"This hereditary sin is so deep [and horrible] a corruption of nature that no reason can understand it, but it must be [learned and] believed from the revelation of Scriptures, Ps. 51:5; Rom. 6:12ff ; Ex. 33:3; Gen. 3:7ff."
As I close this week of meditation on Hebrews 9:23-29, I'm deeply troubled at the disbelief in sin. So very few truly take sin as serious as the Scriptures portray it in the passages quoted above. Who can believe that Christ came to "do away with sin" if he does not believe in sin in the first place?
Here's how the Apostle describes his inner life—even after his Baptism and rebirth.
"We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it" (Romans 7:14-20).
In a world where we're taught to believe that also our moral and spiritual life is evolving to ever newer, higher and better levels, this is impossible to believe.
However, I invite you to read the bulk of the articles in today's news and convince me otherwise.
This passage in Romans kinda reminds me of the phrase "the devil made me do it." How does "it is the sin living in me that does it" relate to taking responsibility for your actions or decisions? Would be interested in your thinking on that and would like to hear your comments.
ReplyDeleteIn answer to the above question, may I remind us all that sin is a description, a diagnosis of the incurable illness that has brought about our spiritual death. Even after our rebirth, the effects of this most severe illness remain. The struggle to live the life of Christ continues until we are taken from this veil into the eternal freedom of Christ's love and the resurrection. Here's what The Message paraphrase describes our condition from Romans 3:9-20—The Holy Spirit speaks through the Apostle first to the Jews of Rome and then to us all.
ReplyDeleteWe're All in the Same Sinking Boat
So where does that put us? Do we Jews get a better break than the others? Not really. Basically, all of us, whether insiders or outsiders, start out in identical conditions, which is to say that we all start out as sinners. Scripture leaves no doubt about it:
There's nobody living right, not even one,
nobody who knows the score, nobody alert for God.
They've all taken the wrong turn;
they've all wandered down blind alleys.
No one's living right;
I can't find a single one.
Their throats are gaping graves,
their tongues slick as mudslides.
Every word they speak is tinged with poison.
They open their mouths and pollute the air.
They race for the honor of sinner-of-the-year,
litter the land with heartbreak and ruin,
Don't know the first thing about living with others.
They never give God the time of day.
This makes it clear, doesn't it, that whatever is written in these Scriptures is not what God says about others but to us to whom these Scriptures were addressed in the first place! And it's clear enough, isn't it, that we're sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with everybody else? Our involvement with God's revelation doesn't put us right with God. What it does is force us to face our complicity in everyone else's sin." - Al Franzmeier