Got sin?
How Christians
handle the sin problem
I’m thinking this morning about sin and how God’s people have handled it in the past and present. I see at least eight views:
1. Animal Sacrifice.
“I sin and the solution is clear: I pick a good animal then kill it by offering it as a sacrifice for my sins to appease God and then I will be forgiven.”
2. Baptism following repentance.
“Jesus Christ was already sacrificed for my sins; I believe that and I have repented and been baptized for the forgiveness of all past sins by the washing of water in Baptism.
3. Confession.
“All my past sins were washed away at baptism but since I have sinned since baptism I need to go to church where we pray the Lord’s Prayer and confess our sins collectively; but I also need to confess my own personal sins to my priest who pronounces absolution when he believes I am truly penitent.
4. Penance.
“All sin is serious but some sins are especially deadly and these require discipline to ensure that I do not go about sinning regularly and think all I have to do is confess them to get off the hook. When I committed adultery I was assigned penance which lasted a full seven years before I was able to fully return to the life of the church.”
5. Forgiveness
past-present-future.
“I don’t believe we get rid of sins by baptism or going to a priest’s confession—that doesn’t work; Instead, I confessed-repented-believed-received and was converted and God wiped away all my sins at once—past present and future. After that, even when I sin, God can’t see me sin for He only sees Jesus when looking at me.”
6. Sin as rare.
“When I was converted my past sins were forgiven and sin became rare as a Christian. However, sin can happen. If I sin (not when I sin) I confess and repent and God forgives such a sin. For me, sin is like a wrecking my car into another car on purpose—intentionally disobeying God. While I am not a “perfect driver” yet, I do generally avoid intentional premeditated sins against God. As to falling short of the perfect standard of driving, I confess this every day as I gradually grow in grace.”
7. Spiritual
breathing.
“I rejoice that God can’t see my sins but He sees me perfect already. Nevertheless, even though God can’t see them, I can, so I practice Spiritual Breathing by exhaling daily a confession of all my sins while inhaling fresh doses of the Holy Spirit daily.”
8. What sin?
“I honestly can’t think of any willful thought, word or deed in my life that could actually be labeled “sin” but there are many places where I am a broken person due to my environment, my dysfunctional home, my little quirks, my addictions and the sicknesses from which I am recovering. I am glad God understands all these things and loves me just the same.”
9. Sin—so what?
“Hey, we are all sinners. You have your sins and I have mine. Unbelievers sin and Christians sin too. Sin is not that important and the church has got it all wrong talking all the time about sin. What is important is that God loves you and nothing you do can ever separate you from God’s love. Sin is not your problem. Forget sin and concentrate on how much God loves you just as you are.”
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These are nine views of sin through history and today I could think of this morning. The first view was dominant during Old Testament times and the second during the book of Acts. The third emerged when the notion that baptism ended all sin deconstructed and a way of handling sin after baptism was needed. The fourth was added when some Christians stooped so far as to commit adultery after they had been baptized and “mere” confession seemed inadequate. The fifth view is common among many Baptists today and the sixth is common among many holiness churches. The seventh view is popular among many parachurch groups like the Navigators and Campus Crusade for Christ. The eighth view is astonishingly popular among some young people who simultaneously say “we all sin” yet can’t think of any particular sins in themselves, or at least any that are serious enough to forgiveness (rather they see God’s role more as One who “understands” and “helps” than One who has been violated or forgives. The eighth view is also popular among some young people and may represent the “informal theology” they are catching from their church upbringing and hymnody.
So what do you think?
What combination of the above or other position do you hold on sin?
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Keith Drury October 9, 2007