November 30, 1993
Remember the question Gordon Sinclair often asked guests on Front Page Challenge: “If there is a good God, why does He allow so much evil in the world?”
Some viewers were annoyed with him, but this is a legitimate question. After all, the Bible says God is not only loving and merciful but all powerful. Since there is nothing impossible for Him, why do people suffer? Why do we have wars and accidents and illnesses? Why does He let criminals victimize innocent people? Doesn’t God care?
The guests on Front Page Challenge had various responses. One pastor even asked Mr. Sinclair another question: if God were not “good,” why do we call anything evil? In other words, the standard we have for goodness is based on God’s standards. He says love is good, kindness is good, justice is good, so we also call them good. Some might think human beings know goodness instinctively (God also gave us a conscience), but there are people-groups in the world who think it is “good” to betray someone or “good” to kill female children.
Certainly that pastor’s response argued for the existence of a good God, but it does not answer why He allows evil. A better answer might be a cartoon I saw somewhere. It pictured a man on his knees with hands stretched up toward the sky. He says, “Oh God, why do you allow so much evil in the world?”
The next frame shows the answer booming down from heaven: “I might ask you the same thing.”
Why insist the fault lies with God? He did give dominion of the earth to people and if people fail to choose goodness (even just the goodness they know), then people are responsible for the lack of good that exists.
That answer is difficult too. Most of us do not like the idea of being responsible for evil, particularly if there is any suggestion that as victims we brought it on ourselves. However, is that what the cartoon intends?
Try this; God has determined certain cause/effect relationships. Those who make poor choices find out they were poor by the results. For instance, His people were drifting into idol worship so He told them, “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword” (Isaiah 1:19-20).
Clearly, there would be consequences for either choice. If the people obeyed God, their lives would go much easier than if they did not. He did not promise a rose garden but they could avoid certain thorns.
Think what life would be like if God didn’t permit those consequences. Can we even imagine such a world where people could do whatever they liked and no one would suffer? God would have to intervene in every detail to avert the suffering. For instance, if I didn’t feel like making supper, God must miraculously make it instead or my family would suffer. If a gangster felt like robbing a store, God would have to construct more money so the owners would not suffer any loss.
In that kind of world, where God undid bad, would anyone ever obey Him and do good? Would anyone ever be encouraged to make unselfish choices? Would anyone turn to Jesus for forgiveness and the power to defeat sin?
Perhaps our concept of a “good” God needs to allow Him the freedom of when to “fix” our mistakes. Otherwise, we might never quit making them, nor have the desire to repent so that He can change our lives.
Showing posts with label sin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sin. Show all posts
Friday, February 26, 2016
Monday, August 24, 2015
Sin is like soil erosion ................ Parables 317
May 12, 1992
My mom’s favorite rhetorical question is: “How could anyone do such a thing?”
The recent riots in Los Angeles and other major cities have no doubt brought the same question to many minds. How could anyone beat an uninvolved bystander to death? Or shoot a child? Or break into a business and walk away with whatever they want?
About a week before the riots began, I heard someone talk about erosion, not in reference to the topsoil blowing around Saskatchewan but regarding the erosion of the human will. This concept answers the question: How can people be so illogically sinful?
Basically, the average person thinks twice about violating social and moral norms. Most of us are not interested in committing any kind of gross offense or act of violence, either in mob conditions or more private situations. We are constrained by moral or religious convictions, fear of consequences, love of others, any number of things.
However, the temptation to evil seldom comes at us in the beginning with something gross. It usually starts with something small, a tiny temptation, something that seems fairly harmless. We know it is not right but since there seems to be no immediate reason why not to do it, or it seems no one is looking or caring, we tend to compromise our convictions.
The first one, because it is so easy to slide into, is probably the most difficult to resist. The next temptation, the next opportunity to compromise, is easier to give in to, not because it seems even more appealing but because once we have yielded our wills, an erosion process has begun.
Our will is like the humus in prairie top soil. It serves as a protection. But when it is gone, it doesn’t take much wind to further deplete the land. Improved agricultural practices offered hope that the dust bowls of the Thirties would never be repeated, yet confidence this would not happen again tends to relax diligence.
It is the same with our will. When the surface resolve to say no to temptation is relaxed, the winds of compromise begin to deplete the soul. One capitulation after another soon leaves nothing to resist the final furious blast — and the person whose will has been eroded finds himself doing something that prior to his gradual slide he would never have consented to do.
But topsoil is not without hope. Once it is totally depleted it is in a stage called old age, but “such processes as erosion, flooding, dust storms, and volcanic eruptions expose or provide new, unweathered parent material to begin a new soil life cycle” (Grollier Electronic Publishing, Inc.)
Neither are souls without hope. Those who participated in the violence in Los Angeles, and others who have slid into gross sin, can acknowledge their depleted lives, ask God for forgiveness and begin anew — with His transforming help.
Better yet, both for soil and souls, is to avoid such erosion in the first place. A farmer needs to daily check the condition of his land. Leaders of major cities need to daily check the condition of their citizens. Each of us need to daily check the condition of our souls. Are we taking care of the little things? Or compromising here and there?
God promises, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
The best way out is not at the end when so much damage has been done, or even in the middle when we are often too weak in our resolve to say no, but right at the beginning — while we can still stand against the winds of temptation.
My mom’s favorite rhetorical question is: “How could anyone do such a thing?”
The recent riots in Los Angeles and other major cities have no doubt brought the same question to many minds. How could anyone beat an uninvolved bystander to death? Or shoot a child? Or break into a business and walk away with whatever they want?
About a week before the riots began, I heard someone talk about erosion, not in reference to the topsoil blowing around Saskatchewan but regarding the erosion of the human will. This concept answers the question: How can people be so illogically sinful?
Basically, the average person thinks twice about violating social and moral norms. Most of us are not interested in committing any kind of gross offense or act of violence, either in mob conditions or more private situations. We are constrained by moral or religious convictions, fear of consequences, love of others, any number of things.
However, the temptation to evil seldom comes at us in the beginning with something gross. It usually starts with something small, a tiny temptation, something that seems fairly harmless. We know it is not right but since there seems to be no immediate reason why not to do it, or it seems no one is looking or caring, we tend to compromise our convictions.
The first one, because it is so easy to slide into, is probably the most difficult to resist. The next temptation, the next opportunity to compromise, is easier to give in to, not because it seems even more appealing but because once we have yielded our wills, an erosion process has begun.
Our will is like the humus in prairie top soil. It serves as a protection. But when it is gone, it doesn’t take much wind to further deplete the land. Improved agricultural practices offered hope that the dust bowls of the Thirties would never be repeated, yet confidence this would not happen again tends to relax diligence.
It is the same with our will. When the surface resolve to say no to temptation is relaxed, the winds of compromise begin to deplete the soul. One capitulation after another soon leaves nothing to resist the final furious blast — and the person whose will has been eroded finds himself doing something that prior to his gradual slide he would never have consented to do.
But topsoil is not without hope. Once it is totally depleted it is in a stage called old age, but “such processes as erosion, flooding, dust storms, and volcanic eruptions expose or provide new, unweathered parent material to begin a new soil life cycle” (Grollier Electronic Publishing, Inc.)
Neither are souls without hope. Those who participated in the violence in Los Angeles, and others who have slid into gross sin, can acknowledge their depleted lives, ask God for forgiveness and begin anew — with His transforming help.
Better yet, both for soil and souls, is to avoid such erosion in the first place. A farmer needs to daily check the condition of his land. Leaders of major cities need to daily check the condition of their citizens. Each of us need to daily check the condition of our souls. Are we taking care of the little things? Or compromising here and there?
God promises, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
The best way out is not at the end when so much damage has been done, or even in the middle when we are often too weak in our resolve to say no, but right at the beginning — while we can still stand against the winds of temptation.
Friday, January 23, 2015
Standing on a slippery slope? ................. Parables 226
(July 18, 1990)
A few people sit around the kitchen table, coffee cups in hand. They discuss morals... and the absence of them. One person shocks the rest with a story about some particularly offensive sinful condition into which another had fallen. Most shake their heads and wonder how anybody could do “that.” One of the group declares, “I would never do that...” Another says, “Me neither.”
Most people don’t plan gross evil as their goal in life, at least not to begin with. I don’t suppose the offender had “that” in mind ten years earlier either. Maybe he once sat having coffee with a group of friends discussing the same issue. Maybe he was just as shocked about it then as they are now. Maybe he even said, “I would never do that...” And just maybe his pride was the first warning of the slide to come. “Pride goes before a fall” the Scripture says. Consider Lot, for instance...
Lot was a relative of the patriarch Abraham. When God called the older man to leave his home and go to the land of promise, Lot went along with him. The New Testament calls Lot a righteous man so we know he too had faith in God (the Biblical prerequisite to being called righteous); very likely his travels with his uncle started out honorably.
As these two men increased in wealth, the area in which they lived became too small for their large herds. Soon their herdsmen started quarreling. Abraham didn’t want that, so he took Lot to a hill that overlooked the whole area and gave him his choice, either the well-watered eastern valley or the land of Canaan to the west.
The valley had the greener grass. Perhaps Lot thought he deserved the best pasture. He didn’t hesitate; he left Abraham and settled in the Jordan Valley, seemingly without any concern that he would be living close to Sodom and Gomorrah, two cities filled with wicked people.
The next thing we read about Lot, he is living right in Sodom. He is even “seated in the gates” indicating he is involved in leadership. At first that sounds good. After all, maybe this righteous man will influence those evil people for God; but it doesn’t work out that way.
The people of those two cities continue in their sin. Finally, God decides to destroy them but first He tells Abraham. Abraham prayerfully intercedes for Lot and his family, then God sends angels to tell Lot to take his wife, two daughters, and their husbands, and get out immediately.
But they don’t want to go. They like Sodom. Lot’s words don’t carry any weight with them. In fact, neither son-in-law will listen to him. Finally he leaves with the women, but his wife disobeys the angel, turns and looks back at the home she didn’t want to leave, and is destroyed.
The daughters (brought up by a “righteous” man, remember) decide that the family name is doomed. So they come up with a plan to continue the line of Lot; they get their father drunk, commit incest with him and become pregnant. And that is the last we hear about Lot.
Way back in those early days, when Abraham and Lot started out in faith on that great adventure of finding the promised land, I’m sure Lot didn’t have any inclination or plan to become a disrespected citizen of an evil city. I doubt if the thought of incest ever entered his head. But he made a wrong choice, a choice possibly based on greed. From there, it became increasingly easier to make wrong choices until finally he was committing gross sin.
As for us, it is easy to sit in judgment, to look at the messy lives around us and say, “I’d never do that...” Maybe we wouldn’t. Then again, Lot didn’t think his pride would grease the slide either.
A few people sit around the kitchen table, coffee cups in hand. They discuss morals... and the absence of them. One person shocks the rest with a story about some particularly offensive sinful condition into which another had fallen. Most shake their heads and wonder how anybody could do “that.” One of the group declares, “I would never do that...” Another says, “Me neither.”
Most people don’t plan gross evil as their goal in life, at least not to begin with. I don’t suppose the offender had “that” in mind ten years earlier either. Maybe he once sat having coffee with a group of friends discussing the same issue. Maybe he was just as shocked about it then as they are now. Maybe he even said, “I would never do that...” And just maybe his pride was the first warning of the slide to come. “Pride goes before a fall” the Scripture says. Consider Lot, for instance...
Lot was a relative of the patriarch Abraham. When God called the older man to leave his home and go to the land of promise, Lot went along with him. The New Testament calls Lot a righteous man so we know he too had faith in God (the Biblical prerequisite to being called righteous); very likely his travels with his uncle started out honorably.
As these two men increased in wealth, the area in which they lived became too small for their large herds. Soon their herdsmen started quarreling. Abraham didn’t want that, so he took Lot to a hill that overlooked the whole area and gave him his choice, either the well-watered eastern valley or the land of Canaan to the west.
The valley had the greener grass. Perhaps Lot thought he deserved the best pasture. He didn’t hesitate; he left Abraham and settled in the Jordan Valley, seemingly without any concern that he would be living close to Sodom and Gomorrah, two cities filled with wicked people.
The next thing we read about Lot, he is living right in Sodom. He is even “seated in the gates” indicating he is involved in leadership. At first that sounds good. After all, maybe this righteous man will influence those evil people for God; but it doesn’t work out that way.
The people of those two cities continue in their sin. Finally, God decides to destroy them but first He tells Abraham. Abraham prayerfully intercedes for Lot and his family, then God sends angels to tell Lot to take his wife, two daughters, and their husbands, and get out immediately.
But they don’t want to go. They like Sodom. Lot’s words don’t carry any weight with them. In fact, neither son-in-law will listen to him. Finally he leaves with the women, but his wife disobeys the angel, turns and looks back at the home she didn’t want to leave, and is destroyed.
The daughters (brought up by a “righteous” man, remember) decide that the family name is doomed. So they come up with a plan to continue the line of Lot; they get their father drunk, commit incest with him and become pregnant. And that is the last we hear about Lot.
Way back in those early days, when Abraham and Lot started out in faith on that great adventure of finding the promised land, I’m sure Lot didn’t have any inclination or plan to become a disrespected citizen of an evil city. I doubt if the thought of incest ever entered his head. But he made a wrong choice, a choice possibly based on greed. From there, it became increasingly easier to make wrong choices until finally he was committing gross sin.
As for us, it is easy to sit in judgment, to look at the messy lives around us and say, “I’d never do that...” Maybe we wouldn’t. Then again, Lot didn’t think his pride would grease the slide either.
Monday, September 29, 2014
Sin lures to death, but sin has been dealt a death-blow ............... Parables 176
(August 2, 1989)
A snake-loving man couldn’t resist buying a boa constrictor, just a little one. He enjoyed the reptile so much, he played with it constantly. Soon he had it trained to wrap itself around his body. The performance of man and snake was so intriguing that people paid to watch. Soon the snake act became the man’s livelihood. The snake grew, as well-fed reptiles do, and one day, during a performance, the snake coiled itself as usual around the man. A terrible scream ended the show as the boa crushed the life out of his trainer.
A lie-loving boy couldn’t resist fooling his mother just a little lie, he reasoned. He enjoyed the deception so much. He played his game constantly. Soon he had trained himself so well that he believed his own lies. He lived in a world of make-believe, losing touch with reality. His mother never understood why her son had to be institutionalized, why he eventually died there, unable to function in the real world.
A pleasure-loving girl couldn’t resist physical gratification. She enjoyed rich food, luxuries, and sensuous delights. She sought worldly pleasures constantly. Soon she found a need for increasing quantities, more thrills. Normal was old hat, bizarre became normal. She would pay any price for some sweet enjoyment. Her bloated body was found at the bottom of a ravine.
James, the half-brother of Jesus Christ, wrote,”... each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away, and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin; when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers.”
God says sin is the reason people die. While not every death may be the direct result of the victim’s own sin, all death is the result of sin in general. All moral, social, psychological, and even environmental pollution is caused by sin as well. In fact, rebellion to the laws of God makes newspapers fat and life lean.
It’s not unusual for sin to seem “little” or harmless in the beginning. One little lie won’t hurt anyone. Even the second lie to cover the first one seems reasonable. After playing with little lies for a time, their growth is hardly noticed—and lying becomes a lifestyle. And lies crush, if nothing else, the credibility of the person so entangled.
Lies and all other forms of iniquity begin in a small way—with a thought. It saunters into our minds like a stray cat or dog or snake. It ought to be put out, but if we pet it and invite it to stay, it becomes sin. “Even the thought of foolishness is sin.”
This pet, visible only to God, thwarts answers to prayer. The psalmist said, “If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me.”
But it does more than that. It begins a constricting coil, one that soon becomes as difficult to put down as a beloved pet. And this pet grows. Before long, it expresses itself in words and actions and becomes a lifestyle, one that leads to death, if not directly, indirectly, some day physically, right now spiritually.
Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death. James says sin gives birth to death. Whatever metaphor is used, subtle deception and gradual changes occur before we know it, and when we do, we should tell ourselves to smarten up, but nobody does. Our “pet” has grown far too big. We can’t resist its big squeeze.
But there is good news. Because He loves us, our Creator sent His sinless Son to deal a mortal blow to sin and to that old serpent, Satan, the father of lies and the encourager of evil thoughts. Sin and Satan may be powerful but Jesus is far greater. He conquered both. He poured out His blood on the cross that sinners might be cleansed from the pollution in their souls. He died that our sins might be buried with Him. He rose from the dead to give victory over the coils of death. In defeating sin and death, He robbed both them and the serpent of their power.
A snake-loving man couldn’t resist buying a boa constrictor, just a little one. He enjoyed the reptile so much, he played with it constantly. Soon he had it trained to wrap itself around his body. The performance of man and snake was so intriguing that people paid to watch. Soon the snake act became the man’s livelihood. The snake grew, as well-fed reptiles do, and one day, during a performance, the snake coiled itself as usual around the man. A terrible scream ended the show as the boa crushed the life out of his trainer.
A lie-loving boy couldn’t resist fooling his mother just a little lie, he reasoned. He enjoyed the deception so much. He played his game constantly. Soon he had trained himself so well that he believed his own lies. He lived in a world of make-believe, losing touch with reality. His mother never understood why her son had to be institutionalized, why he eventually died there, unable to function in the real world.
A pleasure-loving girl couldn’t resist physical gratification. She enjoyed rich food, luxuries, and sensuous delights. She sought worldly pleasures constantly. Soon she found a need for increasing quantities, more thrills. Normal was old hat, bizarre became normal. She would pay any price for some sweet enjoyment. Her bloated body was found at the bottom of a ravine.
James, the half-brother of Jesus Christ, wrote,”... each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away, and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin; when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers.”
God says sin is the reason people die. While not every death may be the direct result of the victim’s own sin, all death is the result of sin in general. All moral, social, psychological, and even environmental pollution is caused by sin as well. In fact, rebellion to the laws of God makes newspapers fat and life lean.
It’s not unusual for sin to seem “little” or harmless in the beginning. One little lie won’t hurt anyone. Even the second lie to cover the first one seems reasonable. After playing with little lies for a time, their growth is hardly noticed—and lying becomes a lifestyle. And lies crush, if nothing else, the credibility of the person so entangled.
Lies and all other forms of iniquity begin in a small way—with a thought. It saunters into our minds like a stray cat or dog or snake. It ought to be put out, but if we pet it and invite it to stay, it becomes sin. “Even the thought of foolishness is sin.”
This pet, visible only to God, thwarts answers to prayer. The psalmist said, “If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me.”
But it does more than that. It begins a constricting coil, one that soon becomes as difficult to put down as a beloved pet. And this pet grows. Before long, it expresses itself in words and actions and becomes a lifestyle, one that leads to death, if not directly, indirectly, some day physically, right now spiritually.
Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death. James says sin gives birth to death. Whatever metaphor is used, subtle deception and gradual changes occur before we know it, and when we do, we should tell ourselves to smarten up, but nobody does. Our “pet” has grown far too big. We can’t resist its big squeeze.
But there is good news. Because He loves us, our Creator sent His sinless Son to deal a mortal blow to sin and to that old serpent, Satan, the father of lies and the encourager of evil thoughts. Sin and Satan may be powerful but Jesus is far greater. He conquered both. He poured out His blood on the cross that sinners might be cleansed from the pollution in their souls. He died that our sins might be buried with Him. He rose from the dead to give victory over the coils of death. In defeating sin and death, He robbed both them and the serpent of their power.
Friday, May 23, 2014
Do mistakes need forgiveness? .................... Parables 121
U.S. SHOOTS DOWN IRAN JET 290 DEAD
Whatever our feeling about U.S. involvement in the Middle East, this mind-numbing tragedy stained faces with tears and filled minds with questions, many of which may never be answered. How could it happen? What will be the consequence? What will happen to the men who gave the orders to fire? Are they guilty of an act of aggression?
As I considered this headline, other questions came to mind: If a person makes a terrible error without intent to do wrong, does God still call that a sin? Will “I didn’t mean to . . . ” exonerate a person from guilt before God for their actions?
Jesus told a story about a landowner who had to leave his servants in charge of his property. Some took their responsibility seriously. Others did not. Jesus described their fate: “And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not . . . do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few” (Luke 12:47-48).
The servant who willfully did wrong deserved his punishment. But the servant who didn’t know that what he was doing was wrong was also punished, not as severely, but nonetheless punished.
In the book of Acts, Peter explained that those who crucified Jesus were ignorant of what they were doing, “ . . . you killed the Prince of life whom God hath raised from the dead . . . through ignorance you did it . . . ” Yet they needed forgiveness or Jesus, when they nailed Him to the cross, would not have prayed, “Father, forgive them, they do not know what they do.”
According to Leviticus 5:17-19, ignorance is no excuse. When God’s commands are broken, it is sin: “And if a soul sins and commits any of these things which are forbidden by the commandments of the Lord; though he does not know it, yet he is guilty . . . he has certainly trespassed against the Lord.”
Not all sin is committed in ignorance, but whatever the case, Jesus died so sinners could be forgiven. His salvation is for anyone who will come to Him, in faith, repenting of their sin, and believing in Him.
One more question: Does that mean that once a sinner has been forgiven, there will be no consequences or punishment for sin? That depends. God will not punish His children with eternal judgment; His forgiveness is forever. Romans 8 declares that the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ makes us free from the law of sin and death.
However, if civil law is broken, the lawbreaker can expect to serve his sentence, see Romans 13. Besides that, there is God’s law of cause and effect. If I unintentionally break someone’s arm, God will forgive me, and so might the person, but they still must wear a cast for six weeks.
The U.S. government, as a body, may not bring this matter before God, although individuals probably already have done so. Some may be held accountable legally for what has happened. A great many will suffer the consequences - perhaps all of us, should it set off a full-scale war.
But whatever the U.S. does with this major mistake, we should not forget one thing - we make them too, both big and small. The remedy that restores individual peace of mind and satisfies a sin-hating God is not “I didn’t mean to . . . ” but, “You are right, I am wrong. Please forgive me . . . ” accompanied by faith in the good news that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is sufficient to cover any and every sin we commit, intentional or not.
Whatever our feeling about U.S. involvement in the Middle East, this mind-numbing tragedy stained faces with tears and filled minds with questions, many of which may never be answered. How could it happen? What will be the consequence? What will happen to the men who gave the orders to fire? Are they guilty of an act of aggression?
As I considered this headline, other questions came to mind: If a person makes a terrible error without intent to do wrong, does God still call that a sin? Will “I didn’t mean to . . . ” exonerate a person from guilt before God for their actions?
Jesus told a story about a landowner who had to leave his servants in charge of his property. Some took their responsibility seriously. Others did not. Jesus described their fate: “And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not . . . do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few” (Luke 12:47-48).
The servant who willfully did wrong deserved his punishment. But the servant who didn’t know that what he was doing was wrong was also punished, not as severely, but nonetheless punished.
In the book of Acts, Peter explained that those who crucified Jesus were ignorant of what they were doing, “ . . . you killed the Prince of life whom God hath raised from the dead . . . through ignorance you did it . . . ” Yet they needed forgiveness or Jesus, when they nailed Him to the cross, would not have prayed, “Father, forgive them, they do not know what they do.”
According to Leviticus 5:17-19, ignorance is no excuse. When God’s commands are broken, it is sin: “And if a soul sins and commits any of these things which are forbidden by the commandments of the Lord; though he does not know it, yet he is guilty . . . he has certainly trespassed against the Lord.”
Not all sin is committed in ignorance, but whatever the case, Jesus died so sinners could be forgiven. His salvation is for anyone who will come to Him, in faith, repenting of their sin, and believing in Him.
One more question: Does that mean that once a sinner has been forgiven, there will be no consequences or punishment for sin? That depends. God will not punish His children with eternal judgment; His forgiveness is forever. Romans 8 declares that the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ makes us free from the law of sin and death.
However, if civil law is broken, the lawbreaker can expect to serve his sentence, see Romans 13. Besides that, there is God’s law of cause and effect. If I unintentionally break someone’s arm, God will forgive me, and so might the person, but they still must wear a cast for six weeks.
The U.S. government, as a body, may not bring this matter before God, although individuals probably already have done so. Some may be held accountable legally for what has happened. A great many will suffer the consequences - perhaps all of us, should it set off a full-scale war.
But whatever the U.S. does with this major mistake, we should not forget one thing - we make them too, both big and small. The remedy that restores individual peace of mind and satisfies a sin-hating God is not “I didn’t mean to . . . ” but, “You are right, I am wrong. Please forgive me . . . ” accompanied by faith in the good news that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is sufficient to cover any and every sin we commit, intentional or not.
Friday, September 27, 2013
Standards ......................... Parables 024
In the past few weeks we have been made aware of standards. Some meat packing plants have failed standards. A roller coaster didn’t perform as it should have. Some students are writing standardized exams. Certain wage earners are demanding that their standard of living is maintained.
Standards are the gauges by which performance or quality is measured. We speak of high standards, a standard of excellence, lowered standards, and even double-standards. Comparison to a standard is such a commonplace activity that we do it daily, even hourly, without even being conscious of it.
Spiritually, there are standards too. Some people call the Ten Commandments the standard for morals and behavior. Others use the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do to you.” Some would say the Beatitudes are the standards and still others would hold up the two great commandments, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.”
The most lofty standard was given by Jesus Christ when He said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:24).
When we set our own standards, we can usually reach them. In some cases, if the standard is too high, those attempting to reach it are able to have it lowered, making it possible to hit the mark. I remember a school teacher telling me that the standard for city police in that state (in the U.S.) had been lowered so that they could include the required number of minorities - in order to fulfill another standard that had been set.
However, no person meets the standards of God. No one is perfect, no one loves God or others or themselves completely. Not one person is consistent in treating others as well as they want themselves treated, and all of us have broken the commandments, in thought if not in actual deed. We have missed the mark, fallen short of the target. We do not meet the standard. Scripture uses a short, three-letter word for that. It is called “sin.”
I talked about sin once to a group of children in Junior Church. One lovely little 4-year-old rolled her eyes and declared, “But I haven’t murdered anyone.” No, she had not. But she had written her own definition of sin, and changed the standard so that she could measure up to it. Have you ever done that? I have. Even doing that is sin too.
God, who never changes, established a standard that He will not change. But He is not heartless and indifferent to our failure. Instead, he offers to change us. “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you . . . and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them.”
Our part? Just ask Him.
Standards are the gauges by which performance or quality is measured. We speak of high standards, a standard of excellence, lowered standards, and even double-standards. Comparison to a standard is such a commonplace activity that we do it daily, even hourly, without even being conscious of it.
Spiritually, there are standards too. Some people call the Ten Commandments the standard for morals and behavior. Others use the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do to you.” Some would say the Beatitudes are the standards and still others would hold up the two great commandments, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.”
The most lofty standard was given by Jesus Christ when He said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:24).
When we set our own standards, we can usually reach them. In some cases, if the standard is too high, those attempting to reach it are able to have it lowered, making it possible to hit the mark. I remember a school teacher telling me that the standard for city police in that state (in the U.S.) had been lowered so that they could include the required number of minorities - in order to fulfill another standard that had been set.
However, no person meets the standards of God. No one is perfect, no one loves God or others or themselves completely. Not one person is consistent in treating others as well as they want themselves treated, and all of us have broken the commandments, in thought if not in actual deed. We have missed the mark, fallen short of the target. We do not meet the standard. Scripture uses a short, three-letter word for that. It is called “sin.”
I talked about sin once to a group of children in Junior Church. One lovely little 4-year-old rolled her eyes and declared, “But I haven’t murdered anyone.” No, she had not. But she had written her own definition of sin, and changed the standard so that she could measure up to it. Have you ever done that? I have. Even doing that is sin too.
God, who never changes, established a standard that He will not change. But He is not heartless and indifferent to our failure. Instead, he offers to change us. “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you . . . and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them.”
Our part? Just ask Him.
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