Sin? Sin? Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are!

We have a natural religious tendency to believe and even teach that the Christian faith is all about human perfection – or at least human improvement – and to some degree this view has merit. There is without question the scriptural teachings relative to repenting, turning from sin, maturing in the faith and walking by the Spirit and not the flesh. To suggest otherwise would be misleading at best and only part of the overall story.

What people refer to as sin in the Christian world typically has reference to the biggies in the human experience. At the top of the list is anything and everything sexually aberrant (masturbation, fornication, adultery, lust, lasciviousness, carnality, pornography, homosexuality and every other flavor thereafter) and after that we speak of violence (including rape, murder, child-abuse) and then substance abuse and addiction. From there things like lying, prevarications, manipulation and all the rest come into the conversation and then at this point religious people typically start to look at the more invisible things that reside in the heart like anger, envy, hatred, and all the rest.

And while the absence of such sins are certainly a benefit to the spiritual lives of those who are able to avoid or to turn from them, there is an important reality often overlooked in the game of playing religion that looks something like this:

1. All human being sin,
2. God does not see sin as acceptable in His creations,
3. Because He loves us He sent His only Human Son into the world to overcome all sin,
4. And His Son therefore paid for the wages of sin (which is death) for all.

Unfortunately, there remains a tendency for many believers and most preacher/teachers to suggest that because Yeshua paid for sin, that those who receive Him by faith are without sin in their lives. This, too, at least metaphorically speaking, is also true. How could anyone have sin in their lives if the wages of sin have been paid in full? Here comes the paradox – while the price of all sin has been paid, once and for all, by Yeshua, and the Living God has been reconciled to the world, there is an abundance of proof that sin (or missing the mark of God) remains in the lives of most people.

The paradox then, is that sin is gone and paid for in full, but the “act of sin” remains a constant in the lives (here goes) of all human beings – believer and not. What can we say in the face of this? Perhaps we can say that God has past-tense forgiven all people of their sins by and through the wages for it being paid, but He, through His Spirit seeks and calls to bring all souls into relationship with Him by teaching them to walk in the Spirit and not after the flesh. So far so good? Not really. Here’s the thing, while sin, which is abhorrent to the Living God, has been paid for in full, and while forgiven past, present and future, the inclination toward it remains in all people a constant. . . again, in believer and not. And this is the part that religions either forget, ignore or mask.

The trouble with this is found in the fact that unless a person, in the flesh, mind you, sees themselves as anything but sinful, they will lose, forget or begin to ignore the vicarious gift Yeshua has given them. Another way to say this is, “whenever a human being of flesh and blood sees themselves or presents themselves as sinless or having little sin, they will often gently wander from the Shepherd of Souls and will begin to look at themselves as having less need for Him and all that He has done.” We can’t help it. Its also the human nature. So, where there is no sin, there is only righteousness. But in the human condition of flesh, this view assessment is impossible. Why? Everything about us is bent on sin and self. Even the need to breath oxygen and to eat food requires us to pine after other “things” in addition to Him. This is a flat-out form of idolatry – whether we can help it or not! But I am not even writing about the human need for material satisfaction. Let me be straight – we are kidding ourselves if we ever think we are without sin; the mere suggestion shows we are proud, right! But God and His grace have designed things this way, and in the presence of knowing and acknowledging our sin (whether it is in temperament, the mind or the hands) we inoculate ourselves against devoted faith on Him who saved us nearly two thousand years ago.

One of the major drawbacks to organized religion is that its perpetrators and governors invite the masses to join them (ostensibly, “as they are”) but once a person has chosen to accept the invitation, they are expected to become without sin or at least without the need to admit to them being so inclined. I get it, maturity in the faith does bring a spiritual resistance, even a revulsion of sin. But the fact of the matter is, God allows us to remain in sinful flesh for all sorts of reasons often known only to Him, and when we (or especially religious leaders) prop themselves up as righteous enough to judge, condemn and accuse others of sin, they are merely exercising both something that is not they way God works but also hypocrisy.

I have yet to understand the chutzpah men behind the pulpit have when then feel they have the right to condemn anyone in or outside their congregation of anything on earth when they have a beam in their own eye. I know, I know the principle – first remove the beam then you are able to help remove a spec from another. But the understanding of that seems to be more of intent rather than prescriptive. But didn’t Yeshua say to the men condemning the woman taken in adultery, “whomever is without sin cast the first stone?” Again, I know the reference is disputed by some modern scholars, but I suggest the principle remains – nobody is in a place to judge another. Only God is in a place to do that. And from where I sit it seems that most of the judgment in this world comes from the various gatherings of believers that congregate in churches and not only judge each other but the rest of the world! Even Yeshua didn’t do that!

It is with great interest that when we read the epistles of Paul we discover several places where he admits to struggling with sin. (see Romans 7:24-25) And for some reason believers always seem to believe that the “thorn” God left in His flesh was a physical ailment rather than a moral failure. The point? It doesn’t really matter what it was. Paul, like the rest of us, was saved by grace through faith, and God saw no problem is extending that grace to some abiding difficulties that man had as a human being. Perhaps we could maintain a similar view of everyone around us – especially of those who believe.