What happens when the gospel goes soft on sin? It loses a high view of God and replaces it with a man made understanding of a god who knows nothing of sin or holiness.<\/p>\n
A gospel that goes soft of sin loses it’s power because it gives man nothing to repent of and nothing to believe in.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to Christian teachings, the normal collective state of humanity is one of \u2018original sin.\u2019 Sin is a word that has been greatly misunderstood and misinterpreted. Literally translated from the ancient Greek in which the New Testament was written, to sin means to miss the mark, as an archer who misses the target, so to sin means to miss the point of human existence. It means to live unskillfully, blindly, and thus to suffer and cause suffering. Again, the term, stripped of its cultural baggage and misinterpretations, points to the dysfunction inherent in the human condition.\u201d\u00a0Eckhart Tolle: \u201cA New Earth\u201d<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Many parts of this definition sound good yet, apart from God Tolle\u2019s understanding of sin is dangerously far from reality. <\/span>His solution to your dysfunction and my dysfunction?<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou do not become good by trying to be good, but finding the goodness that is already within you and allowing that goodness to emerge.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cIf evil has any reality… this is also its definition: complete identification with form, physical forms, thought forms, emotional forms. This results in a total unawareness of my connectedness with the whole, my intrinsic oneness with every \u201cother\u201d as well as with the Source.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n This is a form of gnosticism. (Tolle even claims that the gnostic movement within Christianity)<\/span><\/p>\n It is also a form of Buddhism emotion and connection with real life is shunned in search of the Nirvana state where you cease to exist individually, cease to have emotions, or conscious thought and simple become part of the whole, or \u201cSource\u201d as Tolle names it.<\/span><\/p>\n Deepak Chopra on God and the primitive idea of sin in a Larry King interview.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSin and punishment is very very primitive, we have to ask ourselves right now, are we going to choose between sin and compassion, compassion is the way to go right now.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cYou are the Universe\u201d new book<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cReality is structured in consciousness\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n What this all leads to is a watered down understanding of sin that has trickeled down to into the church and blurred the contrast between God\u2019s holiness and my sinfulness. <\/span><\/p>\n Joel Osteen:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou may have made some mistakes but God is on your side.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cWhatever follows the \u201cI am\u201d will eventually find you.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n That sounds like something God said!<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Paul masterfully bursts our bloated balloons with a two part blow from God\u2019s Word.<\/span><\/p>\n Romans 3:23<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cAll have sinned and fall short of the glory of God\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n Paul presents to a two equally vital gospel truths.<\/span><\/p>\n Outside of understanding God\u2019s glory sin can not be understood, <\/span><\/p>\n We have very skillfully and subtly developed a \u201c<\/span>Practical Athiesm\u201d<\/b> in our understanding of sin. <\/span><\/p>\n Sin is seen as nothing more than an obstacle to my personal happiness. <\/span><\/p>\n Thus: <\/span><\/p>\n While there may be some truth to these views on sin, a little truth is always a dangerous thing and ultimately our culture has carefully side stepped the deeper and most dangerous truths in regards to sin!<\/span><\/p>\n Isaiah 64:1-7<\/b><\/p>\n Isaiah knew that the people needed to first experience a holy God in order to feel the wieght of their own sin.<\/span><\/p>\n In verses 1-3 he uses examples from creation to help his readers understand their helplessness, their puny stature, their smallness in contrast to a powerful, glorious and holy God.<\/span><\/p>\n Cataclysmic events make us feel weak and helpless. There is no play to run or hide.<\/span><\/p>\n He is referencing Exodus 19 when God came down upon the mountain to give the 10 commandments.<\/span><\/p>\n Isaiah seems to be conflicted, God meets with the righteous but we are not righteous!<\/span><\/p>\n In these verses we see the true horrid nature of sin in relation to God! <\/span><\/p>\n Why was it important for Isaiah to give such a graphic description of sin? <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
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God\u2019s glory is what we need verses 1-3<\/span><\/h1>\n
God can only meet with the righteous 4-5<\/span><\/h1>\n
Our sin separates us from God 6-7<\/span><\/h1>\n
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He wanted them to understand the deceptive nature of sin<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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He wanted them to see the danger of their society<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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He wanted them to understand the true nature of sin<\/span><\/h2>\n
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