SOPHISTICATED TODDLERS
We believe that man was created in the image of God but fell into sin and is therefore lost and totally marked by corruption and evil…
That’s all that our statement of faith says about ‘sin’. I’m elaborating on it because I believe ‘sin’ – what Christianity deems the central problem in the world – has been misunderstood, and that is part of the reason that ‘salvation’ has been misunderstood.
The central component of sin is a person’s insistence on the right of the self to govern the self independently from God. This isn’t an act we commit or a step we take that ruins our innocence; we are born this way. The Catholic theologians called it “original sinâ€; Protestants tend to call it “the sin natureâ€. The old preachers popularized it with the saying “We aren’t sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners.â€
The biblical presentation is that the human race has chosen to be separated from God. Each soul is born naturally ignorant of God and His ways. By ‘ignorant’, I mean we don’t innately know God and His ways perfectly. We know our ways. But our ways are not God’s ways. We just assume they are.
We see through the lens of the self – our natural wants, desires, and drives. We assume that what comes naturally to us is good and right, and if it’s good and right, God must see things the way we do.
Watch two toddlers in a playroom who both want the same toy. What you see playing out is the unsophisticated version of the human soul that lies behind every deceitful lie, every theft or extortion, every adultery, every act of violence and murder – every destructive selfish tendency of the human soul.
How does the death of Christ save us from these things?
First, the death of Christ solves the hostile distance between God and man. Christ’s death fixes things “on the books†and changes our relationship to God from hostility to peace.
Second, Christ’s death makes possible change in us from what we used to be. It opens the door for the work of the Holy Spirit to open our eyes and renew our minds, to work both agreement with God and obedience to God in our hearts.
When we talk about “salvationâ€, when we say we are “savedâ€, we are (or should be) referring to both of these steps – a change “on the books†and changes in us – accomplished by the Holy Spirit on the basis of the death of Christ.
I’ll take up the details of the big topic of salvation in the next blog…
That’s all that our statement of faith says about ‘sin’. I’m elaborating on it because I believe ‘sin’ – what Christianity deems the central problem in the world – has been misunderstood, and that is part of the reason that ‘salvation’ has been misunderstood.
The central component of sin is a person’s insistence on the right of the self to govern the self independently from God. This isn’t an act we commit or a step we take that ruins our innocence; we are born this way. The Catholic theologians called it “original sinâ€; Protestants tend to call it “the sin natureâ€. The old preachers popularized it with the saying “We aren’t sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners.â€
The biblical presentation is that the human race has chosen to be separated from God. Each soul is born naturally ignorant of God and His ways. By ‘ignorant’, I mean we don’t innately know God and His ways perfectly. We know our ways. But our ways are not God’s ways. We just assume they are.
We see through the lens of the self – our natural wants, desires, and drives. We assume that what comes naturally to us is good and right, and if it’s good and right, God must see things the way we do.
Watch two toddlers in a playroom who both want the same toy. What you see playing out is the unsophisticated version of the human soul that lies behind every deceitful lie, every theft or extortion, every adultery, every act of violence and murder – every destructive selfish tendency of the human soul.
How does the death of Christ save us from these things?
First, the death of Christ solves the hostile distance between God and man. Christ’s death fixes things “on the books†and changes our relationship to God from hostility to peace.
Second, Christ’s death makes possible change in us from what we used to be. It opens the door for the work of the Holy Spirit to open our eyes and renew our minds, to work both agreement with God and obedience to God in our hearts.
When we talk about “salvationâ€, when we say we are “savedâ€, we are (or should be) referring to both of these steps – a change “on the books†and changes in us – accomplished by the Holy Spirit on the basis of the death of Christ.
I’ll take up the details of the big topic of salvation in the next blog…