[A devotional reflection originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during May 2024]
During the past eight weeks our Sunday morning preachers have been deeply into sin. Pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth have all found their way into the centre of the church’s life but it should be added by way of clarification that the preachers have been researching these sins rather than indulging in them. We now know much more about sin after hearing what they had to say.
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5 v21 [NKJV]
The list of seven deadly sins is attributed to Tertullian, an early Christian author from Carthage who lived in the second half of the second century AD. In its original form, his list identified nine sins which could lead to eternal death; later the fourth-century monk Evagrius Ponticus regrouped the nine sins into eight. The list in its current form dates from 590AD when Pope Gregory 1st updated the list, merging and redefining the descriptions to give a final seven categories.
There are many aspects of life that are easier to talk about than to do. Sin is the reverse; easier to do than to talk about. Acknowledgement of our sin and confession are essential steps towards resolving them.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1 v8-9 [BSB]
Human sin began with Adam and Eve, as described in Genesis chapter 3. We are not told how much time elapsed between the end of Genesis chapter 2 and the events of chapter 3 so we cannot tell how long Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden before they succumbed to the temptation to break the rules. We do know that Adam was 130 years old when his third son was born[1] but presumably his age is counted from when he left the garden.[2]
However, sin goes back further than that. In traditional Christianity, Adam and Eve were tempted to sin by Satan who appeared in the form of a serpent. Satan is understood as being an angel who tried to usurp God and was expelled from heaven. Passages such as Isaiah 14 v12-15 and Ezekiel 28 v12-19 are often taken as allusions to the fall of Satan by drawing parallels with the King of Babylon and the King of Tyre. Both passages, whether by name or by inference, confirm the adage that pride comes before a fall.
There is, of course one sin that is more deadly than those listed above. Jesus himself spoke about it in his conversation with Nicodemus; talking about himself he said:
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
John 3 v18 [NIVUK]
Day by day we all face challenges, many of which include temptations to sin. Let us be thankful that we can echo the words of Katherine Kelly (1869-1942):
Oh, wonder of all wonders, that through Thy death for me,
My open sins, my secret sins, can all forgiven be.[3]
References:
[1] Genesis 5 v3
[2] Numerous points of view exist; for example
[3] “Give me a sight, O Saviour”, Redemption Songs nr 865
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Last week’s reflection: See the Pyramids along the Nile
Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © Steve Humphreys