Sin exists.
Sin is bad. It’s important that you understand my position on sin. It exists, and it is bad. It should be avoided by Christians. Non-Christians, of course, cannot avoid sin. They are slaves to it and obey sin. So, to avoid sin you have to first be a Christian. That’s easy. “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved”, Paul said to the Philippian jailer. That seems pretty straightforward to me, but some others disagree. Let’s look at that some other time, OK? This is about sin, not salvation, even though the two concepts are so closely related it’s hard to talk about one without the other. What is Sin? This question seems to me to be the real crux of the issue. Current Christian thinking about sin seems to run along the lines of Murphy’s Law: If anything can be considered sin, it is sin. A woman who does not cover her hair is sinful, according to some Christian groups and 1 Corinthians 11:6. Looking at a member of the other sex is sin (or maybe it’s just men looking at women, since those are Jesus’ exact words in Matthew 5:28). Of course, there’s also the Big Ten. Again, Jesus Himself cited these when the rich young ruler came up to Him and asked how to gain eternal life. So at a minimum, it seems violating those should be considered sin. That would be fine if Acts chapter 15 were not in the Bible. The whole point of this chapter is that Old Testament law does not apply to Gentile believers. This is Paul’s point to the Galatians in chapter 2: 15 running through 3:6. The idea that we grow in Christ by obeying the law after receiving Him through faith seems to strike Paul as utterly ridiculous. He repeats this thought in Romans 6:14 and 1 Corinthians 10:23, and applies it to everyone - not just Gentiles – in Romans 10:12. It is difficult to argue law in the context of all these verses. Paul Defines Sin It seems abundantly clear that Paul has a very different understanding of sin than most Christians. Sin exists, and sin is bad, but if Christians are not under the law then what is sin under the New Covenant? Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles (Romans 10:13) defines it for us in that same epistle at chapter 14:23 as “whatever does not proceed from faith”. Not just the things covered by the law, mind you, but “whatever”. Sin encompasses a laundry list of behaviors that is simply staggering. Any reliance on our own behavior, or confidence in our own abilities, is sin. For example, trying to obey the law can be sin if the law-abiding Christian is depending on that instead of depending on the finished work of Jesus Christ. This is why Paul says in the cited passage from Galatians that trying to keep the law makes him a transgressor of the law. Step outside the confines of a legal understanding and this definition of sin makes perfect sense. God is love, right? God knows how to give good things to His kids, right? So depending on ourselves instead of on God for anything is tantamount to saying “I don’t need you God.” Of course, we would not use those words, but the lack of faith in God’s provision is expressed in the action itself. NOT a New Idea As surprising as this idea might seem to some, the simple fact is that this definition of sin applies throughout all of Scripture. Adam and Eve did not have faith that God wanted what was best for them when He said not to eat that fruit. On the other side of this coin is Abraham who was considered righteous by faith alone (Genesis 15:6). Of course, the entire chapter of Hebrews 11 addresses this precise issue. This idea has its roots all the way back in Deuteronomy 28. God says to Israel in that He will bless them with incredible blessings if they do what He says, and curse them with terrible curses if they don’t do what He says. Incredible blessings are clearly preferable, so Israelites breaking the law were simply acting out a lack of faith in God. The Mosaic Law simply gave them ways to demonstrate faith. By the way, this broad concept of sin explains why the writer of Hebrews follows chapter 11 with an admonition (12:1) to set aside “the sin” that so easily entangles us. The Greek text includes the definite article and the noun is singular. Any action that demonstrates a lack of faith in God is sin, and I know for myself that it is stunningly easy to doubt God and fail to take Him at His word. Slaves to Sin? Of course, non-Christians do this all day and all night long. A lack of faith defines who they are. The citizens of Nazareth astonished Jesus with their lack of faith (Mark 6:6) and a Roman Centurion astonished Him with faith (Matthew 8:10), demonstrating that without faith it is impossible to please God (already cited in Hebrews 11:6). Faith is the defining characteristic of the disciple of Jesus Christ. This is why John writes such encouraging words in 1 John 3:9. Modern translations add the modifier “practice” to the statement that Christians do not sin, but if a lack of faith in His Son is the definition of “sin”, it is easy to rest in the assurance that if we have accepted Jesus as the Son of God, we do not sin. We may have some doubts on a variety of issues, but on this point at least God is perfectly pleased with us.
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The rural area where I live includes two Christian communities that are easily recognized by their modest dress. One has a simple, agrarian lifestyle that most would call antiquated. They conduct themselves in this way in order to strengthen their relationship to God through obedience to instructions found in the Bible. While their ultimate goal is worthy of praise, I think they are trapped in trying to please God.
And they are not alone. While the exact parameters of their behavior may seem foolish, it’s all based on Scripture. For example, the women in both groups cover their hair in keeping with 1 Corinthians 11:6. This idea of pleasing God by obeying the law is a trap for any Christian who thinks they need to obey any law. Some more common applications of this idea include the instructions on baptism and obedience found in Matthew 28:19-20. Huh? As Christians we do not need to obey any law from God. Paul says very clearly in Romans 6:14 that we are not under the law. This is an absolutely radical statement to most Christians. Even worse, the next phrase that we are under grace sounds to some like a license for immoral behavior that totally contradicts Scripture. This understanding is completely and utterly wrong. Rather, Paul says in Galatians 2:18 that trying to obey the law after coming to Christ makes him a transgressor of the law. “Are you saying that trying to keep the law makes me a violator of the law?”, you may ask. Yes, you have that right. But it is even worse than that. Putting yourself back under the law after accepting Jesus Christ is counter-productive to living a life that reflects Jesus Christ to the lost and suffering world around you. Individuals who do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior are hindered in coming to Him by law-abiding Christians. Drift Happens If this seems upside down to you, rest assured that you have plenty of company. Jews in Thessalonica made the same complaint to the authorities about what Paul was teaching (Acts 17:6). This group drifted so far away from the teachings of the Old ‘Testament that they, like the Pharisees before Pontus Pilot, said there is no king but Caesar (John 19:15). In exactly the same way, Christians trying to obey the law have drifted badly. The first thing they have drifted from is the love of Jesus Christ. This is the charge Jesus lays against the church in Ephesus (Revelation 2:4). Law-abiding Christians put an undue emphasis on how they have obeyed the law to the detriment of remembering how God showed He loves them. They also forget that Jesus told the Pharisees that the work which God requires is to believe in His Son (John 6:29). It’s Him, Not You Jesus Christ is, of course, what makes the New Covenant new. He fulfilled the law so that Paul could write in Romans 6:14 that we are no longer under the law, but instead are under grace. Drifting back to the law ignores this wonderfully descriptive verse and the absolute freedom it brings. It also ignores other verses such as Colossians 2:21-20-23, where regulations are said to be of no value in stopping the indulgences of the flesh. This explains why trying to keep the law makes you break the law, and why it makes leading others to Christ even more difficult. Evangelism is effective when it is a work of the Holy Spirit, but anything done under the law is the work of the flesh. Compelling Christians to knock on doors or hand out tracts to comply with law shuts the door in the face of Christ who is standing there knocking. New Garments, New Wine Anyone? Jesus made it abundantly clear that the Old Covenant of Law and the New Covenant of Grace do not blend (Matthew 9:14-17, Mark 2:21-22, and Luke 5:33-39). He told the church at Laodicea that blending cold law and hot grace sickens Him (Revelation 3:15-16). Paul explained that the law was a covenant of death (2 Corinthians 3:7), and Jesus said that He came so that we could have life, and life in abundance (John 10:10). All these verses make a compelling statement about Christianity and Old Testament law. They point out that Christianity is not about obeying God in order to get a reward. (Luke 17:7-10 dispels that notion very succinctly.) Christianity is certainly not about obeying God to escape punishment, since Jesus Christ took our punishment on Himself. Having accepted that, why do some think we can – or even need to- do anything else? |
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