6976	Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Who Or What Defines Sin ?	on: November 17, 2007, 12:44:35 PM
We enter the world as sinners. And we sin because we are sinners. Our nature is one of sin. Sin is not doing  what is required by the law, not only in letter but in the spirit of the law. Christ extended their interpretation of the law because man always lives in deception of the extent of the law, and wants to define sin so that if man meets a certain standard then the man has done what the law requires. Thats why man always adds all kinds of principles to the 10 commandments so that he can be righteous in himself. So the problem with man is not only that he is blind to the law of God, but that he is determined to rebel against the law of God by building a system in which he can achieve his own righteousness. So from the 10 it goes to 1000 different principles.  But Christ came to show the extent of the law by bringing it to bare on the extent of mans sin and show the depth of the sin in man by showing man that the requirements of the law went much farther than the letter. He was bringing the eternal standards of God, so that men would see that there was no way they could do good without an eternal satisfaction to meet the eternal punishment for breaking the law.  The law goes to the attitude of the heart not just the communication of the requirements in intercepting bad habits. The law brings us to see that our attitude determines our actions, and not that our actions determine our ability. Instead of Christ meeting us at our behavior, the eternal law of God has Christ meeting us at the core of our hearts, our attitude,the knowledge of divine love that gives us an understanding of Christ which will determine our choice.  When we see ourselves in light of the law of God, we feel very small, being unable to meet the requirements of the law in ourselves. We must be convinced that every time we go before God, we understand that there is a "woe is me." But we do not stay in this disposition. Because we know that since Christ has become a man, that He has shown us God by bringing His humanity into the Trinity for all eternity. He has been the only real man, and our identity as man is in Him, who leads us to a oneness because of His oneness in the Trinity. Because He became man and died and rose again and ascended into heaven,our identification with Him in His work as our mediator is the life we share in union with the Father so that we can never fail or be without the life of God in our souls.