THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Eastern Orthodox prayer)
In Greek, the word used for sin is hamartia – missing the mark, falling short of God’s perfection. Sin can also be seen as disintegration, as a breach in our relationship with God, in our relationships with one another and even in our relationship with ourselves.
Christianity teaches that sin came into the world through the rebellion of our first human ancestor (Adam) and continues in our desire not to serve God but to live for ourselves. Obviously, differing opinions among Christians exist with regard to the historicity of this account (although a belief in evolution need not preclude a belief in a literal Adam) but Christians generally would argue that the story makes sense of our current predicament. As G. K. Chesterton said, original sin is “the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved” (Orthodoxy, chapter 2).
Modernity is not alone in doubting the truth of original sin. Pelagius, a 4th century British (or, possibly, Irish) presbyter, also opposed the teaching, arguing instead for the view, still popular, that we each come into the world with a blank slate, unaffected by the deeds of our ancestors.
In opposition to Pelagius, we find two main Christian viewpoints.
In the West, Augustine of Hippo (and those influenced by him) argued that all human beings were, in some sense “in Adam” when he sinned and, as such, bear the guilt and responsibility of his sin, regardless of what sins of our own we subsequently add.
By contrast, the Eastern Fathers denied that any later person bears the actual guilt or responsibility of the sin of our first human father, but, nevertheless, they still held that we live with the death and decay and corruption (including an indwelling tendency towards sin) which are the consequences of his rebellion against God, and that our own choices are limited by this environment of sin and death. [Note 1]
So what must we do to be saved?
Regardless of our view of original sin (and, for the record, having been an Augustinian for most of my Christian life, I am now somewhat closer to the Eastern view), we must each face the reality and responsibility of our own sinful choices before God. Even if I lived a perfect life from now on, I would still bear the responsibility of my past misdeeds, as C. S. Lewis pointed out –
“We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin. I have heard others, and I have heard myself, recounting cruelties and falsehoods committed in boyhood as if they were no concern of the present speaker’s, and even with laughter. But mere time does nothing either to the fact or the guilt of a sin.” (The Problem of Pain, chapter 4).
But the good news of Christianity is that God has done for us in Christ what we could not do for ourselves. He became a human being and lived the life of obedience to God and selfless love which we were called to live but haven’t, he died on a cross as an offering for our sin, bearing our shame, he rose victorious from the dead, triumphing over death and decay and corruption, and he now intercedes for us before the Father as our great High Priest.
How then do we take hold of this new life for ourselves?
- through believing (or trusting) in Jesus Christ (John 3.16). Believing, in this sense, is more than simply intellectual assent, but rather “faith worked out in love” (Galatians 5.6);
- through repentance (a radical change of mind and life orientation away from sin and towards God); and
- through being baptized (i.e. buried with Christ, see Romans 6.4, Colossians 2.12) in obedience to Christ’s specific command to his apostles (Matthew 28.19, see also Acts 2.38), although this point remains somewhat controversial among Christians.
As can be seen from this list, the essence of the Christian message is that Christ saves those who turn to him and follow him.
Postscript: An unforgiveable sin?
Finally, some may be asking, how does all this relate to the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, the so-called “unforgiveable sin?” [Note 2] What is this sin and how can I be sure that I haven’t committed it?
The context of this teaching as found in Mark 3.22-30 is that the Pharisees were seeking to resist believing in Christ by making the absurd accusation that his miracles were conducted in league with Beelzebul. The use of the imperfect tense in the Greek in verse 30 (elegon – “they were saying”) indicates that this wasn’t a one-off statement but something that they were saying habitually. The very absurdity of this claim, used to discredit Christ, points to the effort being made to resist the unwelcome conviction that Christ might really be who he said he was. Thus it would seem that the essence of the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a persistent and terminal hardening of the heart against Christ. This is also consistent with the warnings against apostasy found in Hebrews 6 (especially in the warning that it is impossible for those who commit this sin to be “restored to repentance”) and in the teaching of Romans 1.18-32 which warns how God can judge us by giving us over to the sins that we cling on to and prefer to him.
Therefore, in light of this, let us turn to Christ, while there is still time.
NOTES:
[1] It is worth noting that, to this day, Eastern (Orthodox) Christianity and Western (Catholic and Protestant) Christianity retain these separate perspectives on original sin. Furthermore, the East tends to see glorification (the aim of salvation) not as restoring humanity to the perfection of Eden, but as attaining deification (theosis), a participation in the energies (or communicable attributes) of God, a possible state as yet unrealised by our human ancestor at the time of the Fall.
[2] It is worth noting that this was earlier often referred to as the “unforgiven sin” rather than the “unforgivable sin” indicating that it was an unrepented sin rather than a sin too big for even God to forgive (as the Novatians falsely claimed).
(See other posts in this series and buy Edward’s book)