Systematic Theology, Chapter 24 continued...

Sin (Part 2).

Are some sins worse than others?

Before God, even one sin makes us legally guilty and thus worthy of eternal punishment.  Adam and Eve's one act of disobedience is a perfect example, introducing death into the world and separating their relationship with God.

James 2:10-11, Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it....

Some sins have more harmful consequences, both between us and our fellow man, and between us and God.   The Bible speaks of "greater sins," but in general, we can see sins that are done willfully, repeatedly, knowingly, with a calloused heart, are more displeasing to God than others.

Unintentional sin is still sin. (Just like speeding when you didnt know the speed limit is still punishable).

Coveting a neighbors car is a sin before God.  Stealing the car and killing the owner of the car is obviously a more "serious" sin.   The same goes for a new believer losing their temper and striking someone compared with a Mature pastor doing the same.

James 3:1, those whoe teach will be judged with greater strictness.  Teachers and those in leadership spiritually will be held to a higher standard of accountability.

What happens when a Christian sins?  We are still in the legal sense forgiven before God, for Christ's death paid for our past, present, and future sins.  We are still children of God, members of his family.

BUT, our fellowship with God is disrupted and our Christian life is damaged.  God still loves us but is displeased with us.  He disciplines us, because he loves us.

Hebrews 12:10, He disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.

When we sin as Christians, our Christian life and fruitfulness in ministry are also damaged.  "As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me."  John 15:4.

Peter says that sinful desires that remain in our hearts "wage war against your soul!" 1 Peter 2:11. To give into those sinful desires is to welcome enemies into the camp.

The danger of unconverted evangelicals.  A genuine Christian who sins does not lose their justification before God, BUT people who are "playing church," and not true believers should not be lulled into complacency that their sinfulness is ok.

A consistent pattern of disobedience to Christ coupled with a lack of the elements of the fruit of the Holy Spirit such as love, joy, peace, and so forth, is a warning signal that the person is probably not a true Christian inwardly, that there probably has been no genuine heart faith from the beginning and no regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. !

What about unpardonable sin?  Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, what is that?

There are several possibilities, but Grudem leans towards a willful rejection and slander against the Holy Spirit's work attesting to Christ.  The example in the Bible was when the pharisees claim that Jesus is casting out demons by Beelzebul's power.

This requires a clear knowledge of who Christ is and the power of the Holy Spirit working through him, a willful rejection of the facts about Christ, and attributing that work/power to Satan.  

God does not just punish sin to help us to grow and learn from our sins, but rather because God's righteousness demands it, so that he might be glorified in the universe that he has created.

Next time, "The covenants between God and man." 

6 Years!

Here are a few photos from our 6 year anniversary...we went back to the ocean boardwalk where we had one of our first "Swedish" dates before we were even engaged, in Varberg. 

Of course, 2 kids and one on the way later....

 

A long walk on the boardwalk, mini-golf, chinese food, jumping in the ocean a few times, and a lot of relaxing!

Here we are at the same beach, 7 years ago....

Happy Anniversary, Daniel Norén!

Systematic Theology, Chapter 24

Sin.

What is it, where did it come from, did we inherit it?

Biblical human history is basically man in sin and rebellion against God, and God's plan of redemption for man.

Sin:  failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature.

Clearly, our attitudes, and not just our actions, can be sinful.  And in contrast, the greatest commandment of all requires that our heart be filled with an attitude of love for God (Love the Lord your God with all your heart...)

The Bible also points out several times that our nature or character is fundamentally sinful.
"We were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."  Eph 2:3.

Commonly, it is said that the essence of sin is selfishness, but this is unsatisfactory, incomplete in it's definition.   The Bible, in 1 John 3:4, says, "sin is lawlessness," meaning both the written law of God and the unwritten law of conscience.

Sin is not just destructive to us, but wrong, opposite to the good character of God, a contradiction of God's holiness, and he must hate it.

Man and angels voluntarily sinned, and God is not to blame for sin, nor a cause of sin.
James 1:13, God can not be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one.

The power of evil is in no way equal to God or even surprising to him.

The original sin struck at several basic points..
"what is true?" (knowledge), is God true or the serpent?
"what is right?" (morals),  Eve's evaluation or God's words. "She saw that the tree was good for food,"
"who am I?" Am I a creation of God, or do I want to be like God?

All sin is ultimately irrational.  It did not make sense for Adam and Eve to try to exalt themselves above God, or that there could be true gain in disobeying their creator.   Proverbs often speaks of "the fool," who engages in all kinds of sins.

We have inherited from Adam in two ways:
1. Inherited guilt.  We are counted guilty because of Adam's sins, and human death is a confirmation of that.

We might complain, "is that really fair?"  But God will primarily "render to every man according to his works" on Judgement day (Romans 2:6), so regardless of our inherited guilt, we have done plenty of sins ourselves.

More persuasively, if we think it is unfair to be represented by Adam, we should also think it is unfair for us to be represented by Christ and to have his righteousness imputed to us by God.

2. Inherited corruption.  We have a sinful nature because of Adam's sin.  This begins from conception (according Psalm 51:5).

Various restraints, like civil law, family expectations, human conscience, keep us from being as terrible as we could be.  Because of God's common grace, society has been able to advance.

Although we might do some "good," every part of our nature is affected by sin.  Paul says, "to the corrupt and unbelieving, nothing is pure; their very minds and consciences are corrupted." Titus 1:15.   We cannot please God on our own strength.  Isaiah says, "all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment." Isaiah 64:6.

All people are sinful before God.
"They have all gone astray, they are all alike corrupt, there is none that does good, no, not one." Psalm 14:3.

Our sinfulness is not based on our ability to do good, but rather the measuring line is God's perfect holiness and moral law.

Are infants guilty, or do they have to reach an age of accountability? Clearly children are sinful and rebellious, already in their first year or two of life.  But what is a child dies before they are old enough to understand the gospel?  In that case they would not be saved on their own merits, but rather on the basis of Christ's work of redemption.  Both John the Baptist and David speak of belonging to God, or being filled with the Holy Spirit from birth.  This may be so with infants.  God's "normal" example is to save the children of believers in Biblical history, so in regards to children of believers who die very young, we have no reason to think that it would be otherwise.

But that is not God's normal way of salvation.  It is by believing in Christ's atoning work we are saved, and always because of God's mercy and not our merits.

Legal guilt means that even one tiny sin can make us guilty before God, and therefore worthy of eternal punishment.

More to come next week....