Questions about God- Sin
- When we are born, are we born with sin?
The answer is an unfortunate YES. According to the Bible, we are all born with sin because of our human ancestors, Adam and Eve. The creation story is found in Genesis 1-3, and shows how “inherited sin” came into the world. That is the fancy word for “born with sin”. Adam and Eve pulled an epic fail move when they chose to stop believing that God had given them the very best in the Garden of Eden. It’s important that we know the definition of sin. Sin is just a word that describes ANYTHING that falls short of perfect. Basically, sin is not doing the thing we SHOULD do, and doing the things we SHOULD NOT do.
- Why can no one be perfect?
Pretty much because of answer number 1- we are born sinners. This is not a “3 strikes and you’re out” kind of game. The very FIRST sin puts a barrier between us and God, and we can never be close to him again. (Until we accept Jesus in our hearts- but that’s a FANTASTIC truth for another post.) Romans 3:23 says clearly that “ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” So unfortunately, no one can ever even hope to be perfect. You are either guilty because of “inherited sin” or you are guilty because of “personal sin”. Personal sins are the wrong things that you do yourself, or the right things that you don’t do. But don’t be discouraged! John gives us a great word from God to remind us that “if we confess our sins, (GOD) is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and (clean) us from ALL unrighteousness”. (Unrighteousness just means all the F’s we get in life)
- Why do we sin if we know it is wrong?
Excellent question. James says it pretty clearly: “But your own evil longings tempt you. They lead you on and drag you away. When they are allowed to grow, they give birth to sin. When sin has grown up, it gives birth to death.” Yuck, right? The truth is- we sin even when we know it’s wrong because of DESIRE. Do you know what “desire” means? Dictionaries are a beautiful thing- but I will give it to you in a nutshell. Desire = to wish or want, to crave for. Cravings are usually not a good thing because they make us do stupid stuff. Like how much I love chocolate. Anyways, the Bible shows in the above verses that you are tempted by your desires, then you let those desires overwhelm you and they dray you away. Once allowed to grow, those desires give birth to sin- like a mutant alien spawn baby. And that sin, when it grows up- gives birth to DEATH. I know, sad day. Pretty much, desiring the wrong things can kill you. Bummer. We choose sinful things because they hold some false promise of happiness. They look like things that will make us happy in the beginning, but in the end- they just make us miserable and keep us away from the True Giver of Happiness. Jesus Christ.
There is one other note on this question about why we sin. Jesus said it in Matthew 26:41: "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." Sometimes we sin, simply because we are weak. We are too tired, too lazy, whatever- but we let that temptation, that DESIRE, in- and then we follow it right into sin.
Hope that is clear, ultimately- sin will take you down if you let it. But I am praying for you that you don’t. That you would grab a hold of Jesus, and trust Him to save you, to forgive you, and to teach you a new way to live. Hold on to this hope, friends- “Brothers and sisters, I don't consider that I have taken hold of “perfect” yet. But…I forget what is behind me. I push hard toward what is ahead of me. I move on toward the goal to win the prize.” You can fight, you CAN win against sin. I love you guys, and God loves you so much more!
