Sin is not cosmic treason
Grateful to Ligonier Minstries for this.
I was speaking with a colleague the other day and I remarked that for the majority of people, be they Christian or not, people are basically good.
Where people will talk about sin, generally they think of it in terms of sins.
Good people doing bad things.
Good people with bad habits.
Good people who slip up.
But good people, hey?
If you think about sin like that, then your view of God, his holiness, his mercy, the cross, the price paid by Jesus, all will be affected.
But sin isn't like that. It's a declaration of autonomy and independence by dependent creatures.
Even that is difficult for us. After all, if Scotland wants to vote for independence, why not?
Everyone should decide who governs them and how, shouldn't they? Isn't that a basic human right?
That's why it's so important to see sin as the Bible portrays it:
as a sickness that infects everything about us
as a rebellion against our good and great creator and father God
as a perverse nature and a twisted heart that means we can't even think straight or desire good things of ourselves.
We are bad people who manage nevertheless, by the common grace of God, to do good things.
After all, presumably murderous, brutal dictators are kind to their dogs, or their wives, or their mistresses.
And traitors and rebels who have wonderful home lives are still traitors and rebels.
We have rebelled against this great and good God who gives us life and breath and everything else.
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
(Even if the majority of people take another view)
I was speaking with a colleague the other day and I remarked that for the majority of people, be they Christian or not, people are basically good.
Where people will talk about sin, generally they think of it in terms of sins.
Good people doing bad things.
Good people with bad habits.
Good people who slip up.
But good people, hey?
If you think about sin like that, then your view of God, his holiness, his mercy, the cross, the price paid by Jesus, all will be affected.
But sin isn't like that. It's a declaration of autonomy and independence by dependent creatures.
Even that is difficult for us. After all, if Scotland wants to vote for independence, why not?
Everyone should decide who governs them and how, shouldn't they? Isn't that a basic human right?
That's why it's so important to see sin as the Bible portrays it:
as a sickness that infects everything about us
as a rebellion against our good and great creator and father God
as a perverse nature and a twisted heart that means we can't even think straight or desire good things of ourselves.
We are bad people who manage nevertheless, by the common grace of God, to do good things.
After all, presumably murderous, brutal dictators are kind to their dogs, or their wives, or their mistresses.
And traitors and rebels who have wonderful home lives are still traitors and rebels.
We have rebelled against this great and good God who gives us life and breath and everything else.
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
(Even if the majority of people take another view)
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