Tags
Death, DNA, god, imperfection, Jesus, Robin Claire, Sin
I’m probably way over my head on this one, but here goes anyway…..
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Jesus said in Matthew 5:28 …
“But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
This is only my take on what sin might be. What do you think? What is your take on where sin begins, and how do your views fit in with Matthew 5:28?
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If adultery is a sin, and one can commit this sin by just a thought, then how far back must we go to get to the bottom of where sin actually begins? Where does sin actually begin? In our DNA? I believe this is the case.
But how did I get from ‘a thought’ to ‘DNA’?
If one can commit sin by only a thought, then what’s going on here exactly?
Again. You may think I’m totally bonkers about this, but here are my thoughts on where all this sin actually begins.
A lustful thought is imperfect. If even am imperfect thought is sin, then is sin about being imperfect? When Adam and Eve lived in the garden without sin, they were going to live forever. But when they ate the fruit, evil entered into them and so made them imperfect. Now, death would be able to overtake them. What is death? Death happens because of the slow disintegration of the imperfect DNA structures; because, after the fall, our DNA became corrupted so that it was no longer perfect.
I believe that when Adam and Eve ate the apple, they were exposed to evil and this evil corrupted their DNA to make it less-than-perfect, and so, disintegratable. I believe that we creatures on this planet are inherently sinful in our imperfect states; that this state is what was called ‘sin’; and that this sin resides at the core of our beings. So with this view, it naturally follows that we can not remove ourselves from it in any way.
Follow this logic further… deeper…
Can you see it yet? If we are this thoroughly corrupted to our very core, then it follows logically that we must be: Absolutely — Totally — Completely — and Utterly — incapable of rescuing ourselves. So deep, so elemental is this sin, that it resides in us to our very core. We are utterly riddled with it. This sin-nature is so thoroughly entwined within us at the deepest level of our makeup that we have become void of any ability to rescue ourselves by our own defective self-power.
Do you see it yet?
Because of the corrupted [sinned] DNA within us, this is how much we actually need a Savior to rescue us! Without Jesus, our Savior, we are Absolutely — Totally — Completely — and Utterly — doomed in this sin! Being riddled with sin at this deep a level, you can see… we truly are doomed. There is no way to rescue our defective selves, using our own defective selves.
The act of death and resurrection by Christ appears to be the only way we can be saved from our own inevitable deaths because of sin. True. Our bodies will die from this sin, but His is the only power which is super-naturally powerful enough, to preserve our spirits.
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**Peace & All Feloreaw to our Great & Mighty God**
Robin Claire
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I feel like this post is very messy, but I’ve done the best I can with it. The ideas are difficult for me to communicate. If there are parts missing, or parts that don’t make sense, please ask Him about this. I know He will fill in any gaps in understanding – in mine or in yours. What do you think? I’m open to any input about what has been revealed to you in this
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Temptations will always be a part of our lives because of our fallen state. However, temptations by themselves are not sinful. We sin only when we give in to the temptation.
For example, a lustful or hateful thought crosses our minds. That instantaneous situation is not sinful initially because we are not responsible for it. Whether it comes from a suggestion from Satan, something we encounter on TV or just a random thought, it becomes sinful if we continue to fantasize about it, because we are then willfully participating in something which is not holy.
It’s a constant battle, which is why we have to train ourselves through prayer and discipline to try to focus on that which is good. It’s not easy especially with moral relativism running rampant. Best wishes to all of us in this battle! — Tony
Yes. But isn’t adultery a sin? Jesus used that word – adultery. He did not used another word for it, and adultery is a sin.
We have several important points here. True, when Adam and Eve sinned, it was the first mortal sin because it shattered their relationship with God. Because it was a sin against an infinite being, only an infinite being could repair the damage; thus, the need for Jesus our Redeemer. His death and Resurrection made it possible for us to go to Heaven (have eternal life) once again.
Also true, Adam and Eve’s sin brought about physical death as you described, among many other consequences. One of them, “original sin” is inherited by all humans after Adam and Eve. “But we do know … that Adam had received original holiness and justice not for himself alone, but for all human nature. By yielding to the tempter, Adam and Eve committed a personal sin, but this sin affected the human nature that they would then transmit in a fallen state. It is a sin which will be transmitted by propagation to all mankind, that is, by the transmission of a human nature deprived of original holiness and justice. And that is why original sin is called a “sin” only in an analogical sense: it is a sin “contracted” not “committed” — a state not an act.”
Through Baptism, original sin is removed and we are infused with grace. “Baptism, by imparting the life of Christ’s grace, erases original sin and turns [a person] toward God, but the consequences for the nature, weakened and inclined to evil, persist in [a person] and summon him to spiritual battle.” While we may be “inclined to evil” because of our fallen state, we are not inherently evil.
Back to Jesus’ warning that looking at a woman lustfully is the same as committing adultery. As Christians, we must believe what He said. Adultery is a mortal (serious) sin which shatters our relationship with God.
“For a sin to be mortal [serious], three conditions must together be met: ‘Mortal sin is a sin whose object is a grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and consent.'” “Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent… It also implies consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice.”
Therefore, no one, especially a baby, can commit any type of sin until the “age of reason” assuming an adequate level of spiritual instruction (formation).
Key point: Adam and Eve fell from grace because they “yielded to the tempter,” not just because they were tempted. If temptation were a sin by itself, then they would have been bounced from Paradise without having eaten the fruit from the Forbidden Tree! (Additional contrast, Jesus was tempted by Satan three times after his 40-day fast in the desert. Jesus did not sin because he did not “yield to the tempter.”)
Jesus’ statement about “looking lustfully” describes dwelling on, or yielding to, the temptation – not simply having the temptation.
(I quoted parts of paragraphs 404, 405, 1857 and 1859 of the “Catechism of the Catholic Church.” The nature of the book is somewhat formal, but I hope it added some clarity to our dialogue
It is written that we are ‘born in sin’. Yet how can a newly-born baby DO anything that would be considered sinful?
As long as we’re here, sin is here to challenge us…test us…keep us humble…and, most of all, to bring us victory when we resist. It’s all about Choices. This is Satan’s territory and we are foreigners for now.
Hi Dina,
I was actually talking about us ‘being’ sinful down to our imperfect DNA. Not just ‘doing’ sinful things. If this is the case; that our being imperfect, is sin. Then we REALLY need a savior, don’t we. Even if we don’t DO anything sinful, we are in a state of sin. We are BORN in sin. How can a newly-born baby – do anything that could be considered sinful?
love you sis,
robin
Paul said that sin reigns in our mortal bodies. We will only reach perfection in our resurrected bodies. Where there is flesh, there is sin…even in cute little babies. The baby doesn’t have to do anything sinful to have a sin nature that came to them as a result of the fall. You don’t have to teach a child how to be bad because rebellion comes naturally. You do, however, have to teach a child how to be good. It’s not what a newborn baby DOES…it’s the sinful/rebellious nature they inherited from Adam & Eve. We cannot confuse ‘cute’ with fact.
love ya too!
Dina
Hi Dina,
I’m not sure I understand you. I was saying also that sin is in the flesh. I guess you’re saying something about sin being in our ‘natures’? Does that mean in our souls? or in our spirits?
r
“If you do well, won’t you be accepted? But if you don’t do well, sin is lying outside your door ready to attack. It wants to control you, but you must master it” (Gen 4:7 GW). This suggests sin starts with disobedience to Creator. Paul agrees with this saying, “In fact, I wouldn’t have recognized sin if those laws hadn’t shown it to me. For example, I wouldn’t have known that some desires are sinful if Moses’ Teachings hadn’t said, “Never have wrong desires.” 8 But sin took the opportunity provided by this commandment and made me have all kinds of wrong desires. Clearly, without laws sin is dead” (Romans 7:7-8 GW). Sin is not in our DNA, but sin results when we chose self and desires rather than relationship with Creator. In our DNA we are in the image of God, but that isn’t good enough for humans who want want not the image of God, but to be God! Rebellion, like a teen against parents, defines our course of life. So Jesus died so that sin would not masters us. Choose today whom you will serve, Joshua said. We can’t blame God’s creation (DNA) for sin when it originates with us.
That’s my opinion, even though I would rather yours which let’s me off the hook, so to speak, because then it’s something I can’t control.
Hi David,
I guess you don’t agree with me huh? That’s ok. This is only one Christian’s take on this.
I’m not saying that I’m being let off the hook about sin. You know this. I deserve death because of having sin. In fact, I suffer all kinds of consequences because I have it. This is why I need Jesus to save me soooo much. I desperately need Jesus with my whole being. If I am molded in the image of God physically, then why does my physical body end when there is no end to God? There must be imperfection in it somehow, or it would not break down the way it does. What do you think?
love you brother,
robin
Yes, it is imperfect (1 Corinthians 15) because of our mortality. The mortal must put on immortality. What is flesh cannot inherit the spiritual. For me the issue is who is at the centre of the question? Me and my sinfulness? Or Creator who made all things good and even is good enough to save what we ruined!
Peace and more peace