A Voice from the Past - Gregory the Great

And such peace we truly keep, when we treat the faults of the proud at once with charity and with persistent justice, when we love them and hate their vices. For man is the work of God; but vice is the work of man. Let us then distinguish between what God made and what man has made, and neither hate the man on account of his error nor love the error on account of the man.

Gregory the Great, 540-604 AD, Epistles of Gregory the Great, Epistle XLIII, To Eulogius and Anastasius, Bishops (translated by Rev. James Barmby, The Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Volume XII,  Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, T & T Clark and Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1997, p.179)

Is this the right way to deal with sin? If so, how do we go about implementing it?

Tale of Three Kingdoms

There was a man who grew up in the kingdom of Epicuria. In school he was taught that he was the product of a universe run by blind chance. Therefore he was told he should do whatever gave him the greatest amount of pleasure. This seemed an attractive option, and he proceeded to live that way. At first he reveled in it. But in time, the things that had originally pleased him became monotonous. Also, some of his pleasures were habit forming, and he was not sure if he controlled them or they controlled him. Further, other people objected to doing the things that brought him the maximum amount of pleasure. He felt there should be some greater meaning to life. His pleasures made him feel guilty, even though he had been assured this belonged to the defunct world of primitive taboos. And if these ideas were remnants of primitive superstition, why could he not eliminate them entirely from his thinking?

So becoming more and more uncomfortable, he left home to seek his fortune. He ended up in the kingdom of Moralia. There he learned that pleasure was not the ultimate goal of life. There were basic moral rules, which involved forgoing certain pleasures to do what was right. This fit with the man's inability to totally deny the idea of right and wrong. Many of the inhabitants of Moralia held they were not the product of random chance, but the creation of some form of God. This meant that life had meaning and the rules had meaning, for they were the product of something beyond human beings. But the man had a problem. He could not keep the rules. He would try hard and convince himself it was working for a while. Then something would happen, and he would fall flat on his face. Also, other people had the same problem, pretending they were doing a better job then they were or watering down the rules so they could keep them. They were rigid and unwilling to allow others to see their true selves. They would often put down others just to reassure themselves they were doing well. When he reached the point he could not take it any more, he left.

In his travels he came to the kingdom of Gratia. The people there asked him why he was so depressed. He said that he believed in a moral law, but was unable to keep it. They told him how their King had taken the punishment of the moral law upon Himself and that He offered pardon to all who would accept it. They still believed  the law was good and should be obeyed. But forgiveness set them free to obey it out of love for the King, honestly facing their failures and the failures of others, while the King assisted them in growing in obedience. The man left the main road and headed into the kingdom of Gratia. He had found a home.


  

The Life of Faith

There are two concepts of faith, which at times seem at war with each other. One is faith great enough to believe God for great things. The other is the ability to believe God no matter what happens. One is the ability to trust God for a miracle; the other is the ability to trust God if the miracle does not happen. And the problem is that both types of faith are Biblical (Hebrews 11:32-40; Acts 19:11-12; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10). It is often hard to know what type of faith to exercise in a given situation, and we need to trust God for wisdom to knowing how to proceed (Proverbs 3:5,6; James 1:5; Psalms 46:10). David as a young man slew a great giant because he trusted in God. He then spent the years after that, to age thirty, running from King Saul, who wanted to kill him, before he received God's promise of a kingdom. God, in His plan, will normally give us opportunity to exercise both types of faith. We should not let this take us by surprise.

Forgiveness of Sin

One of the most fundamental truths of the Christian faith is forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:12-14; Acts 26:18). But do we really believe it? And do we look to outsiders like we believe it? Now there is a fear that if we too easily forgive, we will appear to condone sin. Now there is a danger scripturally in condoning sin (1 Corinthians 5:9-13; 2 Thessalonians 3:10-14; 2 Timothy 4:1-4). But Scripture is even more emphatic that we need to be those who offer forgiveness (Matthew 18:21-35; 2 Corinthians 2:6-8; Colossians 3:13). Further, Jesus was criticized for reaching out to sinners (Matthew 9:12; Luke 19:1-10; 7:36-50).  I am forced to the conclusion that while we are to avoid both, being unwilling to forgive is a more fundamental error.

The root of unforgiveness is self-righteousness. We forget that we are sinners (Romans 3:23; Jeremiah 17:9; Isaiah 64:6) saved by the grace of God (Ephesians 2:8,9; Romans 4:4,5; Titus 3:5,6) and start to think we are good people who deserve something from God. We can then look down on those who are not Christians or on Christians who fail. But we cannot stand before God based on our own works (Galatians 3:10-14; Romans 3:20,21; 11:6). Therefore, we must extend forgiveness to others, for we are sinners just like them.

We are told we are to approach those who are not Christians with love and concern (1 Peter 3:15; 2 Timothy 2:24-26; Colossians 4:6). We are not to get up on our high horse and look down on them. We are not to excuse their sin, but must reach out to them with forgiveness, not condemnation. For this we have the example of our Lord, who reached out to those with sinful life styles not to offer judgment but forgiveness (John 4:9-26; Luke 23:39-43; 5:27,28).

But what about one of own who falls? How are we to deal with that? On this, Scripture gives clear instruction. While we are to approach the situation with caution, we are to do everything in our power to restore and forgive them (Galatians 6:1; Jude 22,23; Hebrews 12:12,13). Now this may not be possible. They may not be willing to be restored. They may refuse to repent of something they need to repent of. We may have to exercise church discipline. But even then we are not to treat them as an enemy but admonish them as a brother (2 Thessalonians 3:15). But if we will not forgive our own, how can we expect those on the outside to believe we are genuinely offering them forgiveness? Forgiveness of sins is the heart of the Gospel. We must live in such a way as to show we really believe in it. And while we should avoid both extremes, it is better to be too forgiving than to follow the Pharisees in treating others with disdain (Luke 18:9-14; Matthew 23:1-7; John 7:47-49).

A Touch of Humor - Smoking Gun

Is this better than some of the things people jump to conclusions on regarding end time things? How can we avoid this?

Old Erich Proverb - Machine

The universe is not a machine accidentally set in motion, but a story written by the finger of God.

A Voice from the Past - Calvin

Wherefore, as during our whole lives we carry about with us the remains of sin, we could not continue in the Church one single moment were we not sustained by the uninterrupted grace of God in forgiving our sins. On the other hand, the Lord has called his people to eternal salvation, and therefore they ought to consider that pardon for their sins is always ready. Hence let us surely hold that if we are admitted and ingrafted into the body of the Church, the forgiveness of sins has been bestowed, and is daily bestowed on us, in divine liberality, through the intervention of Christ's merits and the sanctification of the Spirit.

John Calvin, 1509-1564, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book III, Chapter 1, 21 (translated by Henry Beveridge, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1975, Volume II, p. 298)

How important is it to have a clear understanding of God's forgiveness? How can we develop that?