The full and free forgiveness of sins stands at the very heart of the Christian message. Yet, today, both in the Church and in society at large, there is a great deal of confusion about the very nature of sin and why it needs forgiving at all.
That confusion starts with the shallow notion that sin is nothing more than disobedience to the ten commandments. To be sure, it is that. But unless you think more deeply, you will likely consider these commandments to be nothing more than a random list of rules.
When you think of the commandments as a random list of rules—whether given by God or given by the Church—you will never understand the enormous cost of breaking them.
Secular contempt for religion comes from the false idea that an ancient and out-of-touch hierarchy (the Church) is trying to impose morality on the rest of the world. But Christians who replace the arbitrary dictates of men with the arbitrary dictates of God don’t improve matters very much.
While it is true—even vital—to understand that God is the source of all morality, you will not understand the nature of sin until you understand that God’s commands are not arbitrary.
The truth is that the commandments start with creation. The human body, by nature, cannot tolerate certain things. If it gets too hot or too cold, you die. A long fall or a bullet can kill you. Poison will do you in. You don’t need to be told these things. You can learn them from experience.
But there are also dangers to human life that are less obvious but just as deadly. These we are told about in the ten commandments.
If you trust God, you will take his word for it. If you don’t trust Him, you may reject His guidance. But either way, breaking the ten commandments does the same irreparable harm to human life. “
In the day you eat of it, you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17 ESV).
Now we are to the real point. God teaches the ten commandments not as an arbitrary list of “dos” and “don’ts” but as the very structure of human life. To break them is to break life itself.
Sins are like arsenic taken into the body. Once there, it inexorably works death. There is no antidote. Nothing can slow its destructive effect. Nothing can remove it from the body.
A single sin and death is inevitable. It is entirely impossible for sin to enter into a body without working death. Is that all there is to say? Are we simply destined for death? Yes, and no.
While there is absolutely nothing—not even God—that can stop the deadly effect of sin, there is a solution that only God can offer. He, and He alone, can absorb the deadly effects of sin in Himself. In fact, that is exactly what He has done.
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When Christ came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me’” (Hebrews 10:5). In Christ, God has made Himself a body in which to absorb all of sin’s poison.
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The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). That will never change. But Jesus has provided a way to take that death into Himself. That is called “forgiveness.” That is the Good News at the heart of the Christian faith.
While sin is far more serious than you ever thought, Christ’s forgiveness is even more serious, still. “By believing, you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).
James Tonkowich, D. Min. 