Tuesday, August 17, 2010

I Sin Every Day In Thought Word and Deed ... or do I?


There is a point to me sharing this theological point on the blog -- and that point will lead to humor. So athiests, agnostics, and those of a different face base than I am -- you may choose to wade through the theology to get to the humor or you may simply click on to another blog. Beauty is, I'll never know.

Which reminds me.... I'm REALLY glad there is internet. Cuz you know I just can't show enough pictures of Gabby. But I don't have to... as they did in the old days ... trap someone in a corner and pull out the brag book and force an uninterested friend at church or neighbor on the street - to wade through 100 pictures of a grandchild. I can simply post them on Facebook and the blog and if you want to ignore the most beautiful (yet somber) baby in the world, that's your choice.

Anyway, I was raised a strong Wesleyan-Arminian and was often told that those "Calvinists" who believe that we sin every day in thought, word and deed should be pitied. The poor folks didn't understand Romans 6 that told us that we could be come slaves to righteousness, that God had already fought the battle for us, and that we didn't have to have a daily battle with sin. We could move on, knowing that in Christ we were free from the law of sin and death and could move on to service, taking God's yoke upon us and heading out to change the world.

Lately through reading and some discussions it has been suggested that possibly my theological upbringings lead to self-righteousness and the inability to accept or offer grace. This has been a challenging thought and I am trying to integrate grace into my framework. It is taking a while, as I mentioned yesterday.

In trying to understand the "sin every day in thought, word, and deed" idea, I asked Bart this morning what the point was. If I know I'm going to sin today no matter what, why not just get busy doing it. If it is impossible for me to help myself, I should just go sin. I told him that a lot of days I really don't feel like I sin. Told him I'd been awake for 30 minutes and hadn't sinned yet.

And then reality came pouring into my mind. We have to take Tony school clothes shopping today! I WILL sin in thought, word, and deed today. In fact, taking Tony school shopping will most likely result in me loosing my salvation, my sanctification, and my mind. He is the most argumentative, demanding, disagreeable, button-pushing, manipulative 15 year old on the planet, and remember, I raised Kyle. He's like Kyle on steroids kicked up a notch.

But fortunately for Tony, I survived Kyle and my tolerance level is much higher.

However, even when calling upon Jesus, I have a feeling that at least once today, my thoughts will be murderous, my words harsh, and my deeds ... well let's just hope Christ can control the deeds that my thoughts will be spurring me on to commit. ;-)

I certainly am not writing any of this to do anything but bring out a funny conclusion that came to me this morning -- no offense intended to Calvinists, Arminians, ... nope, not even to LUTHERANS. (Just kidding, Kari).

And maybe, just maybe, the power of God is strong enough to prevent me from sinning today as we take Tony shopping. But that idea is going to take a WHOLE lotta faith.

5 comments:

~Dinah said...

lol...I admit, I was put off by your "obedience" declaration in a previous post.

As to your last statement, yes Jesus has to power to keep you from sinning. But if he did that you'd have no reason to keep him in your life. ;)

I am Lutheran, WELS, to be exact and I find it fascinating yet maddening to see how different our religious views really are even though we'd both be "classified" as Protestant Christians.

LindaJean said...

Ah, but should we sin that grace may abound? BY NO MEANS! I am guessing you and I could get into quite a theological discussion... but let's not! :)
I *would* like to say that I do not think there is a commandment, "Thou shalt not dance" and it *is* quite a stress reliever ;)

Claudia said...

Actually, I think it's almost all semantics. I think we probably when it comes right down to it, all live quite the same way, just looking at things differently. I used to really argue all this stuff ... now i"m looking for middle ground.

I want to understand and embrace grace, extending it to others, while still living a life that is "dead to sin and alive in Christ." I think it is the goal of every Christian, just a different way of viewing it.

I wouldn't even blog about this stuff if I hadn't come a long way in my thinking about it all. But I like the discussion.. IF it spurs us all on to better living and doesn't get us caught up in the frustration of the ways that others have interpreted Scripture.

Anonymous said...

What is common to all of us who call ourselves followers of Christ can be summed up in this commandment...."Love God, Love Others" It really is that simple!
Happy Wednesday everyone!

The Sweetest Things said...

Great post. Great pic, Love the blog. Yes Messiah is all we need to not sin.God Bless