"<<What is sin? It's a disruption between ourselves and the fundamental nature of God.>> Emile
"How can that be? I dont deny that people sin, It is unavoidable, as it is part of our God given nature. How can sin be considered a disruption of the natural order between ourselves and God when it is part of the natural state given to us by God?" Mark
Mark,
We agree that we have all sinned, but we disagree on the nature of sin. You contend that sin is a natural part of man's nature given to him by God. The Word of God tells us that sin is a breach between man and God---a transgression of the Holy Commandments of God and a lack of faith and trust in God. Is sin part of man's nature or is it indeed a breach between God and man caused by man's free will? You and I walk on the same path until we arrive at this fork in the road. You feel that our sin nature is natural and should be kept, and I believe it is a foreign invader and needs to be cast out. If it were natural, how could it produce a sense of shame and incompleteness? Why does sin insist on making us feel like the line of our life is not straight? If it were given to you by God as a natural part of your nature, why would you have a sense of sin in your life? If it were part of your natural nature you would not possess this sense of trangression, crookedness and incompleteness. This implies that sin is an invader to our natural nature. It is an unwelcome guest that throws our house into chaos---sin.
It seems like a self-evident truth that if sin were a part of man's God given nature that man would feel no remorse or sense of guilt when he sins. If sin were a part of man's natural nature, their would be no need for the conscience to wisper contrary thought to our natural desires. Man does here these contrary thoughts introduced into our minds by conscience. Man does feel a sense of incompleteness, guilt and darkness after sin. Isn't this sense of incompleteness a reminder that sin does not belong in our temple? This is our conscience informing us that their is a fundamental disharmony between our spirit, mind and body when we sin. The integrity of person is violated. Why does man have such a keen sense of this disharmony?
Our conscience is the one communication link that God has maintained after the spiritual death of the human race.(Seems like I have I've brought back original sin.)
We agree that all men have sinned and come very short of the glory that God intended for us. We have agreed to this point.
What is the consequence of this sin? God tells us that the wages we receive for sin is death. The spiritual death that God talks about is the death of the human spirit. In a spiritual sense, man is born dead. This death makes him incapable of living a righteous and sinless life. The sins that we know in our lives are the evidence of our spiritual death.
But God has not abandoned us. He offers us a simple gift to restore the life of God--eternal life--in our hearts. That gift is Jesus who paid the penalty for our sins that we could be reconciled to God. Through Christ, the guilt and reality of sin tht once hung on our lives is destroyed.
Emile |
