Reading Romans 5-7 is starting to make more sense to me now. This is indeed a tricky concept to get. We tend to think there are many sins, but all sin is just sin.
Sin, or rebellion against God, is our basic nature. We would like to exalt that we are good and justify ourselves, but it does us no good.
The law is partly reverse psychology, and partly because there is law and it is good, we perceive we are sinful. Indeed we cannot help, but be sinful. Jesus knows this about us, but loves us anyway. His one death gave him power over all sin, so that what is impossible for men, but all things are possible for God.
The law condemns, but Christ has freed us from it. Therefore we are new creatures in Christ. This doesn't mean we will never sin, for sin is our basic nature, it means we at his grace and his mercy. We dare not take advantage of it though, but struggle, try our best to overcome, and worship him accordingly.
The more we see that our inherent nature is sinful, the more we understand how great a thing it was for Christ to pardon us. This is why Jesus said he is happier with one repentant sinner then 99 people who think they are righteous, even if they think they know him and are saved.
Saving grace does not mean we are righteous. No one would die for a righteous man, but for a good man some are willing to die. Sin came into the world through one man, Adam, and was defeated by one man, Jesus.
This is who we are, sinners. We admit it, and we're obligated to try our best, but we should not forget our place. We need to constantly seek out God's will, lest we fall into trap after trap. We need to give ourselves to him completely, cast our burdens onto him, and then have faith he will help us.
This brings us to Faith. Faith is not easy for many of us. I remember asking God for it to rain one day, and it did not. So I decided I would never ask for anything, but instead have faith God would give me what I deserve. Except that, well I'm just another sinner, so what I "deserve" is punishment, exile, sorrow, mourning, repentance, and I wonder why God gave me these things? Well apparently I asked for it. The Ironic thing is that through this cycle of becoming even more sinful, depressed, and on edge, God has demonstrated perfect faithfulness.
So there needs to be an important reason that we ask what we ask and we need to believe he really does love us and will grant what we ask. We should not be dismayed if he doesn't, but that he may yet know better then Us.
Now in seeking the Holy Spirit I felt convicted to get rid of something evil that was in my house. I was cold, tired, weak, and had no shoes on, but I, upon perceiving that I heard the spirit tell me to do this, immediately rose up and went outside. I tell you that night I did not feel cold in my feet, or weak, or tired, but completed my task. Then two steps from the door, the spirit left me, and my feet immediately felt about three times as cold. I knew that it was to show me the difference.
I'm still working on what it means to have faith and what it means to "just believe." It's not logical at all, and most intellectuals are prone to non faith based belief systems or no belief system at all. Faith is the opposite of logic, since through God even the impossible becomes possible. God defies all logic, and it is not through logic that we find him, but through faith and through our hearts.
So while we have a God that loves us so much as to forgive us our sins, and give us what we ask for, we should accept it gracefully. If someone came up to you and give you a whole bunch of money, would you be grateful or instead turn and hurt them? That is exactly why we should endeavor to be free of wrong doing even though Christ has freed us from sin and even from the law. We need to know him, invite him into our homes, express our worship and our gratitude to him, and then follow him obediently. These are they who know him. We need to understand that upon dying for our sins Christ has effectively purchased us and that he therefore owns us.
In this light the original sin in the garden of Eden was that we "doubted" God. God told us we would die, but we doubted him and since doubt cancels out faith we lost our ties to doing the impossible. Since we could no longer do the impossible, we therefore became subject to sin, subject to death, and subject to all natural laws. God is beyond knowledge.
Sin, or rebellion against God, is our basic nature. We would like to exalt that we are good and justify ourselves, but it does us no good.
The law is partly reverse psychology, and partly because there is law and it is good, we perceive we are sinful. Indeed we cannot help, but be sinful. Jesus knows this about us, but loves us anyway. His one death gave him power over all sin, so that what is impossible for men, but all things are possible for God.
The law condemns, but Christ has freed us from it. Therefore we are new creatures in Christ. This doesn't mean we will never sin, for sin is our basic nature, it means we at his grace and his mercy. We dare not take advantage of it though, but struggle, try our best to overcome, and worship him accordingly.
The more we see that our inherent nature is sinful, the more we understand how great a thing it was for Christ to pardon us. This is why Jesus said he is happier with one repentant sinner then 99 people who think they are righteous, even if they think they know him and are saved.
Saving grace does not mean we are righteous. No one would die for a righteous man, but for a good man some are willing to die. Sin came into the world through one man, Adam, and was defeated by one man, Jesus.
This is who we are, sinners. We admit it, and we're obligated to try our best, but we should not forget our place. We need to constantly seek out God's will, lest we fall into trap after trap. We need to give ourselves to him completely, cast our burdens onto him, and then have faith he will help us.
This brings us to Faith. Faith is not easy for many of us. I remember asking God for it to rain one day, and it did not. So I decided I would never ask for anything, but instead have faith God would give me what I deserve. Except that, well I'm just another sinner, so what I "deserve" is punishment, exile, sorrow, mourning, repentance, and I wonder why God gave me these things? Well apparently I asked for it. The Ironic thing is that through this cycle of becoming even more sinful, depressed, and on edge, God has demonstrated perfect faithfulness.
So there needs to be an important reason that we ask what we ask and we need to believe he really does love us and will grant what we ask. We should not be dismayed if he doesn't, but that he may yet know better then Us.
Now in seeking the Holy Spirit I felt convicted to get rid of something evil that was in my house. I was cold, tired, weak, and had no shoes on, but I, upon perceiving that I heard the spirit tell me to do this, immediately rose up and went outside. I tell you that night I did not feel cold in my feet, or weak, or tired, but completed my task. Then two steps from the door, the spirit left me, and my feet immediately felt about three times as cold. I knew that it was to show me the difference.
I'm still working on what it means to have faith and what it means to "just believe." It's not logical at all, and most intellectuals are prone to non faith based belief systems or no belief system at all. Faith is the opposite of logic, since through God even the impossible becomes possible. God defies all logic, and it is not through logic that we find him, but through faith and through our hearts.
So while we have a God that loves us so much as to forgive us our sins, and give us what we ask for, we should accept it gracefully. If someone came up to you and give you a whole bunch of money, would you be grateful or instead turn and hurt them? That is exactly why we should endeavor to be free of wrong doing even though Christ has freed us from sin and even from the law. We need to know him, invite him into our homes, express our worship and our gratitude to him, and then follow him obediently. These are they who know him. We need to understand that upon dying for our sins Christ has effectively purchased us and that he therefore owns us.
In this light the original sin in the garden of Eden was that we "doubted" God. God told us we would die, but we doubted him and since doubt cancels out faith we lost our ties to doing the impossible. Since we could no longer do the impossible, we therefore became subject to sin, subject to death, and subject to all natural laws. God is beyond knowledge.
Last edited:
