Jay Forrest's Blog

“And that you, having been set free from sin, have become enslaved to righteousness” (Rom. 6:18).

The Greek word that is translated as sin is hamartia. It is usually defined as “missing the mark.” Which gives one the picture of aiming an arrow at a target but missing it. This is not what it means.

Sin is not missing the mark, sin means to aim at the wrong object. One is not even aiming at the target. The target is pleasing God. Sin is not trying to please God but failing, sin is not even trying to please God. The aim of sin is pleasing self, not God. Sin is a wrong aim. Sin is selfishness.

Romans 3:9 says that “are under the power of sin.” What does this mean? It means that as long as you are aiming to please self, you cannot please God. Selfishness bends all actions to the ultimate aim of one’s own life and interests. Sin makes you a slave of pleasing self. You are “under the power” of the selfish motive (Rom. 3:9).

And Romans 6:22 explains, “But now that you have been freed from sin [a wrong aim] and enslaved to God [the right aim], the fruit you have leads to sanctification, and the end is eternal life.”

It is not wrong action that leads to separation from God, but the wrong aim of one’s life. Sin is living for oneself rather than God. “No one can serve two masters” (Matt. 6:24). You will either serve self or you will serve God. As Romans 6:23 explains, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Making Jesus Lord means making him master of your life.

The singular “sin” refers to the wrong aim, the dedication of the will to self-gratification. The plural “sins” refers to wrong acts, or selfish acts. These are acts that do not please or honor God. For a Christian, these wrong acts are out of harmony with one’s usual aim of pleasing God. As soon as the pressure of temptation is released, the aim of the will snaps back to pleasing God.

Let’s bring this all together. Let me paraphrase our text, “After being freed from the wrong aim of selfishness, you became slaves to the right aim of benevolence.” Benevolence is good willing, it is willing the highest good of God and humanity.

The LORD is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures:
he leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul:
he leads me in the paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.

Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil:
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies:
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
for ever.

_______

Psalm 23 AKJV

“Biblical inerrancy and infallibility are not accepted by the Episcopal Church.” – The Episcopal Church

Inerrancy and infallibility is the belief that the Bible is without any error whatsoever. They claim that there are no errors in history, science, chronology, or any other area. Most of the time they limit this to the autographs.

The vast majority of Christians are ignorant about scripture, its transmission, its canonicity, and its textual issues. Therefore, they are not in a position to rightly judge the question of the inerrancy and infallibility of the scriptures.

I of course, cannot, in such a short span of time, fully educate anybody on the subject. Suffice it for me to say that the scriptures are not inerrant or infallible. For more information, read The Human Faces of God by Thom Stark or Misquoting Jesus by Bart D. Ehrman.

Copies of Copies

Firstly, no original manuscript written in the apostle’s own hand exist. All we have is copies of copies of copies. And of these copies, no two exactly agree. Of the thousands of manuscripts that exist, no two exactly agree.

Known Errors

Second, there are known errors in the scriptures. That’s why there are counteractions in the Bible. Denying that these contradictions exist, makes one seem gullible.

Purpose of the Bible

Third, the purpose of the Bible is not to educate us on astronomy or physics, but on salvation. Therefore, it focuses upon the relationship between God and humankind.

Not God’s Words

Fourth, the Bible is not the words of God, but contains the words of God. Notice the Bible quotes the serpent as saying:

“You will not die, ⁵ for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:4-5).

These are not the words of God and they are not true. The Bible, therefore, is not the words of God. The Bible is the words of humans, from a human perspective, and it is the word of God only in the sense of being the word or message about God accepted by the universal Christian community.

Follow the Evidence

Finally, faith should follow evidence. If we are lovers of truth, we must follow the evidence where it leads. It is clear from the evidence that the Bible is a human book.

The Bible was written by people who were moved by God to express their own thoughts and experiences. God led the church to collect these writings, so that we can learn about these people’s experience, and that it might help us find salvation through Christ.

The Articles of Religion of the Episcopal Church say it best:

Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.

References:
https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/inerrancy-biblical/

“Healthy spirituality has always been a question of putting a number of things into delicate balance and then walking a tightrope so as not to fall off either side.” – Ronald Rollheiser

It is too easy to be pulled off balance. Equilibrium is a state of spiritual maturity few of us reach. Yet, spiritual health is found in balance. It is known as the middle way.

The primary way we get off balance is by going to extremes. By doing one thing really well, yet at the same time ignoring the opposite activity.

When we neglect our home life, we become a workaholic. Dedicated to work, but then neglectful of our private life.

When we neglect our private devotions, we become a person who is religious but not spiritual. We must balance church and home life. Spirituality is about deepening our awareness in the flow of life, not separate from it.

We must balance contemplation and action, passion and purity, duty and self-awakening, community and individuality. You must balance work and home life.

We must balance doing things and being present in the moment. There are so many ways that we can get off balance. It is a human problem, and it is pervasive.

Awareness of a problem is the first step in solving it. Knowing how easy we can get off balanced, let us be watchful of extremes. Beware of becoming focused on one thing only.

Tertullian, an early Church father, wrote:

In all our travels and movements, in all our coming in and going out, in putting on our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever employment occupies us, we mark our forehead with the sign of the cross.

Although not mentioned in the Bible, the sign of the cross is very ancient. There are stories in the Middle East that it was the Apostle Paul who first used the sign of the cross. This makes sense, since it symbolizes that one is “crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:19). For the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus symbolizes that “our old self was crucified with him” (Rom. 6:6).

It might be good to explain this. Sin is selfishness, it is placing the good of self above the good of God and neighbor. In order to be united to God, the old self has to die, be buried, before one can be united with God.

The sign of the cross is actually a prayer. One begins their day and activities with the Sign of the Cross: “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen” (cf. Matt. 28:19). It is a dedication of one’s activity to the Source, the Teacher, and the Divine Energy to accomplish it for the highest good.

The Roman Catholic method of signing the cross with the open palm has special meaning. By using the open palm of five fingers, each finger represents one of the five parts of fallen human nature. Namely, the body, the soul, the mind, the heart, and the spirit. Signing the cross with them means putting to death the sin-sick members of our being. So as you’re doing the sign of the cross, think, “the selfish inclinations of my fivefold being must die.”

Dying to self may not be a popular teaching, but it is essential if one is to be united to God. As long as you cling to the illusion that you are an independent entity, you cannot be joined to God. And as long as you are not united to God, you will continue to suffer both in this life and the next. Eliminate the self, and you can no longer have selfish desires, and once you no longer have selfish desires, you will awaken to the fact that it is God in whom “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).