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I think the Old Testament lays out the context of the Old Covenant.The Bible was written in a Jewish cultural context, so while I completely agree we should not read Jewish literature as having the same authority as the Bible, it can still be valuable in helping us to correctly interpret it. In this case, this account very closely parallels the account with Jesus, where someone is interested in quickly understanding the essence of the Torah. The person was not asking about which command was important to keep, but about which command was the most important. The rabbi didn't say that he should keep this one command and not have to worry about keeping the others, but that the others explain how to keep that command and that he should go and study them. In the same way, the other commands explain how to love God and love our neighbor, so we should also go and study them.
If Christ stayed dead, He could not have died for my sins, He would have died for His own sins like everyone else.
Correct, there would be no Christianity, there would just be Judaism.
That is the meaning of the Greek word used in the Septuagint & New Testament that is translated as "sin."
Many Christians would say the mark is in some sense God's image - His perfect love, His goodness, etc. Christians believe human beings were made in the image of God, but that in us the image is distorted.
So, sin means falling short or "missing the mark" of God's image being whole in us.
Did you have a question?
This is way off topic and is it appropriate for a struggling Christian asking about the basic tenants of Christian faith? I would think that this would be a new thread or you will really confuse him.
He was asking about the origins of sin... Which all began with Lucifer himself. And I was trying to show him that because of Lucifer's fall a third of the heavens were void, leaving room for what would become the human race to replace. In which Christ Jesus made the way by dying on the cross that we may have our sins forgiven.
Indeed, the New Covenant is better and replaced the Old. Jesus fulfilled the law by teaching how to obey it and by demonstrating a perfect example for us to follow, and we are told to follow his example and walk as he walked. If you look at the first four of the 10 Commandments, they are about how to love God, the last six are about how to love your neighbor, and all of the rest of the commands can fit into either of those two categories. If you think you just need to love God and love your neighbor and can ignore all of the rest of God's commands for how to love Him and your neighbor, then you are missing the point.
Jesus Himself said those two commandments fulfilled all of the law.
Do not get mad at me, talk to Jesus about it.
Jesus of course has written His Word on our hearts.
That is probably why we do not need all the extra laws that the Jewish people follow. They can come to Christ themselves and the Lord will do that for them also.
I think the Old Testament lays out the context of the Old Covenant.
I think that the 10 Commandments are pretty basic and that most Christians understand them without any additional context. I think that you think more people are interested in Jewish culture than people are. Most people are not interested in it.
Yes, the question is that the Torah contains a wealth of passages that many sane people want to distance themselves from, so why do you claim to adhere to it?
I'm sorry but this is entirely inadequate. It is vague and explains nothing about how I am supposed to behave. If I don't know how I'm supposed to behave, I don't know what sin is.
I'm sorry but this is entirely inadequate. It is vague and explains nothing about how I am supposed to behave. If I don't know how I'm supposed to behave, I don't know what sin is.
I think that you are definately within your rights to do that. A house is an investment (not that you are all about money) but it is important to keep the up keep on it so it retains it's value. Actually a dog can do a lot of damage to floors and the basic foundation of the flooring, besides chewing on stuff. I do not know your situation, but considering that they live there for free (is that right?) I would consider telling them that they have to get rid of the dog if they do not care for the house. I know that it may sound cruel if they love the dog, but for renters we pay a lot of extra money to have a pet. I pay an additional security deposit plus additional rent each month.My plan for sister and nephew is to threaten them with eviction until they start doing better.
I want to express my confusion about Christianity at the most basic level, and why it appears to be poorly defined.
Paul laid the foundation for Christianity in 1 Corinthians 15:14 when he said that the Christian faith is worthless if Jesus hadn't risen from the dead. He is essentially saying that the foundational belief of being a Christian is the belief that Jesus rose from the dead.
But I believe the foundation is the forgiveness of sins. I would say that if sin does not exist, then Christianity would be pointless. So my question, essentially, is this: "What exactly is sin?"
As I understand things, in an honest reading of the Bible, we are still under the old law because of this:
Sin is transgression against the law. Thus, without the law, there is no sin; without sin, there is no forgiveness; without forgiveness, there is no Christianity. Therefore, without the law there is no Christianity.
Furthermore, the early confusion on whether or not to include gentiles in the faith can be attributed to the hypothesis that Jesus was thought to have provided forgiveness from transgression of the old law, and forgiveness of such transgression would be irrelevant if we were not under the old law. If, instead, it is the case that Jesus has rid of us the old law, then I would think that Jesus' sacrifice would actually make us sinless rather than forgiven. But as far as I understand things, Christians claim to be forgiven, and not sinless, which begs the question: "Forgiven of what?"
I recognize sin as transgression against the law, which is laid out plainly in the Torah. Yet there is not a single Christian on earth who adheres to the old law. Even if Jesus replaced the sin offering required in the old law, there are still friendship offerings and all kinds of other animal sacrifices required which do not pertain to actual forgiveness of sins. Also there are quite a few laws which we do not and will never observe.
The approach taken by 100% of all Christians is that the Old Testament is done away with because Jesus established a new covenant. While Jesus had to follow the old law to the letter, he has liberated us from that burden. But the obvious question, then, is what I asked above: "What exactly is sin?"
Is sin the disobedience of Mark 12:30-31? Is that the entire law as laid out in the New Testament? It seems clear that Paul's comments on the new law do not constitute the entire summary of the new law but rather are situational rebukes of churches which have gone astray, which means we do not have the entire view of what the new law is, which means that the law is poorly defined, which means that the terms of Christianity are poorly defined.
Is the law simply written on our hearts? Are we to follow our own conscience? This is secular humanism; this leads us astray from objective morality and deep into subjective morality. Yet I would think that if God is so holy that he cannot be in the presence of sin, then sin has some objective quality to it.
So in conclusion, it is apparent to me that either:
1.) We are all still under the old law, and are making no attempt at upholding it; or
2.) We are under a new law which is so poorly defined that it cannot be said with certainty what is or isn't sin
I want to express my confusion about Christianity at the most basic level, and why it appears to be poorly defined.
Paul laid the foundation for Christianity in 1 Corinthians 15:14 when he said that the Christian faith is worthless if Jesus hadn't risen from the dead. He is essentially saying that the foundational belief of being a Christian is the belief that Jesus rose from the dead.
But I believe the foundation is the forgiveness of sins. I would say that if sin does not exist, then Christianity would be pointless. So my question, essentially, is this: "What exactly is sin?"
As I understand things, in an honest reading of the Bible, we are still under the old law because of this:
Sin is transgression against the law. Thus, without the law, there is no sin; without sin, there is no forgiveness; without forgiveness, there is no Christianity. Therefore, without the law there is no Christianity.
Furthermore, the early confusion on whether or not to include gentiles in the faith can be attributed to the hypothesis that Jesus was thought to have provided forgiveness from transgression of the old law, and forgiveness of such transgression would be irrelevant if we were not under the old law. If, instead, it is the case that Jesus has rid of us the old law, then I would think that Jesus' sacrifice would actually make us sinless rather than forgiven. But as far as I understand things, Christians claim to be forgiven, and not sinless, which begs the question: "Forgiven of what?"
I recognize sin as transgression against the law, which is laid out plainly in the Torah. Yet there is not a single Christian on earth who adheres to the old law. Even if Jesus replaced the sin offering required in the old law, there are still friendship offerings and all kinds of other animal sacrifices required which do not pertain to actual forgiveness of sins. Also there are quite a few laws which we do not and will never observe.
The approach taken by 100% of all Christians is that the Old Testament is done away with because Jesus established a new covenant. While Jesus had to follow the old law to the letter, he has liberated us from that burden. But the obvious question, then, is what I asked above: "What exactly is sin?"
Is sin the disobedience of Mark 12:30-31? Is that the entire law as laid out in the New Testament? It seems clear that Paul's comments on the new law do not constitute the entire summary of the new law but rather are situational rebukes of churches which have gone astray, which means we do not have the entire view of what the new law is, which means that the law is poorly defined, which means that the terms of Christianity are poorly defined.
Is the law simply written on our hearts? Are we to follow our own conscience? This is secular humanism; this leads us astray from objective morality and deep into subjective morality. Yet I would think that if God is so holy that he cannot be in the presence of sin, then sin has some objective quality to it.
So in conclusion, it is apparent to me that either:
1.) We are all still under the old law, and are making no attempt at upholding it; or
2.) We are under a new law which is so poorly defined that it cannot be said with certainty what is or isn't sin
Jesus of course has written His Word on our hearts.
That is probably why we do not need all the extra laws that the Jewish people follow. They can come to Christ themselves and the Lord will do that for them also.
The Torah is holy, righteous, and good, Jesus kept it perfectly, and we are told to follow his example. Some passages need to be studied in order to understand the Jewish cultural context and can seem strange when they are not understood.
It's ok.
To Christians, Jesus is the perfect Image of God. Meaning, He is the one that shows us what God is actually like.
Jesus, in His life & teachings, gives us examples to follow - examples of how to "behave" as you inquire. The Gospels cover this with specific examples, but broadly we are called to "behave" in a way that loves & serves others.
When we love & serve others, Christians believe we grow spiritually to be more like Jesus. Meaning, the image of God in us begins to be restored (remember "theosis" from my first post?).
When we fail to love & serve others, we fall short of the example Jesus set for us & therefore fall short of God's image. That's sin.
If you're after a specific list of "sins" or of good or bad "behaviors," the Bible broadly gives examples, but it's not always a black & white matter, which complicates giving any sort of concrete list.
Are you really concerned about that? Is this something you're really concerned about, or are you just entertaining yourself?
Well you can start with the 10 Commandments. It is putting your will or desires above another person and intruding on that other persons basic humanity in God's eyes.
I would like to hear what the OP thinks sin is since we all have our idea of what it is it's just hard to put into words.
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