Reconciling Yourself to the Fact of Sin

Once, years ago, I travelled to Jakarta, Indonesia, on business. I have at no other time felt such a sense of the existence of pure evil. I have felt it other times, in fact, often, but never like that.

You don’t have to live too long in this world  or watch much tv to come to the conclusion that there are dark forces out there. We have to be careful not to give those forces too much credit but it would be foolish not to acknowledge they exist and have some affect.

Failing to make that recognition and calling it what it is: sin. Is the cause of disaster. If we call it just “the devil” then we fail to recognize the personal nature of it and the possibility of it having affect in our lives. Not recognizing it in others can cause us to make disastrous mistakes in our personal relationships. 

If we reconcile to the fact of sin, we can see sin and call it what it is. We can separate sin from sinner and hate the right one. We can be constantly reminded that a life  based on sin is no life at all. 

Because of sin, we should not trust human nature. Because of Christ, we should live in faith and without fear.

The pure man or woman is the one who is shielded from harm, not the innocent person. The so-called innocent man or woman is never safe. Men and women have no business trying to be innocent; God demands that they be pure and virtuous. Innocence is the characteristic of a child. Purity is the characteristic of the saved who recognizes his nature and trusts Christ to redeem it.

There is sin and Jesus has defeated it. What more do we need to know and under what other truths should we operate?

Nick