current understandings of who the God of the Bible is. Before this though, let me remind you that no matter where you are in life, GOD WANTS YOU! Eph. 2:8 says, “for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God.” God has chosen you, saved you, brought you into a relationship with Him entirely of His own doing, not your own. It is a gift freely given; not earned. Rom. 5:8 explains, “But God demonstrates His own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” It isn’t our obedience to the law, how good we were, or any other standard, that God gave His son to save us; it was when we were at our worst, most disgusting and wretched that He loved us. The only thing holding you back is you yourself; the gift is there, you just need to pick it up and put it on; just like the parachute.

LIVE:

There is a common phrase, “I’m a sinner saved by grace.”, but I want to challenge part of this. Yes, this WAS true; but we are now something new as believers in Christ. We are a new creation; a new seed planted in our nature (and Yes, there is still a battle raging inside, which Paul discusses in his letters, and Yes, I may/will sin, but my nature is new non the less), so I would like to rephrase the above statement to something more like, “I WAS a sinner saved by grace.”. I could go into more detail on this; but for now I want to emphasize that sometimes getting stuck in the original version can often trick people into falling back into the thinking that they still need to earn something to stay in a relationship with God, to earn a place, a standing before Him. These people try to maintain righteousness by following the law for the sake of works as opposed to the law being a guide to God’s heart. This would be like a husband, knowing his wife likes flowers, and not buying her some (or perhaps even more serious a spouse having an affair), and then trying to get back into the relationship by going out and buying an engagement ring, having a wedding, and getting remarried all over again. This isn’t necessary, you are already married, your marriage may have issues but it isn’t necessary to get married again when you already are. As Christians we are always telling non-Christians that God will forgive them of any sin if they repent and turn to God; yet we often change that standard once we become a Christian, placing legality, judgment, and works as the new standard back onto ourselves and even worse, other Christians. They have exchanged grace and mercy for conditional standards. Romans 3:20  says, “therefore, by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight.” And Galatians 3:3 says, “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” Our entire relationship with God, His loving us (again different from our depth of relationship or closeness of intimacy with Him) is only dependent on grace, not works! Galatians 5:4 warns, “you have become estranged from Christ, you who are attempting to be justified by law, you have fallen from grace.” Let me remind you, and may God free you as you understand this, that your standing or marriage to God can not change when you are in that relationship with Him. Begin to live in that freedom, live in that relationship, live in that loving marriage! The laws are guides to growth and depth in the relationship, just like saying ‘I love you’, buying flowers, or spending time with a spouse grow a relationship (and avoiding adultery, abuse etc., prevent it from falling apart), not for ‘keeping’ you in that relationship.