“I still thought that it is not we who sin but some other nature within us. It flattered my pride to think that I incurred no guilt and, when I did wrong, not to confess it… I preferred to excuse myself and blame this unknown thing which was in me but was not part of me. The truth, of course, was that it was all my own self, and my own impiety had divided me against myself. My sin was all the more incurable because I did not think myself a sinner.” – Confessions, Book V, Section 10.
I came across this paragraph from Aigistine in the book Confessions! And I wondered if any of you agree with his view, that if we fail to perceive or see yourself as being subject and capable of sinning after we are saved, if he is correct that our condition becomes incurable!
Could Augustine be referring to what John says in 1 John1:8-10, "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. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us."
I have to wonder, if the church has become lukewarm (Rev. 3:14-22) like the Church in Laodacia, due to their failure to understand what sin is and that Satan is always out to trip the believer up (1 Peter 5:8).
I mean, what has happened to the word sin, within the church and to make it more personal, our life? Today the church and many of its followers have tried to tone down the seriousness of sin by giving it a new, more mundane name. Words like "mistake, error, boo-boo, messed up, slip-and-fell" are but some of the terms we substitute for our sins. And when we water down the meaning of sin, I believe we tend to become lax in going to God to repent and beg His forgiveness!
So what do you think? Is the Church Becoming TOO Soft on Sin? And if so, what does she need to do to get back to calling sin what it is. SIN!
I came across this paragraph from Aigistine in the book Confessions! And I wondered if any of you agree with his view, that if we fail to perceive or see yourself as being subject and capable of sinning after we are saved, if he is correct that our condition becomes incurable!
Could Augustine be referring to what John says in 1 John1:8-10, "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. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us."
I have to wonder, if the church has become lukewarm (Rev. 3:14-22) like the Church in Laodacia, due to their failure to understand what sin is and that Satan is always out to trip the believer up (1 Peter 5:8).
I mean, what has happened to the word sin, within the church and to make it more personal, our life? Today the church and many of its followers have tried to tone down the seriousness of sin by giving it a new, more mundane name. Words like "mistake, error, boo-boo, messed up, slip-and-fell" are but some of the terms we substitute for our sins. And when we water down the meaning of sin, I believe we tend to become lax in going to God to repent and beg His forgiveness!
So what do you think? Is the Church Becoming TOO Soft on Sin? And if so, what does she need to do to get back to calling sin what it is. SIN!
