Why is Christianity so focused on Sin?

[maxwel]

Why can't it be just about experiencing the love of God? Why not just about knowing the Holy Spirit, living by the wisdom in the Bible?


Instead, new believers have to feel guilty about their Sin. Let's be honest, most people are not sinners but losers. They struggle in their jobs, their finances, their health etc.

Let's take a look at the bible.



Sinners, Losers, & Guilt:


1. Sinners or Losers: The bible does NOT say all men are losers, but it DOES say all men are sinners.

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;


2. Therefore, every man alive is not a LOSER... every man alive is a SINNER.

The word "loser" really isn't even a biblical kind of word, or a biblical concept.
It's just a superficial idea from popular culture... about how the world views success and failure.

The word LOSER is a "put down", a pejorative, used to ridicule anyone who doesn't live up to particular "worldly" and "superficial" measurements.
Jesus didn't have a hot wife, a fast car, a big house, cool friends, a fancy country club, the right self-help books, a fat bank account etc. etc... he would have been a loser.

There's nothing WRONG with a hot wife, a fast car, or a big house ... but having these, or not having these, does nothing to affect WHO and WHAT you are.

They are nice... but wholly irrelevant.

And MANY of the worldly pleasures that make us "cool" - they aren't even good for us.


3. Do we still sin after we are saved, and know Christ? Yes.

John said we all still sin, in the present tense.
1John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Paul said he still struggles with sin, present tense.
Romans 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.


4. CONFESSION FOR PEACE:
when we sin, in the present tense, God still loves his children, but we need to confess these sins to God in order to restore our "walk", our "peace", with God.

1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

We do need continual confession with God, but this is not to regain his love, but to restore our own hearts before him.
It is to restore peace with God, not to restore our place as his child.


5. The whole problem with the Opening Post is not really about SIN... but about GUILT.

We all sin, and God readily restores our walk with him as we daily confess sins.
God knows we will continue to sin, but he wants us to walk with HIM, and be free from GUILT.

We confess our sins as they occur, to restore our walk with God... and we LEAVE THE GUILT BEHIND.

The REAL ISSUE in the opening Post is not a matter of SIN, but of GUILT.

Churches may talk about sin so much that we feel a burden of guilt.
We are not to walk around burdened by guilt.
It IS TRUE that we have continual sin, which should be continually confessed....
but nowhere does the Bible say God's children, who God loves,
are to be weighed down with guilt and shame.

If we do something we feel guilty about, we are to immediately confess that, then LET IT GO, and TRUST THE BIBLE that GOD LOVES US.


Conclusion:

1. As God's children, we all still sin continually, and need continual confession to God... not to regain God's love, but merely to have our hearts right with him, so we can restore a peaceful walk with him.

2. The REAL issue in the opening post is not SIN, but GUILT. Sin is a real thing, which we must all deal with continually... but the GUILT for that sin is to be left behind us.

Christ did not die so we could live in guilt... he took our guilt so we could live in peace, with him.






* For anyone reading, I did not get into all of the precise biblical semantics here. I tried to keep this simple. Feel free to comment, but let's not get weighed down too far in semantics on these simple issues of sin, confession, and guilt.

 

[PeterJens]

Why can't it be just about experiencing the love of God? Why not just about knowing the Holy Spirit, living by the wisdom in the Bible?

Read the bible and learn Gods heart.

The source of life is God, and sin is the thing that stops us experiencing Him.
Until we take sin seriously we can never establish a new relationship with the Father.

The bible is unique because it tells us Gods heart and His way of reconciliation.
If you are interested in reconciling yourself with the creator you will listen to Him
and His ways.

 

[FreeNChrist]

Let's take a look at the bible.



Sinners, Losers, & Guilt:


1. Sinners or Losers: The bible does NOT say all men are losers, but it DOES say all men are sinners.

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;


2. Therefore, every man alive is not a LOSER... every man alive is a SINNER.

The word "loser" really isn't even a biblical kind of word, or a biblical concept.
It's just a superficial idea from popular culture... about how the world views success and failure.

The word LOSER is a "put down", a pejorative, used to ridicule anyone who doesn't live up to particular "worldly" and "superficial" measurements.
Jesus didn't have a hot wife, a fast car, a big house, cool friends, a fancy country club, the right self-help books, a fat bank account etc. etc... he would have been a loser.

There's nothing WRONG with a hot wife, a fast car, or a big house ... but having these, or not having these, does nothing to affect WHO and WHAT you are.

They are nice... but wholly irrelevant.

And MANY of the worldly pleasures that make us "cool" - they aren't even good for us.


3. Do we still sin after we are saved, and know Christ? Yes.

John said we all still sin, in the present tense.
1John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Paul said he still struggles with sin, present tense.
Romans 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.


4. CONFESSION FOR PEACE:
when we sin, in the present tense, God still loves his children, but we need to confess these sins to God in order to restore our "walk", our "peace", with God.

1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

We do need continual confession with God, but this is not to regain his love, but to restore our own hearts before him.
It is to restore peace with God, not to restore our place as his child.


5. The whole problem with the Opening Post is not really about SIN... but about GUILT.

We all sin, and God readily restores our walk with him as we daily confess sins.
God knows we will continue to sin, but he wants us to walk with HIM, and be free from GUILT.

We confess our sins as they occur, to restore our walk with God... and we LEAVE THE GUILT BEHIND.

The REAL ISSUE in the opening Post is not a matter of SIN, but of GUILT.

Churches may talk about sin so much that we feel a burden of guilt.
We are not to walk around burdened by guilt.
It IS TRUE that we have continual sin, which should be continually confessed....
but nowhere does the Bible say God's children, who God loves,
are to be weighed down with guilt and shame.

If we do something we feel guilty about, we are to immediately confess that, then LET IT GO, and TRUST THE BIBLE that GOD LOVES US.


Conclusion:

1. As God's children, we all still sin continually, and need continual confession to God... not to regain God's love, but merely to have our hearts right with him, so we can restore a peaceful walk with him.

2. The REAL issue in the opening post is not SIN, but GUILT. Sin is a real thing, which we must all deal with continually... but the GUILT for that sin is to be left behind us.

Christ did not die so we could live in guilt... he took our guilt so we could live in peace, with him.






* For anyone reading, I did not get into all of the precise biblical semantics here. I tried to keep this simple. Feel free to comment, but let's not get weighed down too far in semantics on these simple issues of sin, confession, and guilt.

A fine explanation of why Christians are obsessed with sin and sinning. They simply will not accept that they have forgivesness. They are forever seeking what they already have.

 

[Exodus1]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]COULD a sick man provethat he has no fever by breaking the thermometer? Of course not!Similarly, just because many reject God’s view of sin, it does notmean that sin does not exist. His Word, the Bible, has much to say onthe subject[/FONT]

 

[joaniemarie]

COULD a sick man provethat he has no fever by breaking the thermometer? Of course not!Similarly, just because many reject God’s view of sin, it does notmean that sin does not exist. His Word, the Bible, has much to say onthe subject

The good news - the GOSPEL is that sin has been defeated. That God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him will not perish but have everlasting life." "Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved"

The message is not sin., it's being saved unto righteousness IN Christ who saves us from our sin and the penalty of sin which is death and separation from God., and gives us the free gift of eternal life and allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll that goes with that. We spend the rest of our lives here on earth and into eternity learning about what alll that means. It's the Gospel that Jesus brought, the grace and truth of God's great love in which He loved us. How can we ever exhaust His love and grace and truth?

So we have the gift of no condemnation and the gift of the Holy Spirit to comfort, guide and teach us all the days of our lives. The Gospel is the good news., not the bad news. We don't do - to get.... we receive from the Giver and keep on receiving for the rest of our lives. He is the Savior ... so let Him save., He is the Giver so let Him give. He is the Propitiation for our sins so let Him propitiate. He is the Lover... so let Him love.

And in doing that, we will learn to be like Him. We love Him because He first loved us. Only a loving Father could think of this kind of great salvation. He has it covered on every base. He even gives us His Holy Spirit to comfort, guide and teach and lead us into allll truth. We can't lose.

 

[Magenta]

Thanks for your response. Just to make it clear, I wasn't supporting Sin. I do believe in working with the Holy Spirit to get rid of the sins, as God and Sin cannot co-exist.

However, my problem is specifically about people having to confess themselves as sinners every day, even though their so called "sins" would be something as insignificant as getting up late in the morning.

Sleeping in late is not a sin. What would be a sin is if you got up late and then lied about it to cover up the fact that you failed some obligation. Who told you that you must confess yourself a sinner every day? The ultimate purpose in life for any person is to glorify God. Spiritual maturation is a life long process whereby you learn to focus on the person and character of Jesus Christ. Being sin focused all the time is too self centered.

 

[Depleted]

Spurgeon's Evening Devotional talks about this very thing today:

“Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins.”
Psa_19:13

Such was the prayer of the “man after God’s own heart.” Did holy David need to pray thus? How needful, then, must such a prayer be for us babes in grace! It is as if he said, “Keep me back, or I shall rush headlong over the precipice of sin.” Our evil nature, like an ill-tempered horse, is apt to run away. May the grace of God put the bridle upon it, and hold it in, that it rush not into mischief. What might not the best of us do if it were not for the checks which the Lord sets upon us both in providence and in grace! The psalmist’s prayer is directed against the worst form of sin-that which is done with deliberation and wilfulness. Even the holiest need to be “kept back” from the vilest transgressions. It is a solemn thing to find the apostle Paul warning saints against the most loathsome sins. “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” What! do saints want warning against such sins as these? Yes, they do. The whitest robes, unless their purity be preserved by divine grace, will be defiled by the blackest spots. Experienced Christian, boast not in your experience; you will trip yet if you look away from him who is able to keep you from falling. Ye whose love is fervent, whose faith is constant, whose hopes are bright, say not, “We shall never sin,” but rather cry, “Lead us not into temptation.” There is enough tinder in the heart of the best of men to light a fire that shall burn to the lowest hell, unless God shall quench the sparks as they fall. Who would have dreamed that righteous Lot could be found drunken, and committing uncleanness? Hazael said, “Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this thing?” and we are very apt to use the same self-righteous question. May infinite wisdom cure us of the madness of self-confidence.

 

[resurrection33]

Why am I not surprised?

Well, sin makes me feel miserable. Perhaps it makes you feel good.

 

[resurrection33]

Why am I not surprised?

Some of us are opposed to sin. You say there is no sin (since you aren't under the law). Satan also says there is no sin.

 

[resurrection33]

Why am I not surprised?

You have told me you can't sin, since you aren't under the law. Does that mean it's okay to steal your friend's silverware when you have dinner at his house?

 

[FreeNChrist]

Well, sin makes me feel miserable. Perhaps it makes you feel good.

Well, stop sowing to the flesh by focusing on sin, and maybe you won't feel so miserable.

 

[FreeNChrist]

You have told me you can't sin, since you aren't under the law. Does that mean it's okay to steal your friend's silverware when you have dinner at his house?

What I have told you is I am a Christian, and like all Christians, I am not under the Law. The rest is just your own fabrication, and part of the cause of your misery

 

[resurrection33]

Why am I not surprised?

Do you consider this heresy?:

[1] Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
[2] but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night. Psalms 1:1-2 RSV

 

[resurrection33]

Why am I not surprised?

I suppose my days would be dull without you. Have you ever done Las Vegas?

 

[FreeNChrist]

Do you consider this heresy?:

[1] Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
[2] but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night. Psalms 1:1-2 RSV

No. I consider your denial of the Trinity heresy.

 

[resurrection33]

Why am I not surprised?

We should go into show business together. I could sing my songs. You could tell your jokes.

 

[lastofall]

"And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth." (John 9:39-41)

"If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin." (John 15:22)

 

[Desertsrose]

Why can't it be just about experiencing the love of God? Why not just about knowing the Holy Spirit, living by the wisdom in the Bible?

Now such a person would love to experience the love of Jesus & the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

But to reach there, they first have to confess their sins, feel bad about themselves.

It is almost as if sin is the key concept in the Bible.

My parents know me with all my shortcomings. They still love me, and never ask me to confess my so called "sins" everyday for them to love me. Why is it different with God the Father then?

If Christianity was more about spreading the love and forgiveness of Jesus, and less about the condemnation of Sin - we would have lot more believers. Who doesn't want God as a personal friend?

And just for the sake of argument, here is what other religions say on the topic of sin:

OP: Why is Christianity so focused on Sin?

Maybe because to become a Christian the focus is on sin. We are sinners. We need to repent. And once we're saved, although we've died to our old selves and our life is now hidden in Christ, we still battle with sin and will until the day we receive our new perfect bodies and the Lord removes the old carnal nature for good.

Unfortunately that old carnal nature is still plaguing us. It's why we're told to PUT OFF the old man and PUT On the new man and why we're told to CLOTHE OURSELVES WITH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. And why we're told to BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. We have to do this every single day. We're told to confess our sins to one to another IN BROTHERLY LOVE. See - they're both right LOVE and SIN. When we see sin we know the way to deal with it is with the love of Christ.

Because of love - His love, we confess our sins. Thank God we get to confess our sins to Him. Otherwise we'd go around with all this crud and wouldn't be fruitful for the Kingdom of God at all.

We wouldn't be a witness of holiness because unconfessed sin taints us and will cause us to go deeper into sin. The Holy Spirit leads us into truth .........and the truth is He also reminds us when we sin or are about to sin. The less we listen to Him, we've got a boatload of unconfessed sins hanging about us.

Wonder why sin is spoken of a lot? 1186 times sin is mentioned in the NASB. There are others words as well that I haven't looked up that would apply, like transgressions, evil, wickedness, disobedience, immortality, offense etc. Those words aren't included in the 1186 times that sin is mentioned.

Guess how many times love is mentioned. Now as with sin, there will be other words mentioned that could also be included, but aren't. There's 484 times love is mentioned.

I show this only to show that sin is a BIG DEAL. Comparing your parents love with God's love is a contrast and not a comparison. Even is we're Christians, God's love goes much deeper and much fuller than ours ever will.

This comment [If Christianity was more about spreading the love and forgiveness of Jesus, and less about the condemnation of Sin - we would have lot more believers. Who doesn't want God as a personal friend?] causes me to wonder if you know the true Jesus of the bible. Jesus Himself said the way is narrow and few there will be that will find the narrow path. Few will find the love of Jesus, not a lot more than the few. Why? Because man's way is evil (SIN) and they don't want to leave their life of sin.

Knowing the love of Jesus and experiencing the Holy Spirit includes dealing with SIN and deals with LOVE. It has to. LOVE does no wrong to God or his neighbor. But we do wrong to our neighbor and we do wrong to our God. We don't always love and that's what's at issue. It's not a heavy thing or a heavy weight we carry around. My focus is on God and His love.

My focus isn't on my sin, but it's always at the forefront because although I'm a new creation in Christ, the carnal me isn't always LOVING God and LOVING my neighbor. And when I SIN, I need to ask whomever I SINNED against for forgiveness. That act of forgiveness is LOVE. It's an act of LOVE. My sin is erased from the chalkboard and my list is empty.

I can't speak for others, but I don't walk around feeling bad. I walk around feeling loved and forgiven and free. I feel bad if I hurt someone and I feel bad when I sin. But it's taken care of right away. As soon as it's confessed, I'm cleansed.

I have such a beautiful and wonderful relationship with God. I could not feel more loved. The knowledge that He like a real father will pick me up when I fall and cleanse me of all the dirt and dust of the day is marvelous.....it's one of those TOO WONDERFUL thoughts that take me captive and in awe of the God of the universe.

The one and only true God loves me that much. He's done it all and He shows me each day how to walk the way He wants me to walk and shows me how to please Him in all that I do. He has and does it all for me. He even gives me a new want. I want to walk as He walks and I want to obey Him in all I do. I want to. And I don't want to sin. And yet, He cleans me up when I do.

They say confession is good for the soul. How true that really is. And when I confess I do feel bad that I've sinned against God or if its a person I feel bad that I sinned against them. We should because those things are opposed to the love of God.

 

[PrynceNY]

What I have told you is I am a Christian, and like all Christians, I am not under the Law. The rest is just your own fabrication, and part of the cause of your misery

That doesn't answer his questions & it sounds as if you are encouraging others not to confess to God & seek forgiveness when they have sinned. You keep repeating your not under the law as if God doesn't mind when people sin.

 

[Grace777x70]

It says in the Old testament that God would send the Messiah to come and die for us when you read Isaiah 53 and other scriptures. Why don't we now pray to God to send the Messiah to us and die for us like He said He would?

When we figure out that reason - then we will have the answer to some questions that we have concerning sins and forgiveness in the New Covenant which is all based on the blood of Jesus.

The religion of Christianity is in the sin management business. God is in His Son's shed blood and dying on the cross and in His resurrection business. God is Christ conscious - not sin conscious.

Religion always gets the gospel of the grace of God in Christ backwards and tries to accomplish by "it's own efforts" what Christ has already done in His finished work. Believing in Christ's completed work is the obedience of faith.