A Misconception About Sin

A Misconception About Sin

1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

   Sometimes we Christians get some strange misconceptions.  One misconception is that sin has us shackled and we’re trapped by our sins.  We might know intellectually that we are forgiven by the Blood of Jesus, but in the back of our mind we still feel that sin has the upper hand over us.  I spent many years of my Christian life feeling that sin was steel trap waiting to entrap me up and prevent me from growing in Christ.
   Falling into sin is a dangerous thing to do, and flirting with sin is dangerous ground to be standing on.  But do not believe that sin is like a big bear trap waiting for you to step into its jaws trapping you forever in its jaws.  Sin is more like a set of Chinese finger cuffs.
   Remember those?  When I was five or so, my memory is a little vague that long ago, an older brother brought home a set.  He showed me how to slip my fingers into them, which I did, and then laughed and laughed at my vain attempts to get free.  Today these little traps are made of crinkly paper, but back then they were made by something the thickness and consistency of cornhusks.  I tugged and tugged and tugged some more, but the diabolical things had a firm grip on my index fingers and would not let go!  Finally, my Mother told him to let me out and he showed me how to get them off.  
   The secret was so simple – don’t struggle.  Relax and let them just fall off by themselves.  The secret of Chinese finger cuffs is that they’re designed to let you trap yourself.  You are as trapped as you let yourself be and are free when you want to be free.
   Sin, to a Christian, is little more than Chinese finger cuffs for the spiritual realm.  When I sin, my first reaction is defensive.  I’ll tug and tug at the sin but will never be free of it as long as I try to overcome the sin in my own strength.  I’ll never be able to free myself from the clutches sin in my own strength and my struggles won’t get me anywhere.
   I can hear some of the dear old Saints my grandmother and mother knew and how they’d proudly say that they hadn’t sinned in over twenty years.  I sure can’t make that statement and I don’t think I know anyone who can.  So if we do sin, is there hope for us?  Yes, there is 1 John 1:9.  
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
   I’ve heard this called the Christian’s bar of soap.  I don’t really think you can go twenty years without sinning anymore than you could go twenty years without getting dirty.  Dirt happens to everyone, including the “dirt” from this world that we live in every day.  We associate with sinners so it’s not unlikely that we might get some sin on us from time to time.  Then we need to apply 1 John 1:9 to free us from the sin.  Sin will fall away when we don’t struggle but let the power of the Blood of Jesus clean it.  Sin is strong, yes, but it’s nothing next to the Blood of Jesus.  We may fail from time to time and then sin will grip our lives, but like those Chinese finger cuffs sin’s grip is only effective when we allow it to be.

Stephen Cram                            October 9, 2011                              Colossians 2:8

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8