"I don't need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring you from the inside. It's not my purpose to punish it; it's my joy to cure it."
William P. Young, The Shack
I decided this morning to speak of the elephant in the room. That is, the one issue which is most concerning to believers. If you believe in the Lord, then you have beat yourself up needlessly over it. If you are not a believer, you might wonder just what you need to do to rid yourself of it. I'm talking about sin. Whether it is the sin that you feel you've committed or the grievances others have placed in your mind that you have done, sin is sin right? I have often referred to sin as the stumbling block many believers face in their walk with the Lord. For it is sin that it seems we can never really get rid of. Many a church pastor might speak many a sermon on the evil and wickedness of sin. If you listen to the church mantra, sin is something you can look forward to dealing with for the remainder of your life. Then, if you're fortunate enough that the Lord answers your prayers, and if you are good enough, you will spend eternity in heaven with God. That's how the story goes. This is how many believers go through their lives dealing with sin. I know I did. I can speak from experience that it sucks. Knowing that I'm a bad guy. Knowing that I don't pass Gods muster as far as being well behaved. I remember asking myself, can God ever love me enough? Silly question, right? Yet that is the mindset that I had, constantly struggling with who I was. I was a sinner {Romans 3:23}. And, as a sinner, I deserved to die in my sin as its just punishment. Was this how God really saw me? Did God, after creating me in His image and sending His Son as a sacrifice for my sins, really see me as just a sinner? Or, did He, in His unending love, want something better for me? Something told me that the Lord did not desire me to continue to struggle with something He had taken great care to rid me of. This was the life He desired for me.
Knowing this, that our old humanity was crucified together with Him, that the body of sin may be nullified, for us by no means to be still slaving for sin, for one who dies has been justified from sin. Now if we died together with Christ, we believe that we shall be living together with Him also, having perceived that Christ, having been roused from among the dead, is no longer dying. Death is lording it over Him no longer, for in that He died, He died to sin once for all time, yet in that He is living, He is living to God. Thus you also, be reckoning yourselves to be dead, indeed, to sin, yet living to God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Romans 6: 6-11, Concordant New Testament
If you're big into the old testament, then you already know that sin deserves its own punishment. The punishment dealt upon the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was deemed just. The punishment dealt upon Cain for the killing of Abel was also deemed justified. Sin is seen as deserving of punishment. Our actions have their own consequences. It is because of sin that I needed to die as well. My old sin nature deservedly needed to be put to death. That was the righteous punishment it deserved. Yet I do not recall ever dying for my sins. It is not a leap of faith to understand that it was never Gods desire to have His children live in a life of sin. What is the reality of sin? Jesus was crucified on that cross for the forgiveness of your sins. It is Christ who became sin that we would not carry its burden {2 Corinthians 5:21}. I also died upon that cross. That is, my old sin nature was crucified beside Jesus that day. This is the truth of sin which few believers realize. The apostle Paul speaks to our realizing that we are indeed dead to sin {Romans 6:11}. This is something which took a VERY long time for me to come to terms with. I was raised in the church, sin was something that was ever present in my life. Sin was the constant drum beat I heard each and every day. Sin was the scale by which I gauged my own worthiness to God. I will jump out on a limb and say that this is not the way that God wants me to live my life. To be constantly worrying over something He worked to remove from my life. If I am to believe that my own sin is keeping me from God, what value then is the sacrifice of Jesus? Did He miss a few sins as He died on the cross? No, we're told that Jesus died to sin "Once for all time" {Romans 6:10}. I am covered by the selfless sacrifice of my Savior. Through the actions of Christ Jesus, sin is no longer in control of my life. My old nature has been relegated to its rightful place and put to death with Christ. This is the truth of sin in my life. Does that mean that sin no longer exists? No, only that it no longer defines who I am. My identity now lies with Christ Jesus{Galatians 2:20}. Sins just punishment has been fulfilled with the sacrifice of Jesus at the cross.
And there is no salvation in any other one, for neither is there any other name, given under heaven among men, in which we must be saved.
Acts 4: 12, Concordant New Testament
~Scott~
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