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Did that (the Law) which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. (Romans 7:13 NIV)
A few days back there was discussion, both in person and in the comments on this blog, about the issue and identity of sin and how it affects our perceptions about how God relates to and thinks about us. I promised to explore this issue in a post which I have been thinking about ever since then but, as yet, was still waiting for the ideas to come clearer in my mind and heart. I am very reluctant to rush into expounding ideas when I sense that my heart has not yet had enough time to coalesce the thoughts that my left brain is all too eager to rush into. That is a recipe for trouble and I spend too much time back-tracking and repairing damage caused by such forays as it is.
At the same time I feel that I should honor my commitment to at least take a look at this issue since I promised that I would without letting too much more time pass. I have been praying for more wisdom and certainly do not feel that I have a comprehensive understanding of this problem. That would be the height of hypocrisy. But I believe that some of the answer can be found in a Spirit-guided exploration of the Word, and as I look at the passage where I am right now in Romans 7 I realize that the subject is front and center so it must be time to face it.
One of the questions put forward was, “Why do people say that babies are sinners? They have not done anything wrong so why would God punish them for being sinners when they are so innocent?”
This is a very relevant question and comes from deep within the hearts of many, many people whether they openly think about it or not. In my own experience I can remember having heated discussions with my own Dad about this topic that did not particularly change our minds but did cause me to think more carefully about it and look for answers better than what he proposed. In his case the issue was not so much about human babies as it was trying to shore up a deeply entrenched, hotly debated belief about the nature of Christ that was so tenuous that it needed constant rationalizing and evasive reasoning to keep it propped up.
The more serious problem implied in this question is the deep, underlying assumptions implicit behind the question. False assumptions in our minds (but assumed to be true from earlier training) are based on the false picture of God formed by lies that we find ourselves immersed in and forced on us by confused teachers, leaders, parents and life experiences. The question simply cannot be answered directly at first until the volatile baggage behind the assumptions are disarmed and dealt with effectively.
I have spent much of my life trying to uncover the real meaning of many religious words and concepts. Sin is one of the most difficult to unpack. I suppose that should not be surprising given the text above quoted from Romans 7. Sin by its very nature is deceptive and therefore is constantly trying to hide its true identity and intent and appear to be something different and more benign than it really is. Sin is sometimes like cancer cells that are very difficult to detect until they have grown out of control to such an extent that they have become obviously life-threatening. That does not mean that cancer cells are not life-threatening from the very beginning. Cancer has no proper place in the human body, but cancerous cells can likely be found in very many people who are not yet considered to be threatened by it yet. The weakness for getting cancer can even be transmitted from generation to generation, yet we do not usually say that the baby is a cancer patient just because they have a predisposition toward cancer passed on from their parents.
Sin is such a diabolical type of thing that it is difficult to clearly define, yet we must have a much clearer awareness of what it really is as well as what it is not. Because of its extremely deceptive nature sin presents itself as all sorts of things that appeal to our natural desires and needs. It promises to satisfy our heart and bring more life into our existence. It does everything to avoid detection or appear repulsive but at the same time it employs any amount of devious reasoning to fool us into believing that God is our problem and that our solution and satisfaction for life has to come from somewhere other than our Creator. When it is really exposed it will be seen that sin (and Satan who initiated it to begin with) is doing everything possible to paint God in our minds and hearts as being the one who has all the characteristics that really are the identifying elements of sin and Satan. It is no wonder we often find God so reprehensible – we are not reacting to the real God at all but are reacting to the false presentation of God by sin itself which is really the identity of the character of sin. We are continually being lied to about God and what He is like in a way that is so convincing that we sometimes see God as more reprehensible and more debased than even we ourselves are willing to be.
I could say a lot more about this part of the subject, and much more needs to be said about it to unmask the terrible lies and slander that is constantly being spread about God. But at this point I want to explore the real truth about sin. In the process along the way I will need to disarm some of the worst lies embedded in our beliefs about God that really belong to the identity of sin and its originator. I seriously doubt I will have time or space to address very much of it in this one post but I invite dialog, comments and interactive questions as I explore this.
A phrase in today's verse exposes something important about the deceptive nature of sin. “So that... sin would become utterly sinful.” The implication here is that we do not naturally believe that sin is really that bad. We are starting from a position of already being deceived by sin to some extent or another as we try to move toward seeing what it really is. In fact, many people do not believe there is any such thing as sin to start with. That too is a deception promoted by sin and its author identified in the first part of this verse, “...it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin...” The very presence of any idea that sin either does not exist or is not something totally reprehensible and destructive to us is evidence that we are already under the spell of its magical delusive powers to some extent.
The Bible with the Holy Spirit is the only completely reliable resource that is fully intent on exposing the real truth about sin as well as how we can be rescued from its vice-grip. It is God's communication to the world of not only the truth about sin but the real truth about God. However, sin has managed to distort God's words and twist them through various means to continue its all-out assault on the reputation of God. That is the core issue of the whole Great Controversy going on in the universe that we find ourselves embroiled in from the day we are conceived. Since our situation in this mess is unavoidable, all we can do is respond to the work for our Redemption accomplished by God for us and cooperate with His Spirit in transforming our minds back to a condition of reflecting our beautiful, loving Creator that we are designed for.
I will take more time to explore this question, but for now I need to fix some ruptured plumbing in the house that allows all the bath water to dump on top of the electric panel for the house. That is a kind of sin that can produce some very undesirable results if allowed to continue. Until then...
God, reveal Yourself to us today and show us more of the truth about You as well as the truth about sin. Thank-you for Your grace and Your amazing, loving plan of Redemption that You have already put into place for every one of us. Impress us with how much You value us and cherish us. Make us each an experiment of restoration that will return us to glorious reflections of Your perfect symmetry and beauty and loveliness – all for Your reputation's sake.
