The Nature of Degeneration

Do we really understand the nature of sin? Do we subconsciously define “sin” in one way in our lives and another way in the lives of others? Do we take comfort that we are clear of the public sins and feel superior because others suffer from them? Do we believe that the concept of “sin” is some outdated medieval notion, not relevant in today’s world?  Do we think that rightness and wrongness is something we can determine?

We set ourselves up for confusion if we think of sin solely in the plural: a list of offenses. We are on the road to a correct understanding if we understand that sin is my claim to my right to myself. Sometimes we come close if we understand that PRIDE is the foundational Sin from which all sins flow. If we consider Adam and Eve, eating a fruit wasn’t the big deal. It was their decision that they wanted to rule themselves and were dissatisfied being protectorates of the loving Creator.

It is the same way we sin today, holding on desperately to the steering wheels of our lives, perhaps willing to have God as co-pilot but without sufficient faith to let Him drive. The nature of sin is not immorality and wrongdoing, but the nature of self-realization which leads us to say, “I am my own god.” This nature may exhibit itself in proper morality or in improper immorality, but it always has a common basis— my claim to my right to myself.

Consider the social battles over “sin” today. Women claiming the right to kill their unborn children is really their claim to the right to themselves and the child within them. What of individuals convinced that each can determined what acts are right and which are wrong? These convictions are obvious to others in sexual matters, but just as real in “private” matters, with impact unseen by others.

Understanding the nature of sin is important, but minor when compared to understanding the cure. Sin is something I am born with and cannot touch— only God touches sin through redemption. It is through the Cross of Christ that God redeemed the entire human race from the possibility of damnation through the heredity of sin. God nowhere holds a person responsible for having the heredity of sin, and does not condemn anyone because of it. Condemnation comes when I realize that Jesus Christ came to deliver me from this heredity of sin, and yet I refuse to let Him do so. From that moment I begin to get the seal of damnation. “This is the condemnation [and the critical moment], that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light . . . ” (John 3:19).

Love the light, bathe in the light, be saved by the light and

Be blessed.

Nick