Sin Mangement Vs. Forming Jesus In Us
Dallas Willard has described our modern version of Christianity as the “Gospel of Sin-Management”, because of our propensity to think in terms of “what do I do about my sin?”. How do I stop, it? Is it sin if I…? What do I do when I do sin? How do I control my “besetting sin”? All these seem to be the central focus of christian practice. If not preventing or managing bad behavior, we are trying to foster “good” behavior. Read your Bible, Pray more. All these things seem so different from what Jesus seemed to say and do for people. How odd that the religion we named after Him promotes itself differently than He did.
It seems to me that when we go back to God’s original blueprint we might adjust (again) our view of the message and work of Jesus.
God had always intended to cover the creation with His nature, and He has always intended that His method be mankind, re-presenting, or presenting again His nature in the places we inhabit. When Adam and his wife turned the keys over to God’s adversary, God was not confused, frustrated, or shocked. This was all still part of His strategy to achieve His goal.
Part of His nature is that He is a Redeemer and and a Repairer, so to cover the creation with that, He would redeem and restore mankind. In so doing, He could resume covering the earth with Himself. As He re-forms His image in us, we re-present Him as we go. Where confusion has been we can bring clarity. Where fear has been we can deliver perfect love. Where anxiety has been, we can step in and restore peace beyond understanding.
Sure, these things don’t work as well when we are arm-wrestling our own behavior patterns, but winning the behavioral struggle was not the ultimate goal of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The cross allows us to be reconciled again to God, so that He, in us might fill the world with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, meekness, mercy and self-control.
In other words God’s goal was not to straighten out a bunch of misbehaving miscreants, it was to bring sons and daughters back into a relationship in which His life flows through us to the creation around us.
Try hard to be good if you want, but you could just yield to a very effective transformation process, in which God Himself is making you again into the person He designed you to be. Would it make any sense at all for God to make you, and then expect you to be someone other than who He made you to be?
Become yourself.
Are you a Sinner or Saint?
I’m learning more and more that in Christ, we are not sinners. There is no sin in us when we receive Christ.
In Christ, we are dead to sin (Romans 6:2). We are free from sin (Romans 6:18-22). It was dealt with on the cross. When we receive Christ and are baptized into this death, then we have died to sin. We are no longer “sinners”. Rather, we are “saints” (called ones).
Think about what John said when he saw Jesus coming to be baptized. He said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Did you see that? What did Jesus take away? “The sin of the world.” Reminds me a bit of the often-quote scripture, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world…” He sent his son to die for the sin of the world.
We must move from a place of a “sinner mentality” to a “saint mentality”. Do you often have thoughts like, “I’m such a sinner”? Or, “I can’t go to God, because I messed up yesterday.”
In Christ, you are not a sinner. You are a saint. And, you can boldly go to the throne of grace in your time of need (Hebrews 4:16). And not only that, you are seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). And, if God cannot sit in the presence of sin, then you are free from sin. Completely free.
Think about this scripture from John 16:8-11 where Jesus explains why it is good for him to go to heaven and send us the Holy Spirit. He explains what the Holy Spirit’s job is here on earth:
And when He [the Holy Spirit] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
of sin, because they do not believe in Me;
of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;
of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
It tells us immediately what the conviction of sin is, “because they do not believe in [Christ]“. Notice it didn’t say, “of sin, because they do not know the difference between right and wrong.” Sin is not believing in Christ. So, believing in Christ means your sin is gone.
That’s why the second in that list is “of righteousness, because [Christ] goes to the Father”. If you are in Christ, you are free from sin. Most believers understand that Jesus died for their sins. What most believers don’t understand is that if you have put your faith in Christ, then you are righteous. You have been “saved by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
So, the Holy Spirit’s job is to convict Christians that they are righteous in Christ. And, through that righteousness, we have access to God our Father. We are children of God (John 1:12). We are justified (Romans 5:1). We are friends of Christ (John 15:15). We are saints (Ephesians 1:1).
Can Christians still commit sin? Yes, of course. But according to Romans 7, it’s the sin in my flesh, not who I am in Christ.
“For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” Romans 7:15-17.
Paul talked about this “body of death”. He said in the next verse (18), “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells.” He understood that in the flesh, there may be sins, but it doesn’t define who we are. In Christ, we are saints, we are free, we are seated with him at the right hand of God.
Can we really be free (part 3)
I have been at Gateway Church for over four years now. I can only remember two times I heard our worship band make an actual mistake. Amazingly, one of them was my fault, and I was sitting in the auditorium. The guitar player had borrowed a vintage guitar from me, and it had some fret problems. In a song featuring a single note lead, the guitar line just died.
So, four years, three months, two mistakes, one of them the fault of some guy in the congregation. I began to think one day, and this is what I pictured: The worship leaders must show up every week-end and talk about every single mistake they can anticipate. They must point out to each member of the team where they are likely to blow it, and point out multiple ways to avoid this potential mistake. Don’t modulate downward, don’t count eight here…they must painstakingly line out a whole range of the pitfalls that lay before them each week-end and rigorously plan how to avoid each and every train wreck. You think? I don’t. I can’t think of a more destructive way to plan a rehearsal. Focus on the pitfalls, plan to overcome them.
Amazingly, this is how many live what we have come to call, “the Christian life”. Lessons on how-not-to-sin. Lessons on what to do-when-we-sin. Dallas Willard refers to this as the Gospel of Sin Management, which is of course no gospel at all, and certainly not the message of Jesus.
So picture this; each person shows up and is given their song list. If they do not already know their part, they talk through each persons role, function and contribution. Only acoustic here, screaming lead guitar there, soft keys and a gentle female vocal, then build to the crescendo. As each person is encouraged to know their role, and given clear direction, the complexity of a group of individuals becomes a single entity. Rough spots may be noted and overcome, but the focus is on each person fulfilling that purpose and role that they fulfill in the band.
We are here to be re-presentations of the Nature of God, deposited in us. I guess we could work hard at avoiding sin, but somehow it seems much more freeing to learn how to become the person I was created to be. Focus on the target, not the obstacles. Relax a little, enjoy the ride.
Is God mad at you?
While not spoken out loud, I think I lot of people ask, “Is God mad at me?”
We often think that admittance into heaven will be based on a giant scale. On one side, all the good things we’ve done, and on the other side, all the bad things. Then, whichever way the scale tips, that’s where we’ll spend eternity. More good than bad, then God is happy with us, and we’ll make it into heaven. But, if the scale tips too much towards the bad, then God’s mad at us, and then, it’s hell.
That’s not how it works. Righteousness, or right standing with God, is not based on having more good things in our lives than bad. Actually, righteousness is based on being perfect before God, having never sinned or never messed up. There is a scale in heaven, and on one side is all of the good things we’ve done, and the other side is perfection, having never messed up. That’s what God expects out of us, perfection.
That doesn’t sound very encouraging, does it? “All have sinned and fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). “There is none who does good, no, not one” (Romans 3:12).
But, there is hope.
Most people misunderstand God’s requirements for heaven. They think God’s attitude towards them is based solely on their performance. If I give more, help more, volunteer more, do more good than bad, then God will be pleased with me. Then, my prayers will be heard. That’s not how it works.
Under the Old Covenant, before Jesus came to earth, God’s attitude towards people was based on their performance. There were more than 600 laws to keep. Each and every law determined their standing before God. But when Jesus came to the earth and died on the cross for us, he fulfilled each and every one of those laws. He was perfect. He was the only person who lived a perfect life here on the earth.
Today, under the New Covenant, we have only one thing that we need to do to please God–to believe and trust in Jesus. In John 6, the disciples were curious. They asked, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” (v28). They wanted to know what was required of them. Jesus responded, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (v29).
That’s it. That’s the work that is required of us–to believe in Jesus. You see, he is our righteousness. All of his work can become our work through faith (through believing) in Jesus. Sin no longer matters. Sure, it has it’s consequences here on earth, but no consequences in heaven.
I’m going to make a bold statement here: Sin is not what sends people to hell. What sends people to hell is when they reject Jesus Christ. Sin has been dealt with. It’s done. It was nailed to the cross. When Jesus died on the cross, he said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). And, it was. Sin was finished. There was no more sin to be dealt with.
So how does that apply to us today? I’m a Christian, I believe in Jesus and I have put my faith in him. What does that mean to me, a believer?
First, it means that God is passionately in love with you. He is in a constant state of joy over you. He is never mad at you. He loves you. He’s passionate for you. He’s fighting for you with all of his power and strength. And, he’s wooing you. He’s calling you to him for relationship. He wants you to come to him confidently and boldly.
Today, we can do that. We can come boldly to God. Our sin is gone. Our righteousness shines in Christ. He is our new High Priest, our Mediator. He has made a way for us to come to God without sin. With God passionate for us and no sin to hinder us, it is up to us to come to God. “So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it” (Hebrews 4:16).
What are you waiting on? God’s calling you by name. He’s ready to love on you passionately.
Recent Posts
- The Knowledge of Good
- What do you believe about God?
- Go to the Mattresses
- Sin Mangement Vs. Forming Jesus In Us
- Focusing on your problem or focusing on God?
- Think Again
- What does it mean to Repent? What is repentance?
- Chasing your Passion
- Stop praying for revival, and BE the revival
- Divine Power within us to ask
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