Post by CherieKropp on Dec 28, 2012 22:16:10 GMT -5
I posted this question on TLC and offered to post their replies here...so here are the first two of the TLCers Responses:
#1: The question seems to be: Does the nature of SIN fundamentally change once we repent?
The short answer is: No. Sin is still sin. The moral laws defined in the Tanakh (or Old Testament) do not change. 1 John 3:4 is explicit: "Everyone who sins is breaking God's law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God." So it is God's law that defines WHAT IS sin.
God's word does not change -- the Bible reaffirms that over and over, in both NT and OT. And....the definitions of what is sin also do not change.
What changes when we repent is US. To repent (T'shuvah in Hebrew) means to turn around, to go back -- to God. When we repent, we admit to ourselves and God that we have turned away from Him and His righteous laws, and that this sin has separated us from Him -- not irretrievably, but we can even feel the distance that sinning has caused, and we know we are not in 'right relationship' with Him because of it.
Our repentance, if genuine, can result in the forgiveness of our sin, but it does not change the fundamental nature or definition of sin.
Let's frame this another way. Instead of the word "sin", let's use the word for an actual sin: let's use "adultery."
So to rephrase the question in this way:
"If I commit adultery, is there a point when adultery is no longer sin? Like, does God forget after a certain period of time, or does he overlook the adultery if I do everything else right?”
To answer: God sees everything, so he sees both what you are doing well or right and what you are not doing well or right. But will God overlook a sin because of other factors that might be well with a person?
No. Sin is sin is sin is sin. The nature of sin does not change. It remains a sin to commit adultery, or any of the other sins that are listed. One good deed does not cancel out another sin, in other words. Despite anything else that King David was doing well, remember that God sent the prophet Nathan to essentially convict David of his sin of adultery. David did agonize and repent, and was forgiven, but note that he did not continue in his sin.
If God forgives a sin, he expects (and charges) that one should "go and sin no more.” God never redefines the sin as “now being OK”. No, that is never taught anywhere in the Bible, OT or NT.
The second part of the question, reframed:
“If we acknowledge that we are commiting adultery, [and] God forgives us [does he] no longer recognize the adultery as sin because we’re covered by Jesus’ blood and his grace?
It’s one thing to be forgiven and our sins of the past covered by Jesus’ blood. BUT if after we’ve been forgiven, yet we continue in sin, we are in need of repentance again. To willfully sin, thinking that are sins will now be covered from now on, is NOT the intention expressed anywhere in the Bible. That is, in fact, a dangerous and warped view of the idea of grace.
A relationship with God is a living thing. When we surrender to God through His Son, Jesus [Yeshua], and it is absolutely genuine, and God accepts our surrender and fully forgives us our past sins, He also fundamentally changes our nature – we become a “new creation” – and with this transformative grace, he can change us to the point where we no longer desire to sin at all, most especially in the way in which we sinned before. That we change and turn away from sin and are enabled by His Holy Spirit to resist evil and go on to live a life without sin (not perfect, but fundamentally changed) is the true evidence that we have been made into a new creation, or are “born again.”
If we say we repent (of adultery, per the example), and maybe we even believe that we have, yet we do not stop commiting the sin of adultery, remaining in sinful behavior, then we must be very, very careful that we do NOT deceive ourselves into believing that God will now bend his rules for us, or change the definition of adultery just for us. No, the definition of adultery or any other sin does not change; but the great news is that we can change, through the power of His transformative grace.
I have learned in my walk that a person can wrestle with the devil all day long and never feel victorious. This is why we need the power of his indwelling Spirit. Because the Lord has already triumphed over evil, it is His Holy Spirit that wars for us and defeats the Wicked One. This is why it is so important to let Him come in, and reside within us, so that His Spirit will triumph over the old nature. Without His Spirit within us, we may struggle daily. With His Spirit, we can be free even of the temptation of that sin.
So it is by a changed life that we testify that Christ lives in us, and through Him in us, we can have that “victory with Jesus.”
Also, remember that we are cautioned to “Flee temptation.” That means that if we are born anew in Christ, we must not choose to foolhardily court temptation. If our sin was adultery, for example, we would then sever those relationships that could pose a real threat to our marriage vows through any temptation to return to that sin. Many times, however, even the temptation itself can disappear…nonetheless, if we just remember not to place ourselves in the direct path of sin, this is also helpful.
There is power in the Cross, and the redemption offered through the Lord’s atonement is real. Let Him change your life. Seek His face genuinely, and He will change your life.
#1: The question seems to be: Does the nature of SIN fundamentally change once we repent?
The short answer is: No. Sin is still sin. The moral laws defined in the Tanakh (or Old Testament) do not change. 1 John 3:4 is explicit: "Everyone who sins is breaking God's law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God." So it is God's law that defines WHAT IS sin.
God's word does not change -- the Bible reaffirms that over and over, in both NT and OT. And....the definitions of what is sin also do not change.
What changes when we repent is US. To repent (T'shuvah in Hebrew) means to turn around, to go back -- to God. When we repent, we admit to ourselves and God that we have turned away from Him and His righteous laws, and that this sin has separated us from Him -- not irretrievably, but we can even feel the distance that sinning has caused, and we know we are not in 'right relationship' with Him because of it.
Our repentance, if genuine, can result in the forgiveness of our sin, but it does not change the fundamental nature or definition of sin.
Let's frame this another way. Instead of the word "sin", let's use the word for an actual sin: let's use "adultery."
So to rephrase the question in this way:
"If I commit adultery, is there a point when adultery is no longer sin? Like, does God forget after a certain period of time, or does he overlook the adultery if I do everything else right?”
To answer: God sees everything, so he sees both what you are doing well or right and what you are not doing well or right. But will God overlook a sin because of other factors that might be well with a person?
No. Sin is sin is sin is sin. The nature of sin does not change. It remains a sin to commit adultery, or any of the other sins that are listed. One good deed does not cancel out another sin, in other words. Despite anything else that King David was doing well, remember that God sent the prophet Nathan to essentially convict David of his sin of adultery. David did agonize and repent, and was forgiven, but note that he did not continue in his sin.
If God forgives a sin, he expects (and charges) that one should "go and sin no more.” God never redefines the sin as “now being OK”. No, that is never taught anywhere in the Bible, OT or NT.
The second part of the question, reframed:
“If we acknowledge that we are commiting adultery, [and] God forgives us [does he] no longer recognize the adultery as sin because we’re covered by Jesus’ blood and his grace?
It’s one thing to be forgiven and our sins of the past covered by Jesus’ blood. BUT if after we’ve been forgiven, yet we continue in sin, we are in need of repentance again. To willfully sin, thinking that are sins will now be covered from now on, is NOT the intention expressed anywhere in the Bible. That is, in fact, a dangerous and warped view of the idea of grace.
A relationship with God is a living thing. When we surrender to God through His Son, Jesus [Yeshua], and it is absolutely genuine, and God accepts our surrender and fully forgives us our past sins, He also fundamentally changes our nature – we become a “new creation” – and with this transformative grace, he can change us to the point where we no longer desire to sin at all, most especially in the way in which we sinned before. That we change and turn away from sin and are enabled by His Holy Spirit to resist evil and go on to live a life without sin (not perfect, but fundamentally changed) is the true evidence that we have been made into a new creation, or are “born again.”
If we say we repent (of adultery, per the example), and maybe we even believe that we have, yet we do not stop commiting the sin of adultery, remaining in sinful behavior, then we must be very, very careful that we do NOT deceive ourselves into believing that God will now bend his rules for us, or change the definition of adultery just for us. No, the definition of adultery or any other sin does not change; but the great news is that we can change, through the power of His transformative grace.
I have learned in my walk that a person can wrestle with the devil all day long and never feel victorious. This is why we need the power of his indwelling Spirit. Because the Lord has already triumphed over evil, it is His Holy Spirit that wars for us and defeats the Wicked One. This is why it is so important to let Him come in, and reside within us, so that His Spirit will triumph over the old nature. Without His Spirit within us, we may struggle daily. With His Spirit, we can be free even of the temptation of that sin.
So it is by a changed life that we testify that Christ lives in us, and through Him in us, we can have that “victory with Jesus.”
Also, remember that we are cautioned to “Flee temptation.” That means that if we are born anew in Christ, we must not choose to foolhardily court temptation. If our sin was adultery, for example, we would then sever those relationships that could pose a real threat to our marriage vows through any temptation to return to that sin. Many times, however, even the temptation itself can disappear…nonetheless, if we just remember not to place ourselves in the direct path of sin, this is also helpful.
There is power in the Cross, and the redemption offered through the Lord’s atonement is real. Let Him change your life. Seek His face genuinely, and He will change your life.