Simple Simon
My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 1 John 2:1 NASB
May not sin – Either John was delusional or he was the greatest simpleton the world has ever known. How could he possibly imagine that simply writing these words of advice would make us capable of not sinning? Didn’t he know that every human being sins every day in word, thought and deed? Didn’t he comprehend the enormity of the effects of the Fall, defacing our intellects, our wills and our emotions? How could anyone be so unaware of the great burden of the Law? When you read this verse, you must shake your head in disbelief! It just couldn’t be so simple.
Before you allow thousands of years of Augustinian-Luther depravity to shape your understanding of the text, notice John’s actual words. First, he addresses us as teknia. He does not expect to deliver sophisticated theological texts of intricate arguments concerning harmartiology or tomes of ethical definitions and exact behavioral prescriptions. Adults might be able to handle just volumes, but not teknia. Children need simple instructions, instructions that they can actually understand and do. Fathers do not hand children instructions manuals for flying Cobra attack helicopters. Fathers give children remote control toys with “Up,” “Down,” “Forward” and “Backward” levers.
Put aside the hundreds of lessons you have heard about how complicated it is to live righteously. Put away all those sermons that taught you to believe you could never actually do all that God wanted you to do. Scratch out every mistranslation of sarx that reads “sinful nature.” None of that fits John’s context. Or Moses’ for that matter. “These things are not too difficult for you nor are they too far from you.” Torah is easy. It’s clear. It’s direct. It’s simple. And doing Torah produces righteousness. John writes that we might not sin. That means he must think it is entirely possible to follow his instructions. Is that what you hear him saying?
Oh, yes, John also recognizes that sometimes, occasionally, every once in awhile, we mess up. If anyone sins, not when everyone sins. Sin is to be the exception to the rule. Once in awhile a child can’t quite get the hang of it and the remote control helicopter crashes. But, not to worry, just pick it up and go again and pretty soon that little child is flying around the helicopter like he was born to it.
Then it’s time to move up to the big boy toys.
Topical Index: sin, children, amartete, 1 John 2:1
A nicely articulated point, “Sin is to be the exception to the rule.” I love it when someone so well-read can also make a simple point, …. simply.
I need this reminder every day. I’m making things more difficult than they are. I cannot defeat Amalek with my own direct effort, but with outstretched hands in prayer….. Exodus 17.
YEAH, SKIP BUT WHEN YOU MOVE UP TO THE BIG BOY TOYS YOU BETTER COUNT THE COST – THAT FLYING IS AN EXPENSIVE HOBBY – BEEN THERE DONE THAT!!! —=.O.=— n777jc —=.O.=– jan
Fall down six times- get up seven. Amen!- (been there- done that!) Wanna see my scars? No one (no one) gets through this life “scar free.” Just look what sin did to our Savior!
I hate sin. This is my open confession to all in this community. I hate sin. I loath sin. I do not want (ever) to sin. Dare I ask why?
You tell me. Does anyone here have a history of sin? It has been said: (and rightly so..)
Sin will take you further than you want to go.
It will keep you longer than you want to stay,
and it will cost you more than you are willing to pay.
Sin devastates. Sin destroys. Sin deludes. Sin defaces. Sin preludes disaster. Sin separates. Sin stinks. I hate sin. Sin is stupid.
Praise G-d we have a choice. We have a choice between doing what is wrong or doing what is right. Now how can we tell the difference (and there is a difference!) between right or wrong? Where is the Standard? My conscience? (lol!) or even worse (surely!)- your conscience? (lol!)- May I scream? NOOO!
thank you- I feel much better now.
What is our Standard then? Where is righteousness? Where is justice? Where is holiness? Where may we find the things that are pleasing unto our ABBA?
Look in the Book..- it’s in there!
The will of G-d is contained (and clearly revealed) in the word of G-d. This, friends, is His Torah. His Book of Instruction. G-d’s Law- the Law of the LORD- the LORD of life.
(ever) looking unto Jesus- the Author and the Finisher of our faith. He also is the Author of the Book we hold in our hands. Our Bible is the Lamb’s Book of Life!
He has given (notice the tense and we shall not be so tense!) -all things that pertain unto life and godliness. He has given unto us His word- ‘both’ written and Incarnate. Once again (choir) It is written: ~He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you (instruct you) that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD~ (Deuteronomy 8.3)
How did G-d create the world and all that is within it? He spoke. “Let there be”- and? “it came to be..”
How did Yeshua calm the stormy sea? He spoke. “Shalom.” And the sea became as glass. Instantly.
How did Yeshua gain the victory over hasatan? “It is written”- three times over.
~ How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your word ~ Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path ~ (Psalm 119.105)
YES, CARL – IT IS WRITTEN FOR SURE… ♥♥
JAN
My sentiments exactly Carl. We are so sick of Theology(s) that excuse wretched sinful behavior. And why does this happen pray tell?
At the risk of using an old worn out cliche that I myself detest, “doctrines divide”. They divide people up into flocks of birds of a feather where elders and deacons no less are defended by each other for practicing all manner of sin. What doctrines they believe determines what sins can be excused as they “mature in the faith”. HAH! I say!
That’s why we gather with folks that love torah and seek to pursue Godliness and Christ likeness according to God’s standards and instructions. Torah leaves no room for excuses. It’s simple and direct.
Like a dear friend of ours loves to say, even when we are out from under the authority of our parents house, does that mean you are no longer under the good instructions (laws) that they taught you? Can you now begin to pee your pants and not take showers? EEUUWW!
May it never be!!!!!!
Pam,
i laughed when i read your next to last sentence: “Can you now begin to pee your pants and not take showers? EEUUWW!” kinda strange thinking but i will relate something to it that i have seen daily for a while – not peeing but about taking showers/bathing…
i was led to a person’s flickr account through another person that i follow because they comment quite a bit on this persons (a she) photos & for the life of me i cannot understand the attraction but not much of a healthy one i’m sure. the woman posts photos of her looking like a zombie sometimes with blood spilling out of her mouth & demonic eyes – very not GODLY for sure – but the odd thing about it is daily she makes a comment on her photos of what she does that day & inevitable she always states she takes a bath or shower.
i now have to laugh & really should be sad because i wondered why in the world would you tell the world daily that you take a bath when you are so filthy on the inside. it seems she keeps telling us she is clean when in fact she is not – not in the way GOD/JESUS wants us to be clean. was it not the heathen/pagan/pharisees that he said you are clean on the outside but filthy dirty on the inside & that is what she is – i know by her postings that she is into the occult & by all indication knows nothing about GOD – i tried to post something once on her site about how unGODLY the zombie thing was & was run out of town… imagine that????
now more than ever i realize why she is saying what she is saying about bathing daily – that she is trying to tell the world she is clean on the outside but filthy on the inside – she probably doesn’t even know what she is trying to express – perhaps her subconscious is trying to convince her that bathing will clean her up when in fact that is not the issue – she needs to be bathed in the blood of JESUS CHRIST. PLEASE PRAY FOR THIS WOMAN – HER NAME IS CLAIRE & HER EVERYDAY COMMENTER IS REFERRED TO AS ENRICO (MAY NOT BE THEIR REAL NAMES BUT OH WELL GOD WILL KNOW).
it just struck me funny that you would mention peeing & bathing in the same breath/sentence. i don’t have a problem with people peeing in their pants or bathing unless they smell… :)♥ i feel sorry for 3rd world country people that hardly get to bath at all unless in a dirty nasty river & some just squat & pee in the streets in some countries. again, i am more concerned about the cleanliness of someones heart/spirit than anything else. if i don’t smell the feller – i could care less about their personal hygiene & i know they don’t/can’t brush their teeth everyday.
so when people go on mission trips to the poverty stricken nations/tribes – are they all repulsed because they/the people don’t bath/shower daily or brush their teeth – poor people their dental hygiene is way more important that their bathing & the dirty water they are forced to drink daily.
again, in america everything seems to be upside down – make sure you are squeaky clean on the outside but we don’t care about the inside where it is most important. i have wondered why this woman always talks of bathing daily when she is so dirty unclean on the inside & now i know why that has confounded me since i have started reading her comments – now i know exactly how to pray for her & thanks to you i received much revelation this morning on her bathing & how GOD/JESUS can bath her with HIS/JESUS’ BLOOD so she will become clean on the inside & not worry about her cleanliness on the outside where it is not much interest to JESUS.
THANK YOU PAM FOR HELPING ME REALIZE HOW I SHOULD PRAY FOR THIS WOMAN’S DELIVERANCE & BEING WASHED IN THE BLOOD BATH OF JESUS & DAILY BE CLEANSED/WASHED BY THE WORD OF GOD AS WE SHOULD ALL BE… ♥♥ JAN
Hey Jan,
This is my friend’s response to those who insist that we are no longer need to keep torah because we aren’t under the LAW. Jesus kept the LAW for us therefore we no longer need to.
The logic is; “So Jesus was potty trained on our behalf?”
His point is that just because we are out from under our parents stewardship doesn’t mean we should stop doing what they taught us.
It’s his ridiculous response to a ridiculous doctrinal argument .
“Before you allow thousands of years of Augustinian-Luther depravity to shape your understanding of the text, notice John’s actual words.”
Skip, could you expand on what you are suggesting by this sentence?
Augustine first suggested that Romans 7 is Paul’s picture of his personal conversion and of the expected conflict that exists in the lives of human beings. With the help of Plato, Augustine proposed a dualism, separating the spiritual (good ) from the physical (bad). Since Man fell, he has been imprisoned in the physical world although he longs for (and his soul is equipped for) deliverance from this world into the spiritual realm. But the Fall had the unfortunate consequence of passing a judgment on to all men and corrupting their natures so that they are, as Paul says, unable to do the good that they wish to do. Luther reiterated this thinking, adding the powerful idea of a life of constant repentance for words, thoughts and deeds that do not align themselves with heaven, the spiritual realm of true existence. Luther’s dualism created the subsequent Protestant teachings on the federal headship of Adam, the inevitable reign of sin in the lives of men and, most importantly, the idea that Man is now born with a sinful nature that is the causal precipitator of sin. Again, Romans 7 is used as an example of an almost alien force present in men that makes them sinners.
This theological view requires us to overlook most of the Hebraic idea of culpability and obedience. Once again we see that the Christian doctrine stands in opposition to the Hebraic view, and, in this case, is not reflected in the assumptions of John’s text.
2Cr 3:12 KJV – Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:
2Cr 3:13 KJV – And not as Moses, [which] put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
2Cr 3:14 KJV – But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which [vail] is done away in Christ.
2Cr 3:15 KJV – But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.
2Cr 3:16 KJV – Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
2Cr 3:17 KJV – Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty.
2Cr 3:18 KJV – But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord.
This is quite intriguing coming to an ex-Lutheran…personally I experienced a scriptural “unvailing” when I became obedient to Torah. In turning to the Lord, as mentioned above, the dynamic is startling and liberating.
Indeed salvation through belief; blessing through obedience.
Shalom,
Doug
Are Jesus’ words about the lilies of the field – a possible reference to the ease of obedience? I was wondering if the Greek word ‘krinon’ (lily) could have been translated from a more obvious Hebraic reference? Are the Greek krinon, and the Hebrew Shoshan and tzitzit connected?
Is there something to the belief that pomegranates had 613 seeds and were considered the perfect fruit? Is there a significance to the pomegranates and “lily” designs that Solomon had build in the temple in 1 Kings 7?
I don’t want to contrive a connection,… even though it would be a nice object lesson.
Thoughts? Just curious.