Tonight while we were walking, I was telling Sarah about some of the things we went over today in our Sunday school class. We went over commandments 5-10. Teach the commandments is easy, but explaining to a bunch of 4th graders why the law was given to Moses and what it means is kind of a stretch. God has blessed me with the ability to be pretty good at describing or analogizing things. It is very useful in my profession and has helped a lot while teaching these guys.
But today it felt like I had a hard time going over the material. Perhaps my understanding of it was underestimated! These are some of the questions/observations that were brought up:
1. Are the 10 commandments in any particular order? This question seems to lead into the next question, but the only thing that really seems to make sense (to me, at least) is that the 10 commandments are in the order from the “most visible” sins to the least visible sins. There is probably some relatively simple argument that would disagree with that statement, but like I said it leads into the next question…
2. Murder, stealing, and coveting are all on the same list. If the list is in no particular order, then would it not be safe to assume that all of the sins on this list are of equal weight? Growing up Catholic, we were taught about mortal and venial sins. But the differentiation between those sins is not biblical. That is, no where else in the bible does it talk about 2 different types or weight of sin. There is just sin: that painful “estrangement from God.” It either is or is not sin.
There is something about God’s infinite perfectness our and limited flesh that makes no sense for there to be different levels of sin. The only distinction of sin that the bible makes is repented vs. unrepented sin. Romans 2:5 says that because of “stubbornness and an unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself on the day of judgement.” Not because you committed a “mortal” sin, but because of not repenting! Plus, doesn’t saying that the existence of sins that are unforgivable mean that in certain circumstances God’s mercy is not limitless for those who might seek his face?
At any rate. All of this to put forth that sin is binary. It either is or is not. Murder, stealing, coveting, are all sin. The punishment for all of those is the same.
What are your thoughts?
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 07:20
I will leave the comment about worrying about sin alone for now…
But regarding repentance, I am curious to know where the belief that you only repent once is grounded in? Acceptance of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior is a one-time deal. We come into this world separated from Him and then when we become “saved” we vow to follow him and as such, we are reunited with His love. This is the act of repentance that Jesus talked about in Luke 15:7, no doubt!
But the Christian life doesn’t stop there. Having a repentant heart (present tense) means we are repenting of our past sins. We continue sinning: 1 John 1:8-9 says “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” This letter was not written to unbelievers, it was written to believers. James 5:16: “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” We are called to confess not only to God, but to each other so that our brothers and sisters can pray for our healing. We are called to repent if we offend someone (Luke 17:3). In Revelation, the person “like a son of man” called a Church to repent of its deeds.
God’s own people in the old testament were called to repent, much in the same way that we are called to repent ourselves.
In regards to the “measure” of faith: What do you measure it by? Romans 14:23… “ everything that does not come from faith is sin.” Using faith to measure how “grave” a sin is like measure love to see how bad cheating on your spouse is… How do you measure that? The idea that sins have different “graveness” is not biblical.
And you are right that we don’t have to worry about sacrifice anymore since Jesus was the propitiation for our sins! But that means simply that we live a new life, it doesn’t mean that we don’t have to confess our sins, we confess our sins so that our grace might increase. (Romans 6) Sin not being our master is to free ourselves from shame and to yoke ourselves to Christ. But it doesn’t mean we will never sin again.
Tue, 10/05/2010 - 11:30
Hey man, I can’t give you a definitive answer, but i do have some thoughts on the issue.
I don’t think Christians need to worry about sins or sinning. We are sinners, period. thats the only important quantification.
On the issue of repentance. I believe we only repent once. Following that, we have the repentant heart mentioned in romans.
But since we are discussing it, I think sins defiantly have varying weight, but that weight is not in the severity of the action, but the intent of the heart. My son can disobey me when i say get away from the TV, or he can go to the fridge get the milk, and pour it out on the carpet while flipping me off, cussing and saying he wants me to die, and going to get my gun to end me. The two things will not have the same punishment. The first sin conveys a minor problem with authority, but i know in his heart he still cares for me and I will probably even be amused by the act. The second sin conveys contempt for me and lack of love so is more severe. It also makes me think that when he told me he loves me last night he didn’t really mean it.
I don’t think sin is the act of breaking a set of arbitrary rules set forth by the creator to constrain us, but instead a measure of the faith and intent of ones heart wherein each action is interpreted differently.
Lastly, Christ ushered in the age of Grace, freeing us from the curse of the law so its not something we have to constantly worry about. Oh know i just looked at a girl, i must go sacrifice 2 doves (which is the mindset and context of the people to which the 10 commandments were given)