Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Is a Sinless Life Possible? (Part 1 of 5)


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




[1] Paul the Jew, Gabriele Boccaccini & Carlos A Segovia, 2016 Edition, page 187
[2] Paul the Jew, Gabriele Boccaccini & Carlos A Segovia, 2016 Edition, page 23-24

No comments: