|
The Greek Philosopher, Plato, said, "If
you would converse with me, please, first, define your
terms." We are told that one of the first marks of
intelligence is the ability to distinguish between things
that are different. Before we further consider what our
Savior taught about sin, let us see how the Son of God
defined that term. Let us look at sin, and see what it is
not, and what it is, as revealed by the language of Christ.
For surely as Jesus defines sins, so our Heavenly Father
defines it. For Jesus said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but
His Who sent Me (John 7:16)." In defining sin we shall note there are
three important facts which Jesus taught. Fact No. 1 CHRIST TAUGHT THAT TEMPTATION IS NOT
SIN For forty days and forty nights Jesus was
constantly tempted by Satan in the wilderness. Yet never
once did He yield to the tempter. Later after spending some
time in His ministry He said to His disciples, "Ye are they
who have continued with Me in My temptation" (Luke 22:28).
Jesus thus describes His very life on earth as a period of
temptations. Yet, challenging His enemies, He said, "Which
of you convinceth Me of sin (John 8:46) Jesus never sinned,
because He never yielded to temptation. So the writer of the
book of Hebrews could truthfully say. "He was in all points
tempted like as we are yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15). "Though
tempted every day," one has said, "Jesus boldly faced all
His present and future enemies in the absolute certainty of
His spotless purity before God and man." It should be remembered then that
temptation is not sin---but only an opportunity to do either
right or wrong-- to choose either virtue or evil---to serve
either God or Satan. The birds that fly over our heads
cannot be controlled by us. But to let them build a nest in
our hair quite another thing. Fact No. 2 JESUS TAUGHT THAT MISTAKES ARE NOT
SIN Speaking of those who hate and persecute
both Him and His disciples, Jesus said, "If I had not come
and spoken unto them they had not had sin but now they have
no cloak for their sin...If I had not done among them the
works that none other man did they had not had sin but now
have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father" (John
15:22 and 24). In other words, "If these haters and
opposes had not seen Me raise the dead and heal blind eyes
and lepers and lame, theirs would be only a mistake. But
now, having seen the evidence of My Deity---having seen the
proof of My connection with God--having seen My Words
confirmed by miracles which only the Father could perform,
now they know better and therefore are sinning." Thus Jesus
in this discourse, distinctly teaches that mistakes are not
sin. Again in John 9:41 this great moral
principle is reaffirmed Jesus declares to compromising
religious leaders, "If ye are blind, ye should have no sin;
but because ye say we see, therefore your sin remaineth." To
these religious pretenders--these "blind leaders of the
blind"--these "whited sepulchers"--these "wolves in sheep's
clothing", Jesus said, "Had ye believed Moses ye would have
believed Me, for He wrote of Me." Without walking in the
Light which they had, they yet claimed to be enlightened,
but Jesus said because they knew better--but did not do
better--therefore their sin remained. Having noted that temptation is not sin
and mistakes are not sin and that the willing heart will
receive added light let us look now at what sin
is. Fact No. 3 JESUS TAUGHT THAT SIN ALWAYS INVOLVES A
WILLFUL REJECTION OF LIGHT We have already seen in John 15:24 how
Jesus taught that sin consists in doing wrong when we know
better. Christ taught that even the Pharisees, in rejecting
Him, would not have been sinning if they had no proof of His
divinity. Christ repeatedly taught that wherever sin is
involved, there is rejection of light. For example in John
the third chapter, Jesus explained clearly what He means by
sin, and what God considers as sin. Many know by heart John
3:16, but few seem to have noticed the clear teaching which
follows the sixteenth verse. We shall quote Jesus' words
from verse 18 onward. "He that believeth on Him is not
condemned. But he that believth not is condemened already,
because he hath not believed on the Name of the only
begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation (or this
is the reason for condemnation) that Light is come into the
world, but men loved darkness rather than Light." (Note
carefully) "For every one that doeth evil hateth the Light,
neither cometh to the Light, lest his deeds should be
reproved." Observe that Christ her emphasizes that
only such as turn away from all evil are truly believing
Him. "But he that doeth Truth cometh to the
Light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are
wrought in God." The Amplified version makes this more
clear: He who practices Truth--who does what is right--comes
out into the Light, so that his works may be plainly shown
to be what they are, wrought in God --divinely
prompted--done with God's help. Note how this agrees with
the statement of John the beloved disciple: "If we walk in
the Light as He is in the Light we have fellowship one with
another and the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleaseth
us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). Please note that the above statement of
Christ also implies that mistake are not sin. Because of the
widespread misunderstanding and confusion on this particular
point, let us re-emphasize that mistakes are made because of
lack of light, whereas sin always involves the willful
rejection of light. Even in the "sins of ignorance" of the
Old Testament those responsible to inform Israel of God's
laws were personally guilty, in their failure to do
so. Some have quickly remarked, "Why then
inform the heathen?" The answer is that even the heathen do
have a conscience and do fail to walk in its light; though
without the Gospel, that light is limited. For the Gospel is
a double blessing-both adding to the light of conscience,
and motivating obedience. In proceeding paragraphs we have
considered four statements of Jesus Christ all of which lead
to a conclusion that sins are not mistakes and mistakes are
not sins. (a--John 9:41; b--John 3:19-21; c--John 15:22 and
d--John 15:24). It is important to carefully study these
passages. I submit that 99 out of 100 people who
read these passages the first time and without bias will
understand from them that sin is relative to light; that sin
never occurs without a conscious and willful choice of evil.
Wherever Jesus spoke of sin this moral principle was clearly
implied or plainly taught. A copy of my manuscript on Sin was sent
to Dr. George Lamsa, who is widely known as the world's
foremost authority on the Aramaic language, the language
which Christ spoke. After reading the manuscript, Dr. Lamsa
stated in his reply: Sin does separate us from God---Repent
in Aramaic means do not sin again--Mistakes are not sin---No
one can be forgiven without repentance---When a sinner
repents he is no longer a slave to sin and Satan. AN ILLUSTRATION When our son was two years old he
followed his mother out to the porch on morning as she went
to bring in the milk left by the milkman. Seeing his mother
take a quart in each hand, he tried to do the same. As he
followed her in, one quart slipped from his little fingers,
and of course, the result was a milky splash on the front
room rug. The results were bad, indeed but
certainly the child was not sinning, and of course, he
should not be punished because he was doing his best
according to his light and understanding. He only made a
mistake. We have known some really good people who accused
themselves of sinning when in Heaven's sight they had only
made a mistake. As long as the heart stays right we are not
sinning, even though the head lacks information. No mere man
is perfect in knowledge, though any mortal man can be
perfect in heart. This is what Jesus meant when He said, Be
ye perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is
perfect (Matt 5:48) Many accuse themselves of sinning when
they have only been tempted to sin---but have not yielded to
the temptation. The familiar song says, "Yield not to
temptation for yielding is sin." Of course, if one is
tempted and yields to the temptation enough to entertain the
will to do it, when he knows it is evil, he is then sinning
in thought. The Lord Jesus illustrates this by
saying, "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her" (an
illicit, deliberate looking with the purpose of lusting)
"hath committed adultery with her already in his heart"
(Matt 5:28). Here it should be remembered the thought
of sin was deliberately entertained---and the looking was
done with the purpose of lusting. For "looketh to lust" are
the words of Jesus. It is well to note that in the verse
following the one we have quoted, is the very place where
Jesus introduces one of his strongest statements about sin;
for He follows this thought of "looking to lust," with the
words, "If thy right eye offend thee or if your right eye
serves as a trap to ensnare you" or "is an occasion for you
to stumble and sin, pluck it out and throw it away. It is
better for you to lose one of your members than that your
whole body be cast into Hell. And if your right hand serves
as a trap to ensnare you or is an occasion for you stumble
and sin cut it off and cast it from you. It is better that
you lose one of your members than that your whole body
should be cast into Hell." (Amplified New Testament---Matt
5:29 and 30). The Son of God from Heaven thus informs
us that if any part of our body would actually force us to
sin we had better literally tear it off from our body
because sin, unrepented, is fatal to the soul. But when we
honestly face this matter, we all know that if we try even
half that hard to keep from sinning, we will not
sin! How these words of our Savior do clash
and contrast with the
"free-and-easy-believing-and-living-in-sin" theories often
taught in religious circles today. Yet Jesus said, "The
Father Who sent Me has Himself given Me orders what to
say--so whatever I speak, I am saying exactly what My Father
has told Me to say, and in accordance with His instructions"
(John 12:49 and 50--Amplified N.T.) Faithfulness in declaring what Jesus
taught on the sin question would go a long way toward
solving the problems of broken homes and unwed mothers,
which are facing many pastors today. Our pastor in a major
denomination told the writer that among the people of his
church alone more than a dozen babies had been born out of
wedlock. Surely in Heaven's sight it is high time to
re-examine this all-important issue, and return to teaching
exactly what our Savior taught! What a horrible shock will come to
multitudes in the Day of Judgment--multitudes who now
profess the Name of Christ, but day unto day are living in
known sin---yes--guilty of unrepented sin! Remember, dear reader these words of
Jesus "are Spirit and Life" and He said, "Though Heaven and
earth shall pass away my words shall never pass away" but
"shall judge in the Last Day" those who hear them. His words
have exactly the authority as though Christ in His physical
Presence were standing before you now. Indeed, He is "with
you always" and is at this moment intently watching and
reaction to his own Words.