A Calvinist Christmas Carol??

An Excerpt from "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens

The Ghost, on hearing this, set up another cry, and clanked its chain so hideously in the dead silence of the night, that the Ward would have been justified in indicting it for a nuisance.

"Oh! captive, bound, and double-ironed," cried the phantom, "not to know, that ages of incessant labour, by immortal creatures, for this earth must pass into eternity before the good of which it is susceptible is all developed. Not to know that any Christian spirit working kindly in its little sphere, whatever it may be, will find its mortal life too short for its vast means of usefulness. Not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunity misused! Yet such was I! Oh! such was I!"

"But you were always a good man of business, Jacob," faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.

"Business!" cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. "Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!"

It held up its chain at arm's length, as if that were the cause of all its unavailing grief, and flung it heavily upon the ground again.

"At this time of the rolling year," the spectre said "I suffer most. Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode! Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me!"

Scrooge was very much dismayed to hear the spectre going on at this rate, and began to quake exceedingly.

As I read this I can't help but wonder how the words of Dickens resonate through all of us. This is what makes the tale of Scrooge so compelling and heartfelt is the truth that all men are expected, as Marley puts forth is "Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business". Is this not the very expectation God has and expects from all of mankind? Is not benevolence, charity and mercy the moral expectation and responsibility of every person? Furthermore, if man is expected to love and care for his fellow man, is he then not expected to love and submit to that which is not the very definition of love and that is God himself? When we read this story of Scrooge, do we not see how the past moral choices of a man has led to his demise?

Or should we interpret this story as the Calvinist see it, a man whose choices were not of his own freewill, but predetermined and foreordained by God? That mankind by his very nature is unable to choose "Mercy, charity and Benevolence", due to that pesky and constant lurking of "Original Sin" or "Total Depravity"? That by our very constitution we are unable to do "any good"? If this is so, then why is it we don't pity poor Scrooge rather feel as if he should not be the way he is? Why is it we don't sympathize with him as a result of his foreordained plight or his unalterable constitution of depravity?? As his story unfolds, should we not pity poor Scrooge, for surely he could not change his moral condition and choose to do right at any moment, any more than a "leopard should change its spots"?

For me the beauty of this moral tale is that it is a reflection of repentance. Is this story not one of a man reflecting upon his past and present moral actions and coming to grips that he is indeed a vile sinner? That Scrooge comes to the realization that he made selfish (if not sinful?) choices and as a result his heart had become hardened and darkened as a result of his own doing? That it was not until he was shown what his future holds, that death was inevitable

"Spirit!" he cried, tight clutching at its robe, "hear me. I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse. Why show me this, if I am past all hope?"

For the first time the hand appeared to shake.

"Good Spirit," he pursued, as down upon the ground he fell before it: "Your nature intercedes for me, and pities me. Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me, by an altered life."

The kind hand trembled.

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!"

In his agony, he caught the spectral hand. It sought to free itself, but he was strong in his entreaty, and detained it. The Spirit, stronger yet, repulsed him...........

Yes! and the bedpost was his own. The bed was his own, the room was his own. Best and happiest of all, the Time before him was his own, to make amends in!

"I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!" Scrooge repeated, as he scrambled out of bed. "The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. Oh Jacob Marley! Heaven, and the Christmas Time be praised for this. I say it on my knees, old Jacob, on my knees!"

He was so fluttered and so glowing with his good intentions, that his broken voice would scarcely answer to his call. He had been sobbing violently in his conflict with the Spirit, and his face was wet with tears."

Is this not what happens when we come into direct contact with our Lord and Savior? That as he brings forth before our minds our own past and present sinfulness, and seeing the overwhelming flood of love and mercy our Lord and Savior has shown us brings us to the same condition as Scrooge? That we are brought to such a point of conviction over our sins that repentance is not only expected, but is the right and good choice for us to make? Instead, we see the Calvinist that says "Repentance is a work" and that our turning of sin is not a synergistic effort, but one that is all of God and nothing of man. But yet is this the very picture presented to us in the Bible? Of course not! Instead we see God and his Holy Spirit working jointly with man bringing him knowledge and revelation before his mind, just as the Spirits of Christmas did with Scrooge. Repentance is not only what man ought to do, but it is well within his ability and responsibility - as a result of his own conscience and God's calling of his heart! Just as Jacob Marley stated: ".....common welfare of mankind is my business", and I would add that not only mankind, but better yet it is God's benevolence that also should be of our business. Let us not give excuse to sinners that it is not within their ability to do that which is right (ie. Original Sin), but show them that they are most capable of doing what is morally expected and able. Scrooge did not say he was unable to change his cold and callous heart, nor did we as the observers of this tale expect anything different from him, but yet many would deny this in their own theology - a strange contradiction between "true to life" experiences and yet one's own theology?

Noah and the Problem of Original Sin/Total Depravity

I have recently been reading what I think is one of the most challenging books in the past couple of years that openly challenge the orthodox teachings of Calvinism and Original Sin/Total Depravity. Its entitled "Troubling Questions for a Calvinist and the Rest of Us, Taking a Closer Look at the Problem of Sin" by Lagard Smith. Smith does a tremendous job both logically and hermeneutically of dissecting the problems that the 5 points of Calvinism. Although I am only half way through the book, the majority of the book is addressing the two main underlying problems with Calvinism and that is Original Sin/Total Depravity and God's Sovereignty (as defined by Calvinist).

One of the best arguments that Smith brings up is against the problem of Original Sin and Predestination/Election (Absolute Foreknowledge) is in regards to Genesis 6:5. This verse brings to light many issues, especially concerning the demonstrated character of God throughout the bible. I emphasize "demonstrated" as this is typically an area that Calvinist either refuse to address or neglect altogether. When debating most Calvinist regarding how their theology painfully puts God's character into question, most will respond by saying "Who are you to question God" or "God is God and he has the right to do what ever he wants" or that man's sense of what is right or wrong is skewed by the fall of man. But is this true? Especially when the Bible says that God is love or that God is just and does what is right. If God is trying to relate to mankind who he is and what he is all about, doesn't anyone find it strange that God would somehow be offended if we even ask what "right" or "good" means? Doesn't anyone find it strange that if God is in the process of wanting man to turn from wrong to right that he would at least give us a benchmark by which to understand?

For example, Smith points out one of the scriptural dilemmas Calvinist face when trying to logically and rationally explain Genesis 6. These verses present some real difficulties for Calvinist when they try to harmonize, God's Character, Moral Ability and Accountability, Foreknowledge, and Sin. Smith says the following when discussing this issue:

"Wholly apart from God's obvious sovereign power to do as he pleases, are you not at all bothered by the thought if a God who would thrust damnable sin upon otherwise innocent infants as they come into the world? Would that be consistent with the loving, just, and righteous character of God as revealed in Scripture? (For the moment, we're not talking about ultimate salvation or damnation, only the starting point for each newborn soul). Then again, if you ever wanted to put God's character and justice to the test, it would have to be in the Flood. In light of the anguish we felt at the death of scores of thousands in a tsunami, what are we to think of a God who not only permits wholesale death by drowning, but specifically decrees it for the entire then known world of men, women and children?

Some would say that Noah's generation would have deserved it, not only because of their exceeding wickedness, but also (in the case of infants) because of their innate depravity. In that regard, is there a case to be made for man's depravity from the fact that "the Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only on evil all the time"?

Central to that sentence, of course are those two key worlds "had become" - which would hardly suggest either imputed sin or inborn depravity. We see those same words again in Genesis 6:11, followed by the observation that "all people on earth had corrupted their ways".

Doesn't sound exactly like the result of a divinely-imposed penalty of universal condemnation, does it? If it were, how could Noah have escaped the penalty and turned out righteous? It must not be overlooked that God said to Noah: "Go into the ark.....because I have found you righteous in this generation (Gen 7:1) - not "I have specifically foreordained you to be righteous."

What's more, if the foreordaining sovereign God himself had imposed the twin penalties if original sin and total depravity int eh wake of Adam's sin. it would be strange indeed for him to lament mankind's universal wickedness, saying: "I am grieved that I have made them" (Gen 6:8). Why should God grieve about the state of human existence over which he had, not just foreknowledge, but total predestining control from before the dawn of Creation?

Of one thing we can be sure: The notion that God arbitrarily assigns condemnation for sin is not even remotely harmonious with the theme-line running throughout the entire Bible, in which God demands, pleads, begs, and implores man not to sin!"

Indeed this is a perplexing issue for Calvinist as their theology seems to run counter to that of what the Bible clearly demands regarding sin and God's rightful demands that we turn and repent from sin. But again, this is just one of the many problems Calvinism creates or causes.

More to come regarding this latest read!

Preach Love Only or Preach Law/Grace?

"Before I preach love, mercy and grace, I must preach sin, Law and judgment." John Wesley

After recent reactions of the Homosexuals in California regarding the outcome of Proposition 8, I have to wonder if churches here in the United States are getting it all wrong. In the recent years I see more and more tolerance for sin within the body of Christ. I have even heard of churches I thought once to be fundamental evangelicals are now considering to allow gays and lesbians to come and worship among the devout and faithful. After watching the following video I can't help but think that what the church really needs to do is to return to its roots and start preaching the Law/Grace gospel. By preaching only that "God Loves You" does nothing to bring men under repentance and condemnation and getting them to realize they are in need of God's grace and atoning sacrifice.




Indeed God loves these rebels and it is his desire they turn from their rebellion and repent from their sins and love God. But it is only through the use of the Law that these people will come to realize just how wicked they truly are.

1Ti 1:8-11 But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; (9) Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, (10) For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; (11) According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

The U.S. Presidential Election: Is God really in control?

This morning I received a spam email from the Christian Business Daily (not sure how I got on their mailing list in the first place) but nonetheless this piece of spam was telling me that regardless of how today’s election turns out it’s all a part of God’s providential plan for the United States. Really? I felt like saying “Gee whiz I’ll just sit at home then and not waste an hour and half of my time standing in line to vote”. I find we as Christians can be such people of double speak. On one hand my email In-box over the past year and half has been bombarded by Conservative Christian Groups, begging me to not vote for Obama and then this morning I get an email that essentially tells me it all really doesn’t matter because regardless of the outcome – it’s all part of God’s providential plan.

Personally, I have a real hard time thinking God is going to be overly pleased to see Barack Obama elected into one of the most powerful positions on the face of the planet. Given Obama’s unbiblical stance on taking from the haves and giving it to the lazy and apathetic or better yet his position on murdering both the unborn and the born whom are considered unwanted or meaningless.

If this world is nothing more than some divine plan that God has preordained from the beginning of time then I have a hard time reconciling how an all holy God would be that thrilled when Hitler was elected into power in 1933 and subsequently murdered 6 million Jews? Was God sitting from his throne thinking how well his plan had come together when Lenin or Stalin took power in Russia, whereby millions would be enslaved or murdered all for the sake of their idol motherland? It is quite evident that God’s will is not being accomplished on our tiny planet. Since the fall, man has been subverting God’s will and therefore this is the very reason need a Savior. Anyone who can fog a mirror should be able to tell this world is not how God expected his crowning creation to behave and act. The state of our world is not natural, but highly unnatural. I always like to ask people “Is God’s will being done here on earth”? Of course there are those who adhere to fatalism or determinism who will gladly be the first to raise their hands like Horseshack and cry “Ooo, Ooo, Ooo”. However, their response is neither biblical or rational for that matter. For me the clearest example of how God truly feels about his creation is in Gen 6:5-7:

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (6) And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. (7) And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

Personally, I take these words literally and not some abstract anthropomorphic expression of God’s heart. If indeed our wickedness is some providential plan, then I am not sure why and how a Holy and Perfect God would first want to convey to his creation His personal heartbreak, when it never really existed in the first place. I am sorry, when it says God was heartbroken over what he saw occurring on the face of the earth, I have a real hard time reconciling how this is somehow is his providential plan? Again, if God is Holy and Perfect in EVERY WAY, then God can not be the author of his own unhappiness and yet blame man for the very unhappiness he is experiencing. It would be unjust and unloving.

As for these elections, I truly believe God has given us freewill to choose either good or evil. It is God’s great expectation that we choose to do what is right before the eyes of the Lord. Therefore, this is why it is so important that we do what God rightfully expects of us. Regardless of what happens God is still in control and can still bring about his sovereign plan, but it his desire that we obey from the heart and do what is good and just.

If Original Sin is True Then*:

1. God originated SIN

2. God will punish those who have been punished for Adam's sin, because they have been punished for Adam's sin.

3. Jesus could have married a virgin and produced a holy race by natural generation.

4. Man is more benevolent and just than GOD
(i.e. man's idea of justice is injustice, and that of injustice is just)

5. All human governments are inherently evil, for inability is never punished, and natural attributes are not considered evil.

6. The physical change that happened at the fall removed the sinner from the obligation to obey the moral law, for the moral law addresses only those able to obey it.

7. A physical change is necessary in regeneration.

8. If a physical change occurs, then a loss of identity occurs, however, Paul was always Paul.

9. God saving man from sin would be a matter of justice and not grace

10. God would be obligated, by justice, to relieve the unfortunate, rather than be gracious to the rebel.

11. Jesus did not become Man, with a sinful nature:
Therefore, he was not tempted in all points like as we are, nor touched with the feelings of our infirmities.

12. The will is not free.

13. How could Adam and Eve Sin?

14. How could angels sin?

15. Children go to hell.

16. All aborted babies go to hell.

17. Abortion would actually be a good thing as it actually decreases the amount of moral depravity occurring in the world. Few sinners born = a better world!

18. Sin is a calamity, not a crime

19. Repentance is impossible, because the conscience will never condemn the sinner of his inability.

20. Immediate repentance and submission cannot be urged immediately upon the sinner. Because He CAN"T.

21. Man is unable to repent.

22. Physical regeneration is necessary
This leads to universalism: FOR-
If Power changes one's nature in regeneration
If God is all powerful
If God is benevolent,
HE must therefore, in justice, regenerate all sinners

23. It regards the atonement of Christ as unnecessary. he did not have to die for the misfortune of men.

* I changed the Title for our Friend Anonymous Calvinist as I think he was a little confused as to the content of this peice.

Promoting Lawlessness?

The following video clip is from three renowned Calvinists John Piper, Tim Keller, and D.A. Carson. This video is from their Gospel Coalition website.

I want to share this as another example of what's wrong with Calvinism. Keller and company are essentially discussing what they have coined as "Christ-centered" theology. Now on the outset this sounds really good. But the deception here is what they are truly promoting is "Lawlessness"!

Pay particular attention to what Tim Keller says at about 2:00 min. into the video. This statement is just unbelievable. Keller is explaining that he can continue to sin, that "no matter what he does" this will of course have no impact on his eternal security. He coins this as "costly grace". What exactly is "costly grace"? According to Keller, this is the grace that God supposedly has given the elect or Christ paid for on behalf of the elect, whereby God no longer see's or takes into account all of their future sins because they have been already paid for - so therefore how can God already punish them for those sins that Jesus had supposedly already been punished for on the cross. The deception here is there is NO WHERE in the bible that says all our future sins have been paid for - No where! Look it up! This is purely a product of Calvinism. It is only the past sins we have committed that have been covered on the cross - not your future sins! God still requires that if a Christians stumbles and sins they must repent over those sins and if they don't then they will find themselves once again in rebellion towards God.

Notice at about 2:30 into the video you will hear Tim Keller explain that Calvinism is neither "cheap grace" or "moralism" or "relativism" or "legalism", but someone in the "middle" - in other words Calvisnism it is at neither end of the doctrinal spectrum but somewhere in the middle. This all sounds really good, but what these gents are really promoting is "lawlessness" disguised as "grace". The underlining deception is that they are promoting a belief that the moral laws of God are either too difficult to keep or that man lacks the capacity or the ability in keeping God's Moral Law. This of course is a result of their adherence to Original Sin/Total Depravity.

John Piper goes onto to say what this "Gospel Coalition" is really about promoting a form of "Gospel-centered" living. Sounds good. But the deception is they have labeled their terms to sound good, but one has to dig a little beyond the surface into how they truly define these terms.

So what does this "Gospel-centered" living really entail. Well at about 4:19 of the video Piper makes an astonishing and unbelievable statement - He says:

"Jesus said your to gouge out your eye or your going to hell and and that's one kind of motivation and not a bad one, and it raises the stakes to eternity. But were saying success in that part this life better have been fought significantly with a centering on you being justified".

Jesus is clear in this teaching that if something is a source of sin, it is better that you stop or cut off your own hand or gouge out you own eye than go to hell for all eternity (Matt 5:29) . Jesus is saying that it is up to man stop his or her sinful behavior - even if it means entering into eternity lame or blind. Notice Jesus didn't say anything about a persons inability not to sin, but clearly and plainly tells us turning from sin is well within our means.

But yet pay close attention how Piper denies the very words of Christ by essentially saying all that really doesn't matter, he sidelines Christ teaching by subtly replacing it with one of his own. According to Piper all you really need to do is not stop sinning, but simply force your mind on the fact that you have been "justified". As a result, your sinful actions no longer matter to God, nor should it matter to you. But how do they come to this conclusion? The theology of Justification. Justification in the Calvinist sense really boils down to a theology that all your past present and future sins have already been paid for and as a result - no matter what you do your still saved or "eternally secured".

Another interesting claim Keller makes here is that he claims that most teens and young people have been "turned" off by churches that preach so called "legalism". I would venture to say that Keller once again has this all wrong. Most churches I see today aren't preaching legalism (Keller also openly admits this on the video), but I would venture to say that most churches preach an easy-believism or "greasy-grace" type theology. Young people are not being repulsed by a non-existent doctrine of legalism, but what they truly lack is conviction and repentance! Teens and young adults see no need for church because of the hypocrisy they see. It's all those people like Tim Keller, who say they can continue to sin and still be called a child of God! What young people can't stomach is the hypocrisy they see out of most churches today - not legalism! Most churches lacks substance, lacks the power to change peoples hearts. So why would they ever want to waste their time in such a theological system?

(A side note: Isn't funny that Keller speaks of these young people as if it is what they "hear" that helps influence or determine whether they will choose Christianity??? Again, this one of the inconsistencies we see with Calvinism. On one hand we see Keller speaking about doctrine and religion as if these terms are meaningful in drawing people to Christ, but yet on the other they will deny the very same statement they just made and lay the claim of mongerism)

I would be interested in hearing your thoughts about this video as I find it very interesting insights into the contradictions within Calvinism and the Gospel.

Defining Sin

Since it appears defining sin with my friend "Anonymous" is a point of contention. I thought I would present what I feel is a sound biblical definition of what exactly is SIN. This was written by evangelist Winkie Pratney.

SIN is essentially SELFISHNESS:
Basis of Responsibility:
Wrong choices vs sinful “substance” or inherited determinative wrong:
Ez. 18:1-25: Not blamed by God for anothers wrong
Matt. 16:24-25 “If any come .. let him DENY HIMSELF"

• If we are not responsible for our wrong, we cannot acknowledge true guilt.
• No-one ever felt guilty for someone elses wrong unless first taught it.
• Sin is neither solid, liquid or gas, metaphysical or spiritual. It is moral.
• Every word for sin in bothTestaments underlines personal action.
• Sin is rooted in the gift of creative choice turned against God and His law.

SIN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Our understanding of God's will is tied to how seriously we see sin. Hebrew words describing sin overwhelmingly show that people are willful in doing wrong and thus genuinely guilty before God. Every type of word used shows sin as both voluntary and vicious: A sinner according to Scripture will:

1. Miss or err from the mark, wander from the path of right planned for man: Ex.20:20; Eze.18:4,20; Dan. 9:5, 15. Note: “to miss the mark” doesn’t mean the mark is too high; but that we aim too low! This is not just ignorance or stupidity but stubbornness.
2. Act perversely, or twist and distort moral character, usually rendered "Iniquity:" Ex. 34:7, 9; Ps. 32:2, 5; Is. 53:6; Ezek. 18:20; Dan. 9:5.
3. Transgress or break away from just authority, be contrary: Le. 16:15-16, 21; Is. 1:2; Eze. 18:30-31.
Involves violating safeguards and boundaries of protection. Gods’ sanctions are wholly sensible.
4. Refuse to obey or hearken, a negative prefix to a verb basically meaning to (not) listen or attend to: De. 28:45; Ne.9:16-17; Dan. 9:10.
5. Refuse to serve God, a negative to a verb meaning to labor, to work, work for another, thus to not worship and serve our rightful Ruler: Deut. 30:17; Josh. 24:14-15; Neh. 9:35.
6. Act treacherously or deceitfully, usually as "trespass." Le. 5:15; 6:2; Josh. 7:1; Neh. 1:8.
7. Be rebellious (to make or tend to make God bitter): I Sam. 12:13-15; Is. 1:20; Neh. 9:17.
8. Be stubbornly disobedient, also rendered to rebel: Num. 14:9; Neh. 9:26; Eze. 2:3; Dan. 9:5.
9. Be wicked or impious (with an idea of strong excitement): I Kgs. 8:47; Is. 57:20; Dan. 9:5, 15.
10. Live worthlessly or without worthy purpose (idea of emptiness or vanity), often rendered "iniquity:" Micah 2:1; ("unrighteous man") Is. 55:7; ("wicked thoughts") Jer. 4:14. (Life minus God = NOTHING.)
11. Spoil or dash to pieces the moral worth God intended): Be outrageously disappointingly in evil Gen. 6:5; Ps. 7:9; 51:4; Is. 1:16; Jer. 4:14

SIN IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

New Testament Greek carries on the same idea of sin shown in the Old Testament as wicked and inexcusable, again using many words with different shades of meaning. "For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise they became fools" (Ro.1:21-22). Sin is to:
1. Miss or err from the mark, to wander from the path of uprightness and honor planned for man, not a mistake but deliberate misdirection of our faculties: Lk.15:21; 18:13; Jn.16:8-9; Ro. 2:12; 3:23; I Jn. 3:4-5.
2. Trespass, fall beside or deviate from the right path of life, stumble: Mt. 6:14-15; Ro. 4:25; Ep.1:7; 2:1.
3. Transgress or step by the side of the prescribed path, overstep or depart from the way of truth: Mt. 15:2-3; Acts 1:25; Ga. 3:19; He. 2:2. (Jay-walk)
4. Be lawless, or refuse to conform to Divine law revealed to increase man's understanding of the right way: Mt. 7:23; II Co. 6:14; Tit. 2:14; I John 3:4.
5. Disobey or be disobedient, disbelieve or refuse belief (willfully or perversely),from a verb to be persuaded, with a negative prefix: so to refuse to be persuaded or comply; be obstinate Jn. 3:36; Ro. 2:8; 10:21; Eph. 2:2; 5:6; Tit. 1:16; 3:3; He. 3:18; 4:6; I Pet. 2:7 -8; 4:17.
6. Do wrong, be unjust or unrighteous: refuse to do right: Ro.1:18; 2:8; ICo.6:9; Col.3:25; IJn.1:9; Rev 22:11.
7. Be ungodly act impiously, without reverential awe toward God: Ro. 1:18; I Tim. 1:9; Tit. 2:12; I Pet. 4:18; Jude 15, 18.
8. Be evil, wicked, or depraved in mind and heart: Mt.12:34-35; 15:19; Ep.6:12; Col.1:21; He.3:12

Sin is not a state, a substance or a spirit. Sin is a violation of revealed moral light, a stupid, selfish and often stubborn refusal to conform to what we know and perceive as God's truth. It brings guilt, shame and blame. While occasionally objectified and personalized, Scripture shows the active nature of sin so many ways no-one can claim it as a mistake or a misunderstanding. The Bible shows a sinner as a rebel against a loving God, not just some subject of pity who cannot help who they are. There is always the idea of voluntary activity in sin, not some static, genetic or demonic causation that makes us helplessly bad. Sin has deeply hurt God as well as ourselves and others. We will never stand before God and be able to blame our genetic descent, our Dad or the Devil for what we did to Him. Everyone is personally held accountable for their own wrong. No definition of sin that tends to remove responsibility from a sinning individual honors God.

INSTANCES OF BLAME-SHIFTING

We are inveterate blame-shifters: This is not new; here are some of many Scripture instances:

Adam; .. The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. Genesis 3:12
Abram: Say, I pray, you are my sister: that it may be well with me for your sake; and my soul shall live because of you. Gen 12:13.
Aaron: And I said unto them, Whosoever has any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. Exodus 32:24
Jacob: And your father has deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me. Genesis 31:7
Saul: Therefore said I, The Philistines will come, so I forced myself … I Samuel 13:12 (Samuel: “So what means this bleating of sheep I hear in my ears?”) “I spared the best for an offering to the Lord “ (the religious excuse)
Anannias & Sapphira: “After it was sold, was it not in your own power? why have you conceived this thing in your heart? you have not lied to men, but to God”. (When revival comes people sometimes die in church) Acts 5:4
Antinomians to Paul: And not (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just. Romans 3:8
False Prophets: If a man walking in the spirit of falsehood lies. saying, I will prophesy to you of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people. Mic 2:11
Old Prophet: He said ..I am a prophet also as you; and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with you into your house, that he may eat bread and drink water. [But] he lied to him. I K 13:18
Humanity: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. Romans 1:25 Pharisees: You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. John 8:44 Babylon: The light of a candle shall shine no more at all in you and the voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall be heard no more at all in you: for your merchants were the great men of the earth; for by your sorceries were all nations deceived. Rev 18:23

GENUINE HONESTY IS EXPECTED OF ALL REAL BELIEVERS

For He said, Surely they are My people, children that will not lie: so He was their Savior. Isaiah 63:8

You shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another. Leviticus 19:11 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: has he said, and shall he not do it? or has He spoken, and shall he not make it good? Numbers 23:19

A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.
Proverbs 14:5

Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds; Colossians 3:9

I have not written to you because you know not the truth, but because you do know it, and no lie is of the truth. I John 2:21

If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: I John 1:6

But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. II Timothy 3:13

And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: II Thessalonians 2: 11

And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defiles, neither whatsoever works abomination, or makes a lie: Revelation 21:27

THE FIRST VITAL STEP IN RETURNING TO GOD IS CONFESSION: TOTAL HONESTY

Why does God ask us to confess our sins? It is surely not because He didn’t see us doing what was wrong! Confession of sin is not primarily for Him, but for us. As long as we live a life outside of friendship with God, we will not only stay selfish, but grow more stupid. And last of all, we will become unreal. Moral darkness is a state of attempting to conceal our real wrong or representing it to ourselves as well as others as right. God’s laws are descriptions of reality and He never tells a lie. God is utterly real, the foundation of all truth. The consequence of running away from God’s law and voice will not only be guilt and shame; it will be growing unreality.

WE CANNOT BLAME OTHERS FOR WHAT WE DID WRONG: God does not judge us for another’s sins:

Then hear in heaven, and do, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. I Kings 8:32

Ezekiel 18 - Yet you say, Why? does not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son has done that which is lawful and right, has kept all my statutes, and done them, he shall surely live. The soul that sins, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions he has committed, shall not be mentioned to him: in his righteousness he has done, he shall live. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? says the Lord GOD: [and] not that he should return from his ways, and live? Ezek. 18:19-23

But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All his righteousness that he has done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die. 25 Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not My way equal? are not your ways unequal? 26 When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies in them; for his iniquity that he has done shall he die. Again, when the wicked [man] turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. 28 Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 18:27-29 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, says the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby you have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies, says the Lord GOD: wherefore turn [yourselves], and live. Ezekiel 18:30-32