Something has been on my mind about how to view sin in light of the glory of God. In the words of Matt Thiessen from Relient K, “I’ve been thinking over thinking.”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ7kxte3qGk&w=300&h=200]
I often find myself focusing on my own sinfulness, trying to make sure my actions are “right.” I will do something and then wonder, “what that a sin, or am I okay?” and then feel guilty regardless of the answer because, the truth is, I don’t know.
For the sake of this discussion, I’m going to call this phenomenon “moral self-consciousness” – that is, when you’re preoccupied with whether what you’re doing is acceptable to God. I believe that there is something wrong with how I think: this thought process is focused on me. (Even the fact that I am talking about how this thought process is “wrong” shows that I’m stuck in moral self-consciousness).
I’ve wondered what thought process should replace moral self-consciousness, and I decided that instead of looking to myself, I must fix my eyes on Jesus. And not just to accomplish my own goal of self-improvement, either, because I don’t think that perfection is God’s goal in us on earth. (If it were, then He could well have made us perfect at the very moment of salvation.) Instead, I think that we need to be in a state in which we’re so infatuated with God that we forget about ourselves.
We must look upon our bridegroom in awe of His majesty – a majesty so important and mesmerizing that our own shortcomings don’t even have room in our minds and hearts. We fall so deeply in love with God’s qualities that, in a sense, we forget about ourselves. We stop trying to become like Christ in our own mental processing when, mind and all, we are the absolute antonym of God Almighty. When God gives us the grace to fall in love with Him, only then, I believe, are we compelled by love, rather than dragged by guilt.
What do you think of this idea? I would like to hear your comments about this, not to systematize my faith, but to hear how God has worked out this dilemma in your own life in an organic way. I’m curious to hear evidence from the Word or daily experience about how God wants us to view (or remove from view) our own sin.
Just to clarify, my conclusion for now is this: “We should be so infatuated with God that we don’t have time for moral self-consciousness.”
P.S. If this conclusion is true, then I advise you not to spend too much time thinking about your own thought process, because it would take time away from thinking about God.
P.P.S. I thought I would include the song “Overthinking” by Relient K because it just seems relevant.
Romans 10:9-11 helped me to see that it’s not a complicated process. One reason the law was given was to show people how guilty they are (Gal. 3:19).The law was a shadow of Christ – that is the sacrificial system educated the people so that when the TRUE sacrifice came, they would be able to understand his work (Heb. 10:1-4) The system of ceremonial laws was to last until the coming of Christ. The law points to our need of a Savior. Because of His sacrifice He took away the guilt and gifted us with grace. Guilt drags us down, but grace lifts us up. I think Satan uses the guilt card to make it harder for us to focus on Christ so then we do focus on ourselves more.
Mom,
Thanks for pointing my to Christ through his word! The law in insufficient on its own, and so am I. The great sin is believing that we can thrive apart from God. This is what Satan did when he and a third of the angels fell, and this is what we do every time we disobey the law. Yet we also sin when we think that we can fulfill the law apart from Christ’s sacrifice. when I look to myself, whether my strengths or weaknesses, it distracts me from the guy who is indeed the center of the universe.
I’m beginning to rejoice in the freedom that Christ provided on the cross. I tend to see God’s sacrifice and picture him saying, “Alright, Megan, I guess I’ll take the rap for you this time. I wish you would learn already.” But Christ was not reluctant when He died for us! Hebrews 12:2 says that He endured the cross “for the joy set before Him” He gladly died for us, and He would do it all again. When I allow myself to feel guilty, I pretend that I have not been justified, and that I still have to keep trying to justify myself as much as I can.
What I forget is that Jesus paid it ALL, and ALL to Him I owe.
Our sin should not put our eyes on ourselves, but instead all of our actions and experiences can point us to Christ. When we succeed in obeying God, we can rejoice that He has redeemed us from the stifling power of sin to get in our way. When we sin, we can rejoice that He has redeemed us not only from Hell, but from the endless cycle of self-improvement and imperfect, selfish sacrifice.
Not only were we justified, but we were adopted. Jesus could have just made us right with God and stopped there. But we are MORE than just legally okay with God. He now considers us sons and daughters! How could I ever even attempt to pay him back? Instead, Christ would have me forget about the legal implications of my sin so I can just spend time with my awesome Dad.
I used to wish that God would make a huge list of what’s right or wrong and after that I could simply choose to act in obedience or not. Then I realized that that didn’t work so well the first time. When God provided the Israelites with His law, they missed the meaning and the heart behind it and it became a burden. A huge list wouldn’t encourage me to have the relationship with Him that He desires and I need. I agree that building that relationship and falling in love with Jesus is the only way we are going to conquer sin and learn its true nature. As we get to know God more, we’ll have a better understanding of what righteousness, holiness, and sinfulness really is. In that process I think we’ll become more painfully aware of how sinful we really are, but it will make us more thankful of God’s grace and mercy and cause us to love Him all the more.
Allyson,
You’re so right! A relationship is SO much more satisfying than a list of rules with a lightning bolt in hand. It’s a good thing we don’t get to decide what God look like!
You reminded me of the study we were doing in our Discipleship team. The more we mature as Christians, the more we understand just how sinful we are, and just how much Christ loves us, as demonstrated on the Cross. This should catalyze our joy in the fact that Jesus alone perfects our faith and fulfills the law. How can we be preoccupied with ourselves when we have a friend like that?
In this way, Jesus works in us to produce the fruit of love, and “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Sweet!