FREEDOM IN CHRIST
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us
(1 John 1:8)
When we consider our attempts to enter into fellowship with God, the great problem that stands in our way is the age-old problem of sin. How are the ‘sons-of-men’ to become the ‘sons-of-God’? Mankind is considered to be higher than other creatures, and this is where the root of the problem exists. It’s different from the relationship between lower life and God because the matter of human will is involved. The higher the ambition that God held for human beings, the greater the problem introduced by free will, given in order to form character in people. God has given, by the means of free will, the opportunity to make a choice between good and evil, and whilst this affords mankind great opportunity it also provides the opportunity to fall from grace through sin.
The Bible attributes people’s sins to their wilful abuse of free will. Paul, in writing to the Roman Christians, outlined the truth concerning humanity’s plight as sinners. Speaking to the church at Rome, Paul refers to those Jews who abused the privileges granted by God to their race because they could and should have become a guiding light to those in darkness.
We find no differentiation between large or small sins, for to God all sin is SIN. Sin involves the total person, both the mental and the physical aspects of our being. It’s at the very heart of self-centredness. The New Testament appraisal of sin is that sin in the flesh describes a condition of separation from God arising from wrong choices of lifestyle. Sin in your bodies means sin in your personal being; and the expression of sin in your soul is also referring to oneself, or person. That the soul, or person, sinning shall die is a warning to the total person. Paul points out that what the Law was unable to achieve with regards to preventing the body to sin, God Himself did by sending Jesus as our example. In 8:3 Paul writes, For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh. The word likeness is crucial because it indicates that Jesus was a true man but not a sinful man. In the Book of Acts, Luke writes that every soul that does not heed the prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people (Acts: 3:23).
Sin is serious, for it involves the total being. People are unable in themselves to solve their problems. Their whole beings are adversely affected. Sin invades their thinking, their will, their sense of values, their natural responses, and their relationships.
People are in danger of becoming slaves to sin if they fail to curtail their expressions of self-will. They move from a position of trusting God to self-trust; from obeying God to self-assertion; from serving God to slavery to sin. We are reminded that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin (Romans 6:6). In other words, once we accept Christ fully into our lives then we also accept all that He has done for us. Our old self is made ineffective and impotent ̶ or dead ̶ and we have new life in Christ. We are to all effect, born again.
Living is described as serving either good or evil. People’s acts have repercussions beyond the sensations they momentarily feel. Their acts are testimonies for God or for Satan. The constant plea of the New Testament is for people to serve God and thereby find the liberation for which they were created. When sin is served, humankind’s true desire is denied, their created role is forfeited, and they fall under the bonding of sin and death. Paul writes that the Scripture has shut up all men under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe (Galatians 3:22). When we serve God in the name of Christ we are liberated from the shackles of sin.
Humanity’s surrender of sonship to God brings into light their personal responsibility for guilt. Scripture holds people accountable for their own sin. It’s not the responsibility of past generations. People are responsible for the actions of the group of which they are a part. They are guilty for the environment they help create. We speak of my country, my town, and my home. We live in a climate where we seek to find someone to blame, as long as the finger is not pointed towards us. Situations that we experience or read about or hear about may well draw exclamations of disapproval from us, but how often do we actively choose to do something about it. We are the authors of our own misfortune if we choose to do nothing in the belief that the situation either doesn’t involve us or could not possibly be changed by our single protest. I am concerned by reports of our government's intent to deport failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers to Zimbabwe, despite the atrocities being carried out there, and the recognised fact - by everyone it seems except the government -̶ that if these people are returned to Zimbabwe they face imprisonment, torture and probable death. Yet the government is voted into power by the people and needs to consider the wishes of the people. How can they do that if we don’t make our wishes known? And if we fail in that respect, how can we express concern for something that doesn’t interest us enough to act on our concern?
No person lives to self. What each of us does has an affect on others, even if we are unaware of that effect. We have freedom of choice, for that’s what freewill is, the freedom to choose as we see fit. If we make the wrong choices and go down the path of sin then we have nobody but ourselves to blame, and we must therefore face our sin alone and be answerable for it ourselves.
Humanity’s great problem is sin. Whatever other problems in life people may face the greatest problem of all is sin. The Bible teaches that God holds people accountable for their sin. People stand alone in solitude for their sin, facing the responsibility of it alone. Yet God is merciful and just, and He has met this condition with the opportunity for us to make a choice. Once people are ready to admit that their sin is theirs and theirs alone, then they are ready to meet with Jesus in repentance, seeking forgiveness, and He will bear their sins for them, for Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
