As a believer, I desire to walk as my Master walked, in an
obedient life free from sin. However, I
find myself wondering if a sinless life is achievable for the believer. The general consensus of believers, supported
by personal experience, would say no.
After all, “all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God,” (Rom
3:23). As John wrote, “If we say that we have no sin, we are
deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us,” (1John 1:8). Yet, scripture
also holds out the hope of a condition “freed
from sin” (Rom 6:7, 6:18), offering
the potential to live a sinless life. If
it is possible to be “freed from sin”,
then why is a sinless life so difficult to achieve? Why does sin hold such a powerful sway over
our lives preventing us from doing what we ought to do, while at the same time,
enticing us to perform the very sins we despise?
These questions are not new.
The apocalyptic writings of the first and second century before Christ, dealt
with many subjects including the origin and nature of evil. One tradition (called Enochic) linked the
introduction of evil to the rebellion of the fallen angels (1Enoch 10:8), a position
apparently supported by the Essenes in the Qumran community, and reflected in
the Book of Revelation, “And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels
waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war,” (Rev
12:7). In the Enochic understanding,
“The
transgression of the created order (that is, the boundaries between heaven and
earth) by fallen angels (1Enoch 7:11) leads to violence and bloodshed teaching
humans ‘to make swords of iron and weapons and shields and breastplates and
every instrument of war’ (1Enoch 8:1), and to idolatry, ‘and there was much
godlessness on the earth’ (1Enoch 8:2).” [1]
The other predominant position (called Adamic) held that evil was
introduced into the creation through the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden. Paul was a strong proponent of the Adamic
position in his writings, “Just as through one man sin entered into the world,
and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned,” (Rom 8:12). In short, Second Temple Jews principally argued two
parallel, but virtually mutually exclusive explanations for the origin of evil,
the “Enochic” and the “Adamic” positions.
“According to
the first (Enochic), the sins committed by…the fallen angels, the ‘sons of God,’
were the source of evil and the cause of the state of the world. Quite different stories (Adamic), attributed the state
of the world to Adam’s disobedience in general, or more specifically
to Eve’s seduction by the serpent, also circulated in Jewish works of the
Second Temple period, as well as in the New Testament…There can be no doubt
that Paul belongs to the Adamic camp.” [2]
Whether evil originated through the cosmic rebellion of angels or
the deception of Adam and Eve in the Garden by Satan, the origin of evil has, at
its source, a superhuman angelic element. Whether leading a heavenly rebellion or
deceiving Eve, it is Satan who tempts us (1Cor
7:5), for “the devil has sinned from
the beginning,” (1John 3:8).
The superhuman force behind sin, referred to
in scripture as “the power of sin” (1Cor 15:56), is reflected in Paul’s words, “Our struggle is not
against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against
the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of
wickedness in the heavenly places,” (Eph 6:12). If sin is superhuman
in origin, how is mankind, created lower than the angels, capable of resisting
the “spiritual forces of wickedness in
the heavenly places”?
...to be continued - Scott
