In one of the standard corporate confessions of sin that many Lutherans say, we have the phrase, "I, a poor, miserable sinner..." Over the years, I've had people make a number of different comments on this. Some have said that they aren't miserable in their sin at all; in fact, they actually like what they're doing, even if God calls it a sin. Others have said that it isn't exactly the most welcoming of wordings for those who may be new to the Christian faith.
I'm not here to debate wording today, but I would like to spend a few moments talking about what we do when God says something is a sin, but we would rather it not be. Now, from the get-go, I should mention that I happen to believe that the Bible is God's Word to us, and that it says what He means. So, when it says something is wrong, I understand that to mean that God says it is wrong, and there really isn't any wiggle room around it. That may not be a popular view nowadays, but I'm comfortable with people saying that I'm a stick in the mud about matters like this.
Here's the thing. We will find that God has a lot to say about what we do with our lives, and how we go about living them. And because the Bible says that we start off life as a sinful person (by our nature, not merely by the things we do or fail to do), we all are going to be inclined to things that God says are wrong. Admittedly, some will seem more minor than others, or some are more noticeable than others, but we all have that inclination to sin because we have sin ingrained as part of our nature.
That's why we can say that we are a poor, miserable sinner. Just flipping through the pages of the Bible will reveal that we really shouldn't be all that pleasing to God, since we not only do many things that He says not to do, but we take some joy in them. That shows that we aren't right in God's eyes, and that should cause us a bit of misery. Anytime we realize that the Big Man who calls the shots shouldn't be happy with us should be an occasion to engage in a little misery.
And that's when we start to realize that our sin truly is something that we should be miserable about. In this regard, it shouldn't matter if it's a "big" matter or a "small" matter. Anything out of line with what God says should bring misery to the forefront. We aren't living like God says, and He's the one who makes the rules and who gets to determine the winners and losers at the end. That really should introduce at least a little misery into us as we reflect on our lives.
Now, here's the thing. Yes, God lays down the laws for our lives, and He gets ultimate say. And yes, we will find that we are sinners. The thing is, God's desire isn't that He have to stand in condemning judgment of everyone. That's the whole reason for Jesus, and the cross, and the resurrection. God killed sin, and even as He brings the gift of forgiveness, He still maintains that He gets to call the shots. No, you and I will not escape that inherited inclination to sin until God kills our physical bodies and raises them, as Jesus has promised, but we have the hope that God will introduce that new life to us because of what Jesus has done for us. That truly is a reason that we Christians are not miserable!
I'm not here to debate wording today, but I would like to spend a few moments talking about what we do when God says something is a sin, but we would rather it not be. Now, from the get-go, I should mention that I happen to believe that the Bible is God's Word to us, and that it says what He means. So, when it says something is wrong, I understand that to mean that God says it is wrong, and there really isn't any wiggle room around it. That may not be a popular view nowadays, but I'm comfortable with people saying that I'm a stick in the mud about matters like this.
Here's the thing. We will find that God has a lot to say about what we do with our lives, and how we go about living them. And because the Bible says that we start off life as a sinful person (by our nature, not merely by the things we do or fail to do), we all are going to be inclined to things that God says are wrong. Admittedly, some will seem more minor than others, or some are more noticeable than others, but we all have that inclination to sin because we have sin ingrained as part of our nature.
That's why we can say that we are a poor, miserable sinner. Just flipping through the pages of the Bible will reveal that we really shouldn't be all that pleasing to God, since we not only do many things that He says not to do, but we take some joy in them. That shows that we aren't right in God's eyes, and that should cause us a bit of misery. Anytime we realize that the Big Man who calls the shots shouldn't be happy with us should be an occasion to engage in a little misery.
And that's when we start to realize that our sin truly is something that we should be miserable about. In this regard, it shouldn't matter if it's a "big" matter or a "small" matter. Anything out of line with what God says should bring misery to the forefront. We aren't living like God says, and He's the one who makes the rules and who gets to determine the winners and losers at the end. That really should introduce at least a little misery into us as we reflect on our lives.
Now, here's the thing. Yes, God lays down the laws for our lives, and He gets ultimate say. And yes, we will find that we are sinners. The thing is, God's desire isn't that He have to stand in condemning judgment of everyone. That's the whole reason for Jesus, and the cross, and the resurrection. God killed sin, and even as He brings the gift of forgiveness, He still maintains that He gets to call the shots. No, you and I will not escape that inherited inclination to sin until God kills our physical bodies and raises them, as Jesus has promised, but we have the hope that God will introduce that new life to us because of what Jesus has done for us. That truly is a reason that we Christians are not miserable!
Really liked this and the last post too. I've been dealing with both issues in my life recently with a fellow Christian who really wants me to say that what he wants to do is not a sin - because it makes him happy. But I can't say that because I feel like it is an area the bible is pretty clear on and while "I don't want to be a jerk about it" I can't call a sin a good thing, especially since I truly want this person to be happy and as a Christian, that should mean living a life in God's will (as much as possible before we are truly perfected in heaven).
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