When did sin become so important to Christians???

When did sin become so important to Christians? When did we think that all that mattered to God was whether we were pure according to certain moral standards? When did we get the impression that God only loved us when we were obedient to certain sets of laws?

From the beginning of the Hebrew Scripture, we are presented with the conflicting understandings of God. One understanding is of a distant, fearsome God who we must obey or suffer the consequent punishment. The other is an ever-present God of grace who wants the best for each person and encourages love and life.

Towards the end of his life, Paul told the Corinthians that they were dead to sin. We died to sin when we were baptised. And just as Christ was raised after his death, we too, have been raised to walk in new life. Our resurrection life is like that of Christ. We are no longer slaves to sin. We are free from sin. We have been freed from sin to live with Christ. The death Jesus died, he died to sin, once and for all. So we must consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ. [Romans 6:5-11] But do we or are we trapped into thinking of ourselves primarily as sinners and that this is all that matters to God?

We are already saved from sin. We are not wretched sinners as the writer of the hymn “Amazing Grace” would have us believe. We are no longer slaves to the Law. We are free to live and move and have our being in God in relationship with God of love, justice and grace. We are free to consider for ourselves how our decisions will impact others and whether therefore we should behave one way or another. We have a more mature relationship with God who has faith in us to do what is good for everyone concerned. In doing so, we become less judgemental of others and ourselves.

Rev Julianne Parker 

(full sermon in sermon section)