March 17, 2009

Sin: Which Way Do You Spiral?

The chief point of this distinction, then, must be that man, as he was corrupted by the Fall, sinned willingly, not unwillingly or by compulsion; by the most eager inclination of his heart, not by forced compulsion; by the prompting of his own lust, not by compulsion from without. Yet so depraved is his nature that he can be moved or impelled only to evil. But if this is true, then it is clearly expressed that man is surely subject to the necessity of sinning.
John Calvin - The Institutes of the Christian Religion 2.3.5

Calvin's point is clear, we have no choice but to sin, it is our nature to do so. You may not always agree with Calvin, you may not even like him. But it is hard to argue as you look at the world, as you look at your own life, that we are sinful by nature and need to be saved.

As we have no choice but to sin, we have no choice as to how to be saved form sin. It is only through Jesus, through trust and faith in Him that you can be saved from the inevitability of your sin.

I think that is hard to accept because in our pride we do not like to admit we are helpless in anything, that there is something that is totally beyond our control. In essence, that is the result of the very sin nature that is embedded into our very core.

A never ending spiral, or so it would seem. You can either spiral down into your sin, getting ever deeper into it for i think there is truly no bottom to the depths one can sin to. Our you can spiral up and out to the Lord. The first way you can go it alone, the second you need to ask God for help.

He is calling, answer. His Spirit is willing, is yours?

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