The Definition of Sin

I'm reading a number of books right now (you can see them on the sidebar to the right). A running theme that has been popping up in my prayer and reading for the last few weeks has been the definition of sin. By that I mean that my understanding of what constitutes sin has... well, not really "changed" so much as "improved." I have a deeper understanding of it now, I think. Sin is simply any act outside of God's will; to put it another way, the absence of God's will in your life is sin.

We are all taught in church that everyone is born into sin, thanks to that original sin by Adam.

"For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)

"For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15:21-22).

This is a true statement. However, it gives the impression of some innate disease that rots us from the inside out regardless of what we do, that we are hapless victims. This, too, is true, but it goes deeper than this. It is true that we are victims to sin, that death is the inevitable consequence of sin, and that our only hope is Jesus Christ dying for our sins. We can't do it alone.

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23)

The wages of sin are death. A wage is something you earn. Thus, it isn't that you are "cursed" with sin immediately because you were born. And this isn't anything novel. We all come to Christ knowing that we're sinners, that we've done "wrong," and that we need forgiveness for this. But what is it that you consider the wrongness in your life in need of repentance?

I would wager that many of us look to the laws and rules in the Bible to measure our actions. The Ten Commandments are a prime example. The two commandments given by Jesus, love God with all of your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. Whenever we fail to live up to these standards, we say we have sinned and we ask for forgiveness. As we should. The Law given by God is the perfect standard, because it represents walking entirely in God's will. And none of us can do that, at least not on our own. Jesus was the only One able to walk perfectly in God's will, and He is the only One who can help us do the same.

I'm in danger of becoming side-tracked in talking about how the Law, its purpose, and how it is fulfilled in Christ. That is not the point of this entry. The point I'm trying to make with the above paragraph is that Jesus said He came to fulfill the Law, and that if we love Him we will follow the Law despite no longer being under it. The Law represents walking entirely in God's will, and the Law makes us aware of how far we fall short of God's will. Simply breaking the Law doesn't equate to sin, in the same sense that simply following the Law doesn't equate to righteousness.

The sin is walking outside of God's will; righteousness is walking within God's will. If you are walking in God's will, you will be obeying the commandments by default. That is why Jesus said the first priority is to love the Lord your God with all of your heart -- if you do this, the rest will follow.

Here is where my eyes were opened up a little more. Living a moral life - judging between right and wrong and choosing right - isn't enough to be free of sin. In other words, you can still do all of that and be walking outside of God's will. God has an unique calling for each of us, a predetermined path specially designed for you and I. Any time we step off of that path, we're sinning. That's a hard truth. That's why Jesus calls us to commit ourselves to Him fully. If we aren't running the race 100%, all-in for Jesus, we risk stepping off of the path. Paul warned us of this. Rob Bell, in Velvet Elvis, puts it a different way.

"... let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..." (Hebrews 12:1-2)

"Your job is the relentless pursuit of who God made you to be. And anything else you do is sin and you need to repent of it." Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis)

When we step off of the path, we open ourselves first to sin, and then to the curse of God for sin (as opposed to His shelter of blessings when we walk in righteousness), and finally to the snares and attacks of the devil. Believe it or not, our lives are easiest managed when we do the very hard thing of committing everything we have and all of our actions to Jesus. See my entry on Perfection - His burden really is light! When we start seeking Him with all of our hearts, we find Him, and He takes care of us. At that point, the only thing we have to worry about is pleasing God. Wouldn't that be nice? To only have ONE thing to worry about, ever? To never give another care to bills, or relationships, or sickness, or hunger? To know that all of our needs - and through us the needs of our loved ones and everyone around us - are met by God because we're walking in true faith and obedience to Him?

I write this not only because I find it important for myself to be reminded that simply living a good life is still sinful, to remind myself that I must seek God's Word and direction in my life and then follow wherever they lead me, but also because my heart breaks for many of my friends who are living in sin. And I'm not just talking about those who are unsaved. I know to pray for them by default. I'm talking about the friends I have who believe in Jesus, have asked Him to be ruler of their lives and try to live following the Law, but aren't letting Jesus really work at them from the inside. I have friends who live with their unmarried partners, friends who only think about God on Sundays, friends who half-heartedly seek God and half-heartedly cling to their own will in life. I don't lay any judgment on any particular friend -- I'm the world's worst at not acting when God calls me to act, and even if I weren't, I don't know the private dialogue between Jesus and them. But before, I always thought it sad but not life-threatening; they were Christians, doing their best to not sin, but simply not enjoying all of the benefits of a deeper relationship with Christ. Now, though, I recognize it for what it is: not seeking God with everything in you, not running the race to whatever extreme God wants you in, is sin. They may be willfully rejecting God's call for their lives, and not realizing it is sin to do so! And this makes me want to cry. I understand now why David asked the Lord to forgive Him his hidden faults as well as his willful sins, and why Jesus cried out for forgiveness of those who had not repented because they didn't know they were sinning (but still were!):

"Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me." (Psalms 19:12-13)

"Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.'" (Luke 23:34)

Their unknown sin may also be playing a part in unanswered prayers, which is tragic. I'm not going to jump into this now, having gone on more than long enough already, but sin in your life can contribute to unanswered prayer. I don't think that God ignores those who pray with sin, nor do I think that He won't answer when it is in His will to do so, but the promise of receiving "anything we ask" of Jesus is likely blocked by sin. Obviously we all struggle with sinning - I do daily - but unrepented sin, sinful areas not given over to Jesus for improvement, block the prerequisite to getting what we ask for.

"Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear." (Isaiah 59:1-2)

"If you remain in Me and My Words remain in You, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you." (John 15:7)

So, to summarize, sin entered the world through Adam and Eve when they stepped out of God's will. Since then, none of us have been able to walk that perfect path within God's will. Until Jesus came along. Through His perfect life and subsequent death and resurrection, He provided the way for His Spirit to enter our spirits and change us from the inside-out, to model His behavior and finally be able to walk in God's perfect will.

In the same way that darkness is the absence of light, and cold the absence of heat, sin is the absence of God's will. Giving anything less than 100% is sin. We all sin and fall short of God's will, but each time we do, as long as we are faithful to come to Jesus in repentance and give over that part of our lives to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from the unrighteousness, to help maneuver us back onto God's path and will. Search out God with all of your heart, seeking the areas where you might be holding back, and God will be faithful in shaping them anew, better.

Jars of Oil - February's Saturday Night Message

This last weekend was Saturday Night. For anyone who is unaware of what that is, once a month we have a get-together in Edmond for local Christians. The night includes some social time, a short sermon or Biblical discussion, and a period of praise, worship, and prayer for each other. Saturday Nights are always amazing, filled with the power of God, and this weekend was no exception. Tonderai brought a very wise message from the Bible, and I'd like to share the gist of it to anyone who reads this and couldn't make it. Obviously, this isn't my message and I won't be covering all of it, but I will go over the points that spoke to me.

The message came from 2 Kings 4:1-7.

The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves."

Elisha replied to her, "How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?"

"Your servant has nothing there at all," she said, "except a little oil."

Elisha said, "Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side."

She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another one." But he replied, "There is not a jar left." Then the oil stopped flowing.

She went and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left."

The first thing to be noted here is that the woman was honest with the issues in her life. Tonderai spoke of our culture's tendency to put a positive spin on everything. Daily we encounter people who ask a variation of this general greeting, "Hey man, how are you today?" We typically respond positively, "I'm doing great, thanks!" regardless of how we may actually be feeling. Even amongst our fellow Christians, we tend to put up a positive façade. And even if we do share some of what is troubling us, we try to make it look like we're handling it. "Well, things have been rough, but God is faithful."

We don't dare be completely honest, for a multitude of reasons. It could be considered rude, or we don't want to burden our friends with our troubles, or we might be seen as weak or incapable or needy, or they will think less of us, or whatever. Tonderai's point was we tend to have an image we want people to see us as, and so we only answer in ways that support that image.

However, in doing this, we separate ourselves from the help they could provide. We put ourselves in precisely the situation that Satan wants us in: alone. When we are alone, He can come at us in full strength. Together, we can use each other's strengths and wisdom to overcome his attacks. Jesus clearly intended for His followers, His church, to work together, to support each other.

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. (Romans 12:3-5)

The woman in 2 Kings went to Elisha, a man of God, and didn't sugarcoat her problems. Note that her husband was a man of God as well. He served the prophets faithfully. But she didn't talk about his virtues; she said he left debt, and I now have a problem! She laid it all out to Elisha, explaining that she had nothing, and her boys were about to be made slaves. She needed help!

Another thing to note is that she went to the person she knew could provide help, a man of God. If there is anyone we should be honest with, it is those we know are in touch with God and can help us discern His will. We tend to be ashamed to say how worse off we are then them, but that is foolish. They are precisely the people who will NOT judge us, who will be ready to jump to our aid through the love of Christ in them. We as Christian brethren go through different trials and lessons in life. One point that was made during Saturday Night was that, in going to others for help, we acquire their experience and wisdom. I may have spent ten years overcoming some weakness, some challenge and lesson from God. Through that experience, I know God's will in that specific area. If you're starting to go through that same problem, you can benefit from my experience and save yourself ten years of tribulation. But you've got to be honest first so I know what you're going through. That is how we are set up to work; none of us are strong everywhere, all the time, but each of us are strong in some area at some time, and together we can grow much quicker than apart.

A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel (Proverbs 1:5).

Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety (Proverbs 11:14).

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise (Proverbs 12:15).

So, we know that the woman in 2 Kings had to face her problems in order to even hope to overcome them, and so must we. We must be honest with ourselves, honest with our Christian friends and elders who can help, and honest in our prayers to God. Let's move on.

Once the woman gave her story to Elisha, he asked her a question: "What do you have?" She replied, "I have nothing, except this small bit of oil." In her eyes, that bit of oil was essentially useless. It wouldn't solve her problem. But it was a starting point for God. If you want to find an answer from God, if you want to move out of your situation, you should take inventory of what you have. Once again, be honest with yourself. You have gifts and strengths from the Lord, even if you cannot see how they would help.

(Sidenote - Tonderai spoke of a SWOT analysis, something he undergoes periodically when he is in tribulation. A SWOT analysis consists of discovering your: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. Such a self-inventory could be useful in figuring out what you have to offer to God, what is hindering you, and what direction you could go in.)

So, now the woman and Elisha are on the same page. They both know the problem, and what the woman has to offer to God. Elisha's suggestion, though, seems counter-intuitive. He tells her to go borrow all the jars she can find. Did you catch that? Her problem is she is in debt, and his solution is to go borrow. Borrowing is not typically how you get out of debt; in fact, it tends to make the problem worse.

The point is that God's solutions will always require faith. Once you pray and discern God's will, it will require that you step out on faith. It will not make sense to you; the ways of God look like foolishness to man. But that is what faith is: hearing God's will, and choosing to follow it regardless. The woman heard God's will, and chose to follow regardless of how wise it sounded because she trusted it was from God.

The requirement of faith by God to act serves a purpose: it increases your capacity to believe. This was the heart of Tonderai's message.

Once you have faced a problem, heard God's will and acted on faith to receive the solution to the problem, your belief in God's ability to provide has now increased. Before you had the solution, you were worried about the problem. The woman was afraid her children were going to be made slaves, and she didn't see a way out. After the events with Elisha, her faith is increased. She now knows without a doubt that God provides, and she can share that faith with others facing problems. And now we get back to our role in helping other Christians with our experiences.

Your capacity for God's blessings is up to you. Once the woman had collected the jars - acted on faith - she began to pour her oil into them. She kept pouring until there were no more jars, and at that point, the oil stopped. The man of God told the woman to gather as many jars as she could. Had she only gathered one or two, she only would have filled up one or two jars. Had she gathered a hundred, she would have filled a hundred. Her level of faith was the only thing that decided how blessed she was. When God calls you to do something, give everything to Him. Go all out. He'll pay you back to the measure of your faith.

One final point. Once the jars were filled, she went back to Elisha and he told her to do two things: sell the oil and pay back the debt, and THEN use the rest for herself.

The woman started out in debt. God first provided for her to come up to stability. Then He moved her on to prosperity.

You cannot be in prosperity, able to bless others with your experience and blessings, until you are out of your problem and stable. In other words, God will first provide for your problem, meet your needs. Then He will give you overabundance so that you provide for others' needs. Elisha was prosperous. His needs had been met, and so he was in a position to meet the needs of others, like this woman. He had the faith required, not a deficit.

Do you want a solution to the problems and stresses in your life? Do you want to be prosperous? Go to a Christian who has already overcome the problem you're facing, who has the abundance of faith in that specific area to provide for you. Share your problems with your Christian family, and you'll find the answer so much quicker. And then you'll have the faith to answer for others. Look for people with stability and prosperity in order to leave debt.