Let's Talk About Sin!

For this week, I will discuss sin. What is it? We all seem to have grown up with some idea of it if we were in some church in America. Dr. Tom Shepherd’s Glimpses in Truth, Chapter 9 says, “Doing something you know is wrong fits almost anyone’s definition of sin.” But how do we know something’s wrong? Well, that’s another blog, maybe.

For many people, it (sin) all began in the Garden of Eden, which we now know is an allegorical story in the Book of Genesis. These primeval narratives in Genesis were the way those authors in those times explained things - -such as how the world began, how did we get here, etc.? Well, in this story about the garden, it has been passed down that, in short, something happened, and they got expelled from the garden. Simply put, the story seems to be saying when you do something you know is wrong, you will have some consequences. Now, whether those consequences bring about self-correction, adjustment, a lesson learned, or growth, is another matter.

 

Hebrew Scriptures tell us that once the covenant was established between God and the children of Israel, then the Book of the Law became a standard for right-standing with God, or righteousness. Sin was seen as a breaking of the law, to transgress against the Law was to transgress against God. That was the standard of doing what was right, i.e., by what was written in the laws. So, sin was seen as a violation of the law.

Fast forward to Jesus - - how much did he preach about sin? The word sin is not mentioned that much in Matthew and Mark’s account (from a quick concordance search on-line). According to those gospels, Jesus went beyond teaching on the outward deeds of not doing this or that, and dug into the heart of things…in other words, think more consciously and with reason about what you’re doing.  It appears Jesus was trying to teach that there was something within us that knows right from wrong. If you keep the Law, you do well, but Jesus started to point to what people were thinking inside, more along the lines of intention.

In other words, don’t think you’re not sinning just because no one sees you commit an act. Jesus taught more about a way of living as in Matthew 5 and 6 and the Sermon on the Mount. (For instance, he kept saying ...you have heard it said...but I say to you.) Could it be that he could see people laboring under the mechanics of the Law and not thinking for themselves?  Actions count, but so does your thinking! In a way, perhaps he was saying “Think, people, think…do YOU think it’s right?” Jesus, according to Mark 12, had this to say about the commandments to love God and neighbor - -“There is no other commandment greater than these.” Was Jesus saying that having the law of love in our hearts would be enough to keep us from sinning? Or, was that just a beginning? And what’s love got to do with it?

If we’re made in the image and likeness of God as written in Genesis 1:26, and if God is love, then humankind inherits this capability and potentiality of love as well. Ed Rabel, Unity teacher (according to Glimpses in Truth), defines sin as “any attempt to negate Divine Ideas.” For example, love is a Divine Idea that humans can choose or not choose to live in accordance with since humans have free will. Thinking or acting in a manner that goes against your true spiritual essence of love, peace, or wholeness could be another way of defining sin.  New Thought pioneer Charles Fillmore defines sin in The Revealing Word as – “missing the mark, that is, falling short of divine perfection.  Sin is man’s failure to express the attributes of Being - - life, love, intelligence, wisdom, and the other god qualities.” (He sounds a little like the Apostle Paul’s letter in Romans 3:23 –“since all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” in his definition.)

Rabel’s definition seems to bring in more of a sense of volition regarding sin by saying “any attempt” to negate divine ideas. Humans can block the expression of the Divine Ideas by making choices or thinking thoughts that are contrary to the pattern of divine perfection that’s in each of us. It’s up to us to choose if we want to live in harmony with and give expression to those ideas or not. Both Rabel and Fillmore seem to be saying that the “bar” we aim for is to express Divine Ideas. Our intention is key. If we examine our intentions, that might be a good place to start to mull over whether we’re sinning or not. Then we can decide what to do next…Forgive? Stop the behavior? Repeat the behavior? Start all over, try again? Keep at it. It’s a lifestyle, not a diet. The main thing is to keep aiming toward the mark, expressing the divine spiritual being you are.

 

Namaste