I have come to see and understand that, along with the truth that Jesus died in my place, he also lived in my place - lived that wholly faithful and sinless life that I cannot. Still, to know Jesus and to listen to Him, to 'live in his neighborhood' as someone put it, I can't miss the push to imitate Him, to do what he says and what himself does. I am coming to see that the closer I am to Jesus, realizing what it took for Him to deal with sin, the more I can come to see what sin is, especially in my own life. Separating law and gospel has always led to problems, but seeing them united in Christ seems like the best way forward, at least to me.
A couple of things have helped me with this difficult question. One is that we only find out truly about the depth and seriousness of our sin at the very place where that sin is dealt with, that is on the cross of Jesus Christ. He became sin (2 Corinthians 5.21) for us. To try and look deeply into our sin apart from Jesus life, death and resurrection - in other words apart from Jesus himself - is not only futile but may even be harmful. I think you could almost say that the closer we get to Jesus the less 'sinful' we become. No one could or should have to see the full extent of their sin on their own.
The other thing is that along with what we mean by sin is just the fact that we are not God, that we are God's creatures. That in itself calls for confession, self-examination, honesty about who we are. The first temptation was not really to disobey God but to try to be like God. This is always a temptation for us.
Is "Just a Closer Walk' too adult for kids? I don't think so.
Posted in: Good Christian Guilt
I have come to see and understand that, along with the truth that Jesus died in my place, he also lived in my place - lived that wholly faithful and sinless life that I cannot. Still, to know Jesus and to listen to Him, to 'live in his neighborhood' as someone put it, I can't miss the push to imitate Him, to do what he says and what himself does. I am coming to see that the closer I am to Jesus, realizing what it took for Him to deal with sin, the more I can come to see what sin is, especially in my own life. Separating law and gospel has always led to problems, but seeing them united in Christ seems like the best way forward, at least to me.
Posted in: Does Sin Not Matter Anymore?
A couple of things have helped me with this difficult question. One is that we only find out truly about the depth and seriousness of our sin at the very place where that sin is dealt with, that is on the cross of Jesus Christ. He became sin (2 Corinthians 5.21) for us. To try and look deeply into our sin apart from Jesus life, death and resurrection - in other words apart from Jesus himself - is not only futile but may even be harmful. I think you could almost say that the closer we get to Jesus the less 'sinful' we become. No one could or should have to see the full extent of their sin on their own.
The other thing is that along with what we mean by sin is just the fact that we are not God, that we are God's creatures. That in itself calls for confession, self-examination, honesty about who we are. The first temptation was not really to disobey God but to try to be like God. This is always a temptation for us.
Is "Just a Closer Walk' too adult for kids? I don't think so.