The Sin Red Line – Part 2

How do we curtail wrongdoing? I've found that if a person has the desire to do something society considers bad or wrong - they're likely to do it anyway. But the fear of punishment does not take away such desires - it represses them, if they're not expressed.

The act of simply saying, "This is bad - don't do it", can result in the creation of a taboo. Whilst, saying, "This is good - everybody should do this", can result in the creation of an ideal. Taboos and ideals are no replacement for living from the heart, in fact, they usually make matters worse.

There is the threat of the legal justice system which keeps crime at bay; there is also our own conscience, our heart. I also believe that sin carries its own form of punishment through emotions and circumstances. Its tempting to believe that sin is fun, exciting and liberating, whilst in actual fact, it is limiting, addictive and destructive.

Trying to determine the "Red line of sin" can be a slippery slope. The Bible says that all sins are as bad as each other when it comes to being rejected by God. This is why we needed a Saviour - Jesus Christ. The Gospel sets us free from condemnation and allows us to have a relationship with God, progressing at our own pace.

What people often do is that they'll compare themselves with other people and conclude that there sin is not as bad as theirs - like the Pharisee and Tax Collector in Luke 18:11. Jesus does away with this futile like-for-like comparison and shows us that no-one is good enough to meet God's perfect standards.

I'm a firm believer in once-saved-always-saved. But I do wonder about whether the life of God, zoe in the original Greek, is operating through someone who sins. I've found that the adulterer and the homosexual both seem very much seem to be alive - more so than the repressed Christian. I'd say that many homosexuals are genuinely nice people and have wonderful, lively personalities. But I suppose whether or not these people are really happy deep down on the inside, is anyone's guess - I suppose they aren't.

I have learned a way of simplifying my beliefs, a way that could be considered controversial for Christians - it is The Work of Byron Katie, also known as Inquiry. I’ve learned to ask four simple questions and allow my heart to give me the answers, as a way of finding peace. Katie asserts that contraction around a belief, to the point of stress, is the only evil in life and must be questioned. This is controversial because it can be taken to extremes, such as deeming a convicted criminal as innocent. But I've found in my own experience that this approach makes the most sense and is the only way.

Picture red line ~ vertical courtesy of striatic (Hobvias Sudoneighm).