We begin with an old song I wrote that I never put music to. It is now a poem with music by Kevin Macleod wrapped around it. It is entitled, "The Lake of Fire." Then I share our song, with a little background info, entitled, "When the Fire's Over," and I finish this episode with a teaching from my book, A Course in Christianity, entitled, "Is Sin a Virus?"
Is Sin a Virus?
Sin has all the characteristics of a virus. Has it gone viral in you? If you are Christian and have taken Jesus into your heart, accepted that He died to take your sins away, it would seem important to not dwell on our or other's sins, wouldn't it?
Let's put the puzzle pieces together. In the Old Testament we find, "What you think in your heart, you are" (As a man thinks in his heart, so is he). In the New Testament, Jesus said, "If you lust after a woman you have committed adultery in your heart." If you lust after judging others, if you feel self-righteous as a Christian, if you are into criticizing others, you have "fallen" again. Get up. Let me remind you of the truth. Since Jesus saved you by dying for your sins, why would you want to take sin up again?
If what you think in your heart, you are, what place in your heart has sin (either yours or others)? None. There is no place in your heart for either your sins, or others' sins. This is not an open door to sin, but a recognition that dwelling on our sins is not productive. Dwelling on sin does not lead us to all-truth. Jesus and His forgiveness do.
Again, if we judge others, we are disobeying Jesus’s directive to "judge not, lest you be judged." Why would we judge others? We would judge others because we detect sin. If we detect sin, we have taken sin into our hearts again. Sin and Jesus cannot both dwell in our hearts. They are incompatible. You can have either Jesus or sin, but not both.
What am I saying in this chapter? As Christians, we need to be acutely aware of how we see things. It is an important responsibility. If we condemn, we will be condemned. If we judge, we will be judged. If we witness sin, we will invite sin back into our hearts (which have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus).
If you want to get reinfected with the virus of sin, that is your choice, but you have been saved from sin by Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross and it seems very counterproductive to dwell on sin and enable it to get a hold on you once again.
Jesus wiped the slate clean by His death on the cross. In our "free choice," why would we want to smudge the slate up again? We need to pray for those who stab us with their hate, we need to love our enemies (no matter who they might be), we need to integrate the teachings of Jesus into our lives.
Jesus prayed, "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven." Jesus is the way (to the Kingdom), He is the truth (of the Kingdom) and the life (the abundant life of the Kingdom). If we have Jesus in our hearts, we must radiate His Kingdom--we must BE His Kingdom.
So, we must be careful how we see. We must discipline ourselves in this dark world to BE God's light. If you didn't consider all these points mentioned in this chapter, you would be resting on your laurels claiming Jesus as your savior, yet not claiming His salvation by your constant reinfection of sin in your precious mind and heart.
Jesus even said, "If you love me, follow my commands," which infers that we CAN'T love Jesus if we aren't following His commands. He also said, "If you don't love me, don't follow my commands," which infers that we are crossing over the line and siding with the enemy if we don't follow Jesus’s commands.
I'd love to hear from you! email: vic@zarley.net
