Blogging BCM: Sin Part 1

Last night at BCM Tim began with part 1 of his series on sin. He defined sin and went into a greater detail of what sin is. I want to expound on these two myself today giving a definition of sin and the different parts of that definition. Next week, just as Tim will in his message, I'll go into greater detail of how we as Christians must respond to sin and what happens when we do sin. The following definition and explanations I will use in quotations were written by Erik Thoennes in an article on sin contributed to the ESV Study Bible. Thoennes defines sin as:

Anything (whether in thoughts, actions, or attitudes) that does not express or conform to the holy character of God as expressed in his moral law.

You might be saying, "OK I've heard definitions like these before. We shared a few last night and I basically kind of have the gist of what sin is." Let's take this definition a little deeper. In his article on sin in the ESV Study Bible Thoennes breaks this definition down into five elements that encompass what sin is. The first element Thoennes gives is:

Sin is moral evil (e.g., murder) as opposed to natural evil (e.g., cancer). Moral evil is personal rebellion against God, and it is what brought natural evil into the world.

Adam and Eve brought moral evil into the world when their pride caused them to sin against God for the first time in the garden. As a result, natural evil, such as death and disease, entered the world. The next element is:

Sin is always and ultimately related to God. While sin has devastating societal, relational, and physical ramifications, the central problem of sin is that it offends and incurs the wrath of God...Sin is a personal attack on the character and ordinances of God.

We must realize that when we sin it is ultimately God who we are sinning against. Thoennes uses the best Biblical example of this when he shares Psalm 51:4 where the psalmist David says, "Against you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight." We must come to the realization, just as David did, that when we sin it is God whom we have sinned against. Thirdly Thoennes says:

Sin is breaking God's law, which can take several forms. There are sins of omission (not doing what we should do) as well as sins of commission (doing what we should not do).

When we realize that when we sin it is a moral evil and that when we sin we are ultimately sinning against God, we then need to see that by sinning against God we are either not doing something we should be doing or doing something we should not be doing. For me, it is so hard to keep this in balance and fight against the struggle to either not do something I should be or do something I shouldn't be. There are so many times we commit an act of omission or commission and sin against God. It is in this struggle that we find Thoennes' fourth element:

Sin is rooted deep in our very nature, and sinful actions reveal the condition of a depraved heart within.

We must realize that sin is in our human nature. Adam and Eve brought sin into the world and into human nature when they ate the fruit off of the tree. Ever since, we have struggled as humanity with the problem of sin that is in our being. We must however, not use this fact as an excuse against God. We must repent our human nature and work diligently on fighting and overcoming the temptation to sin. Finally, Theonnes writes:

Sin has brought about a guilty standing before God and a corrupted condition in all humans.

When we sin, we feel guilt and shame. Because when we sin, we are not expressing or conforming to the holy character of God, we stand guilty in front of a holy and pure God. It is because of this that Jesus Christ entered the world and was crucified on the cross to pay our ransom. In our place, condemned He stood.

We will expound more on the saving grace of Christ next week. For now I hope this definition and explanation has helped your understanding of sin. I challenge you this week to think about the definitions of sin we have given you and to search for yourself in the Word of God for different scenarios of sin that would help you better understand what sin is. Ultimately I challenge you to do two things this week:

1. Mediate and think about what sin is and how it separates us from God.
2. Think about areas in your life where sin has pulled you further away from God.

I also want to challenge you to read Psalm 51. I think it is a great cry out to God from David that helps us see what sin really is.

Again, as always, remember if there is any questions you might have regarding what we discuss or anything you need, do not hesitate to ask Tim or myself.

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Why Gandhi Can Lead To Worldliness

Last Tuesday at BCM Tim shared how sad it is that the church is beginning to display quotes from historic figures, the main being Gandhi. Many were probably taken back by this statement and I want to share why we as followers of Christ should not support the placing of these such teachings in the church or follow them ourselves. Many people in culture use inspirational quotes from leaders such as Gandhi to gain motivation or hope for the future. Why should we as followers of Christ take the quotes of historical figures, whose inspiration comes from other religions, and use them in our churches or for our motivation? Mark Driscoll writes in his book Death By Love:

Indeed, not everyone considers the cross of Jesus such good news. For example, speaking of Jesus' crucifixion, the Hindu Gandhi said, "His death on the cross was a great example to the world, but that there was anything like a mysterious or miraculous virtue in it, my heart could not accept."

Gandhi was a Hindu spiritual leader who did not believe that Jesus Christ was and is Lord. When we use quotes of his, or any other non-christian leader for that matter, in the church and in our lives for inspiration and spiritual meaning instead of using the teachings of Jesus and the Word of God, we commit the sin of worldliness. Let us hold fast to the Word and not turn to false teachings (2 Peter 2:1-3). Let us hold true to the Word of God and not love the world (1 John 2:15). Let us not look upon world leaders who do not call upon the name of Christ as their Lord and Savior for inspiration. Let us look towards the one true God who has brought, is bringing and will always bring the ultimate change that needs to come in the world.

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A Prayer For Our New President

At a time filled with much pomp and circumstance during a great tradition of our country, which is the peaceful transition of power, Albert Mohler gives a prayer for our 44th President Barack Obama. I encourage you all to read and pray this prayer with me on this historic day for the United States of America.

Mohler prays:

Our Father, Lord of all creation, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: We pray today with a sense of special urgency and responsibility. We come before you to pray for our new President, Barack Obama, and for all those in this new administration who now assume roles of such high responsibility.

We know that you and you alone are sovereign; that you rule over all, and that you alone are able to keep and defend us. We know that our times are in your hands, and that "the king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord" [Proverbs 21:1]. Our confidence is in you and in you alone. We come before you as a people who acknowledge our constant need for your provision, wisdom, and protection.

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Albert Mohler on "The American Experience"

Albert Mohler writes:

The God of the Bible is infinitely greater than we are. He is faithful, just, holy, merciful, gracious, and righteous. A morally perfect being does not operate at the level of mere and faulty human fairness, but at the level of his own omnipotent righteousness. We hope to make things fair. God makes things right.

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Spiritual Gifts

Tim Challies writes:

Often when I hear people speak of spiritual gifts they do so in this manner. “I have the gift of [insert gift here] and my church has no way for me to serve in that way.” Or “I know what my gift is and I am looking for ways to use it.” To these people I would suggest that they may have an inaccurate or incomplete understanding of the way the gifts work. The way to properly exercise spiritual gifts is not to be willing only to do what you’ve determined is your gifting, but to do anything that the church needs to have done, and to do it with joy and excellence. And as you do that, you may find that God gifts and equips you for something far outside your comfort zone.

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Blogging BCM: Cut and Paste

Probably the most convicting statement during last night's message for me was when Tim said that he had seen a lot of previous BCM'ers forsake their faith and fall into the seduction of the world, and that most of us probably would too. I woke up this morning still reflecting upon that. Take a moment and think about where you are right now in your faith, where you are spiritually and try to imagine yourself falling away. Is it hard? You may say that it's impossible, there's no way you will be one of those "most" Tim was talking about. We fail to realize though how easy it is to fall into the seduction of the world. CJ Mahaney writes in Worldliness of how subtle it can be to fall into loving the world without hardly realizing it:

A love for the world begins in the soul. It's subtle, not always immediately obvious to others, and often undetected by the people who are slowly succumbing to its lies.

It begins with a slow conscience and a listless soul. Sin does not grieve him like it once did. Passion for the Savior begins to cool. Affections grow dim. Excitement lessens for participating in the local church. Eagerness to evangelize starts to wane. Growth in godliness slows to a craw.

We are all susceptible to easily falling in love with the world. The slow seduction of the fallen world is powerful. Satan wants to deceive us into thinking we are immune, but we aren't. He wants us to think we aren't doing anything wrong by the steps we're taking as we're being pulled to the world, but we are. Satan wants us to believe in our hearts we're still doing good, while he slowly pulls and pulls and pulls and before we even realize it, we're in love with the world. Mahaney describes this fight for the world as being an every day battle.

Every moment of every day we're making choices - whether we realize it or not - between love for a world that opposes God and love for the risen Christ.

This struggle with Satan between loving the world and truly following and loving our Savior Jesus Christ is an every day war. The decisions that every day pop into our heads.

Should I really read my Bible today? I just don't have the time and I can just pick back up tomorrow and nothing will happen.

This movie doesn't have that much wrong in it. A few images won't really do much to affect my walk in Christ.

I'll pray as I go to sleep and if I fall asleep in the middle of praying, God knows my heart is right and knows who and what needs prayer.

It starts with questions like these. Before we know it, we haven't read our Bible in over a week. We fall into the entanglements of lust by the movies and media we infiltrate our lives with. We haven't truly had good prayer time with God in over a month due to our exhaustive nature. These are daily decisions that either pull us slowly but surely to developing a love for the world, or draw us closer and closer to the relationship with God we were created to have.

You may say these scenarios do not necessarily describe you. First, you're probably lying to me and yourself. Second, if they truly don't, you have your own scenarios. You know what decisions you're faced with daily that can turn you're harmful ignorance into a love for this world or bring you into a stronger communion with Christ. Mahaney concludes almost by saying:

Worldliness is so serious because Christ is so glorious.

How true is this statement?! Worldliness is serious and therefore we must be serious and diligent in our everyday fight against it. We must one by one, face our decisions head on with the attitude like that of Christ Jesus. We must think about what choice we make will bring us closer to glorifying Him. We must resist Worldliness by seeking him. If we do this, not just alone, but together as brothers and sisters in Christ, we could be the group that Tim might one day say did not fall away to the world, but chose to seek and serve Christ instead.

This week as you go throughout your classes and the many things you have to do, do not let busyness become an excuse to be slowly taken into the grip of the world. Prayerfully face every decision knowing that it could help drag you into having a love for the world. Reflect on Tim's message and about the areas of your life that may not be reflecting a love for Christ, but a love for the world. For deeper reflection, study and application, think about these things throughout your week:

"Are the lines between Christian and worldly conduct blurry in your mind - and more importantly, in your life?"

"Is your lifestyle obviously different from that of a non-Christian?"

Read 1 John 2:15 and Galatians 6:14. What are these verses telling us and how are they related to one another?

Just to let you know as a final thought, the fight against worldliness is a battle that does not need to be fought alone. If you ever need someone to talk to or have questions regarding worldliness or even Christianity, Tim and myself are always available to talk. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask.

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Driscoll on Trials

Mark Driscoll writes on trials in 1 and 2 Peter:

In summary, trials come to all Christians. Trials come without warning. Trials do not necessarily come one at a time, and sometimes it feels like we're at war on every front-for the simple reason that we are. Trials can repeat, which means that just because you've lived through it does not mean that it is over. Trials range in severity and duration from the momentary annoyance to the lifelong anguish.

Still, as Peter will show us, every trial is either from God's hand or through God's hand. Thus, if we embrace trials as opportunities from God, they can and do result in his glory and our good. Furthermore, each trial that we face is a witness to the genuineness of our faith, to reassure us that God has saved us and to reveal to others the difference that salvation makes.

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Mark Driscoll in the New York Times

Mark Driscoll and the young reformed were profiled in the NYT.

HT: JT

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