Flourishing Life

What is the S-word? Maybe not what you think. What I’m thinking about is sin—a word that’s fallen out of favor, a word many would like to ignore and leave behind.

While the word sin is anathema to the world today, the concept is very much alive. Think about it.

People in the world don’t use the word sin, but rather sin-adjacent words like injustice, oppression, colonization, harm, and being on the wrong side of history.

Many of their concepts of sin are distorted and untethered from their biblical moorings. For instance, “social justice.” For starters, justice doesn’t need a modifier. Obviously, justice is a major biblical theme; it’s derived from God, who is just and who creates all humans in his image. Humans are worth dignity and equal moral regard not because of power, productivity, or identity, but because they bear God’s image and are therefore accountable to him, responsible for their actions, and entitled to justice tempered by mercy.

This is where the world particularly goes off the rails. The world has a robust conception of sin, but not of grace. This modern ethic expresses itself in Cancel Culture. Confession is demanded, but absolution is withheld.

We can’t trust society’s concept of sin. We have to go to the Bible. What got me started on this was a quote from the Reverend Cambron Wright, pastor at Asbury Methodist Church in Highland Heights, Kentucky. In a recent sermon he said, “God hates sin because he loves us.” Sin is fundamentally rebellion against God’s loving leadership. Sin is an elevation of the self, a function of pride. Just as Adam and Eve in the Garden, we substitute our will for God’s revelation. And sin is destructive to persons, relationships, and society.

That which is opposed to human life and flourishing is repugnant to the God who created us in his image and loves us. If we are to be renewed in the image of God and live the abundant life Jesus offers, we have to take sin seriously.

So, what do we do about it? First, you can’t—at least not in your own strength and moral effort. Sin is not just an individual action that incurs guilt; it’s a condition with which we are born.

If you don’t believe humans come into the world infected with sin, pride, and self-centeredness, put two toddlers in a small room with one piece of chocolate. You’ll see for yourself. We’re born bent, sick, with a broken moral compass. We can’t save ourselves.

Thankfully, God has a plan. God called Israel to be a light to the nations—to live under his good rule and show the world what justice, mercy, and faithfulness look like. But Israel, like all of us, failed. Again and again they turned inward, trusted themselves, and broke covenant with God. So God did what we could not. In Jesus, God stepped into our broken world, lived the faithful life humanity failed to live, took sin and death upon himself at the cross, and rose again to launch his new creation. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God deals with sin at its root and offers forgiveness, transformation, and new life to all who trust him.

This is an important key to understanding what God wants to do in your life. As you place your faith in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit, God forgives you from the penalty of sin and frees you from the power of sin. This is the whole Gospel.

So many in the church today have settled for half a Gospel. No doubt it’s  a wonderful half—the forgiveness of sins, a clean slate, a fresh start in grace. That’s good news, and there’s more: the second half of the Gospel. When you put your trust in Christ to forgive you, you can also trust him to free you, to fill you with his Holy Spirit, to transform your life—in a word, to sanctify you.

This abundant life isn’t attained through your efforts. No—just like forgiveness, freedom is about receiving. Open your heart and life to the regenerating, sanctifying, empowering grace of God and experience the whole Gospel. This is the flourishing life God desires and has designed for all of us. I hope you open your heart, mind, and life to the life of God.