Sin - We Get Off Easy!

In my personal devotions I am reading through Leviticus (and Acts) right now. I usually avoid this book, but God was telling me that I needed to study it, so I am. One thing that struck me today is just how easy we have it when it comes to forgiveness of our sins. 1 John 1:9 tells us that if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. A simple prayer and were done, or at least that's what we often reduce it to.

In the Law, receiving forgiveness was much more involved. It required a great cost and great effort. It also required time! I'm sure the Israelites took sin a lot more seriously than we do.

Now, I know that we are forgiven by the blood of Christ who became the one sacrifice for all. What I'm talking about is the fact that we don't always think about that cost when we ask God to forgive us, at least I don't. That's why I am wondering if, in some ways, forgiveness is too easy for us. We need something to remind us of the significance of our sin and the cost for it's forgiveness. What reminder do you use?

Sin

In the book I am reading "Static" there is an illustration of how a missionary related sin the Japanese culture. It was discovered that "shame" best illustrated what the Bible says sin is. In other words, the Biblical concept of sin was translated into not only the language, but the culture as well.

This got me thinking about how we look at sin in our culture. The concept is pretty much lost on our postmodern society. If we need to retranslate the word and reapply it to our culture without watering down the Biblical concept, what does that look like?

The book focuses on Luke 4:18 as the reason Jesus came. Certainly not the only thing Jesus says about why He came, but this passage is significant in giving us a broader context to understand that Jesus came to do more than forgive sin.

As I began thinking about how to apply this, these thoughts came to mind.

Jesus came to free us from social stigma, religious legalism, and personal shame. That freedom provides a way for us to reconnect with God.

Look at the interractions between Jesus and people and the things that He said. This is a summary of those things in a context I think that people can grasp. I would love to hear other thoughts on this. I'll unpack this statement and the ramifications of it in upcoming posts. For now, let it soak in and pray about how we communicate the concept of sin in our culture today.