The Sin Issue

Dealing with the sin issue starts with understanding what it really is.

We are told, sin is simply doing wrong. That anything less than perfect is sin.

Originally, that was not the case. The first use of the word sin in scripture is in Genesis 4:7

Genesis 4:7

[7] If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

The word in that verse originally meant struggling with the knowledge of the distance between good and evil, or God and man.

It is the comparison of that very distance that causes the separation between us and God. The problem is on our end. He didn't hide from Adam and Eve...they hid from Him.

We are really awful compared to God. We were never made to be that good. Since God makes no mistakes, if He wanted us perfect...we would be.

"But Adam and Eve were perfect before they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil!"

No, they were not. If they were, they would never have doubted God, and eaten from tree in the first place.

James 1:14

[14] but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

God made them imperfect. They just didn't know it yet...because they didn't know the difference between good and evil.

Look, this isn't hard. But it has been made hard because of the very same reason Adam and Eve were tempted...to be like God. We want to be better. We want to be perfect. We want to ascend and be like God.

Acceptance is all we need. God accepting us as we are. To Him, we are perfect. He made us the way He wanted us to be.

We work to try to be better, to be like God. We fail, because it is impossible. The Law makes this obvious. It is the written form of the knowledge of good and evil.

Is it not?

Of course it is, but instead you use it as a means of gauging how close you are to becoming "like" God.

This is what the Pharasees did, and why Jesus gave them the full weight of the Law..."if you do it in your heart..."

The most obvious tell that you are still trying to be like God, just like the Pharisees did, is how you dissmiss and demean in your heart those who are not as "obedient" as you.

Poop, comparing itself to poop, is still poop.

If you do this, you will die in your sin. You will die in your comparison between yourself and God. Regardless of how good or bad another is. No one is going to pass that test...no one!

Faith, or trusting in the grace and forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ, offers acceptance. It is a gift, given by God, the Father, to those He has chosen from before time began.

Faith, or trust in God, has an interesting side effect. You will tend to obey the Law. You will do this because, you believe God to be right. So, His way is best. You just do it, not to be good enough or better than anyone, you do it because you trust Him.

"Don't touch that hot burner."

"Ah, OK, thanks Lord!"

You cannot do this perfectly, even with His gift of Faith, because we are not perfect, we are just viewed as such by God.

Failure to obey, only shows us a lack of faith. Some area we need to know God better, so we trust Him more.

Faith is based on knowledge. It is.

I trust a chair because I know it will hold me. If one leg is broken, and I see it, I KNOW it is not right. I won't sit in it. If I have never seen a chair, how would I know it is OK to sit in?

Examination...or seeking.

Do you get it now?

So please, stop telling brothers and sisters that they just need to do better! They can't, and neither can you.

The ONLY way to stop living in sin is to trust God more. To trust God more, you just need to know Him better. To know Him better, you just need to seek Him more.

Yes, you can know God, without getting stuck on the vast comparison between you and Him.

He doesnt care about it, so why do you?

What are you afraid of?

He sent the invite out to you long before you were ever born.