Sins
TUES., JAN. 5, 1988, 5:49 AM
FARM, STUDY
One of the dilemmas of earth life for those on a religious path… one acknowledging, serving, and pleasing Me, in some form… is determining sins. When the dilemma is resolved in some way, and sins are identified and determined, then comes the nearly impossible life task of avoiding or not committing all of these sins. You are not much interested in sins (for the right reason), but you need to hear some words about this aspect of life as this frigid day dawns.
Sin, fundamentally, is separating yourself from Me and My guidance and not loving as I give you the capacity to love. Sins are all of the specific ways you can be a sinner and separated from Me. The Holy Scriptures portray God as being both a “hard taskmaster” and quite forgiving, which often seems to conflict or be inconsistent. Jesus’ teachings set impossible standards and seem to define sins in both behavioral and spiritual terms. As Jesus I seemed to be more forgiving of behavioral sins and more condemning of spiritual ones, particularly by the “good religious Jews” of the time.
Paul voiced the thought that one should sin boldly that grace might abound, but then quickly rejected that as being too radical. After all, he prided himself on being a good Jew… and pride was not considered a “big sin.” Yet this is one of the important observations about sins – when you consciously resist sinning it is almost inevitable that you feel pride in the accomplishment or this sacrifice. You should feel pride in being a chosen servant of Mine, but not in being a resistant person. For this personally oriented pride becomes a sin. And then… how does this sin compare with the one you have resisted? How do I “count” sins?
As you think about it, it seems exceedingly complex, particularly if I do truly forgive sins. Much resistance of sins is in order to appear righteous to others, especially to fellow Christians. Thus the behavior is “sinless,” but the motive is at least tinged with sin and may be fully sinful, as when others are rejected and reviled because they do not measure up to the behavior of the “non-sinner.” Are behavioral sins more serious than sins of intention? How many of one type of sin equal one of another? Are you given more or less “credit” for sins not committed for which you have no desire? You rarely gamble, but you have little desire to do this… or to smoke. Others have no desire to drink. How are all of these balanced out?
It becomes even more complicated when I forgive sins. Do I forgive only the specific ones you ask to be forgiven (as in confessions) or will an inclusive “please forgive all my sins” be acceptable? When I forgive is the sin truly wiped out and forgotten, or do I say, on some later occasion, “This is the umpteenth time I’ve forgiven that sin. This can’t go on much longer.” Is blaspheming Me really an unforgiveable sin? If so, doesn’t this make Me an egotist, supreme? Ah, so…
So… I’ve posed a number of questions. What do I say about sins? I always go back to relationship. When you are in close relationship with Me you do not sin… by definition… just as I, as Jesus, was sinless. It wasn’t what I did or didn’t do, but the fact that I was in the Father, and the Father in Me that made sin simply irrelevant.
As you come close to this relationship sins become irrelevant… and also much less likely, in behavior. As you drift away from this relationship sins become more evident, to others and to self. The closer you come to Me the more I become part of you and you of Me. If I hold past sins against you, the relationship can never be close. Thus I must forgive if I want you to come close to Me. And you must accept this forgiveness in order that you might come more close. So you see that sins… committed, remembered, numbered, and held against you… make sin omnipresent – the lack of relationship. And it works this way in human relationship, too. Simply put: sins result in sin. Forgiveness makes sin less likely and sins irrelevant. There are other ways to explain sins, but this is a good one.
Shalom
7:00 AM