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Introduction on Forgiveness
An essay about forgiveness
Essay on the enigma of forgiveness
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Thoughts run through every human beings mind constantly, and some of those thoughts can torment even the strongest of people. When someone is struggling with sin, they can have thoughts like, “I am ashamed and a disgrace to God.” “God cannot ever use me because I am a totally mess up.” When people fall into sin, they can believe God is going to punish them, and they willingly take abuse from others believing it is what they deserve. They are weak and vulnerable because they fell into sin, and into condemnation.
Condemnation has never helped anyone, and in times like these people can become weak. That is when the body of Christ should be there to encourage and pick each other up pointing to what the Word of God says about each member of the body. However, this is rarely the case. I have live most of my life hearing from one pulpit to another how Christian soldiers are the only soldiers who are shooting their wound in the back, and the men who stand behind them proclaim, “this should not be!” As long as I have heard those words, someone would think things would change.
In spite of all the messaging like these I have heard, I still see Christians who believes that God has called his people to stand up and reveal sin. That kind of amazes me, since Jesus is the example to follow, and he died to cover sin. 2
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Jesus did not stand there and talk about how bad adultery was, nor did Jesus tell them she deserved what the law commanded. Jesus covered her by reminding them, they had sin in their lives as well. “Who is without sin cast the first stone?” Everyone walked away; so what does that do for the theory that some sin is far worst then other sin, and therefore, needs to be dealt with strongly? I believe it shows us that all sin needs God’s grace. God’s grace covers our sin by giving us his righteousness. Jesus told the woman, “neither do I condemn you, go and sin no
In the Hebrew Bible, adultery is considered a capital crime, punishable by the population stoning the adulterous wife and her lover to death. Deut. 22:20 commands this communal punishment in order to “sweep away evil from Israel.” The question remains as to why this crime was considered to be such a transgression. Several explanations exist to account for the seriousness of the crime.
Theology and different religions, all contain information about sin. Sin is recognized as an unholy thing to possess, therefore, sin is not taken lightly. In Roman Catholicism, if one’s sins are serious enough, one may not receive eternal life with God, in Heaven. Severe punishments may occur, if one sins. Sin is thought to have been caused by mankind. The perception of sin continues to evolve as the analysis of texts continues.
We are all sinners. Although one may try hard not to sin, all humans eventually succumb at some time or another to sin. While people may not able to avoid the fate which awaits them, the power of free will allows people to decide how they will respond to sin. While some may respond with guilt and regret, others may react with a sense of redemption and a renewed sense of responsibility.
In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the theme of sin is addressed to a great extent. Hester Prynne commits adultery with another man while her husband is away, which is a great “sin” in her Puritan community. The child that she bears with Arthur Dimmesdale and the scarlet letter “A” are the constant reminders of her sin. However, as the story unfolds, the meaning of the child and the letter begins to changes as Hester acknowledges her sin and seeks for redemption from her sins. Dimmesdale, on the other hand, conceals his sin, which causes him to feel great agony due to the guilt he experiences because of the concealment. Through the use of the contrasting characters Dimmesdale and Hester, Hawthorne reveals that if an individual acknowledges their sin, it leads to liberation from the guilt associated with it and acts as a catalyst for improvement in character, whereas those who conceal their sins become consumed by their guilt.
In today’s society, adultery is not viewed as it would have been viewed back in the 1600’s. Adultery is defined as a voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not his or her spouse. In society today, people understand that it is not right to commit adultery, despite knowing that it is often done more. Adultery is committed more now, in the view of its not a punishable act, as it was in the 1600’s. Committing adultery in the 1600’s was considered committing one of the sins that can not be forgiven. Many people were killed for this type of act, however as generations past people begin to view adultery differently.
Ever wonder what the consequence would be of something such as cheating on a partner in today’s society. You won’t get in any trouble with the town or with the law. You might have a few people that dislike you but nothing more, but in the story The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne one has more than that if he commits such a terrible crime. I Believe sinners that have committed adultery are not the worst of the bunch, they just slipped and did it out of temptation and desire.
He addresses the idea by posing two questions: “1. in what context does adultery fall into being immoral; 2. what adultery is exactly with the help of arguments supporting his main idea” (Wasserstrom, 1985, p.240). According to Wasserstrom (1985), adultery occurs when a promise is broken and the action would be considered “morally wrong” in extramarital relations (p.241). Adultery in marital relations occurs when one person in the marriage engages in sexual activity with someone outside their marriage, hence breaking the agreement that was made by either person to not commit the act (Wasserstrom, 1985, p.241). This is generally the traditional concept of adultery across many different cultures in monogamous marriages. People enter into an agreement to getting married with the one person, therefore trusting that person to not engage in any sexual relations after marriage. The aftermath with when one spouse has committed the adulterous act, the other spouse may feel that there is a “lack of sexual desire” for the spouse from spouse who committed the act (Wasserstrom, 1985, p.
...beral - perhaps amoral - society, adultery can be justified if we are truly in love or somehow deceived in marriage. There are many in our society today that would teach that adultery is not a great sin, but rather the guilt is the sin. They would say, "I am no devil, for there is none." In general, if you declare something not to be a sin, or at least a justifiable sin, you can do away with the guilt. According to Christian theology, however, there is a catch that states, in 1 Corinthians 32:12, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." When we know of our self-deception perfectly, hell has arrived, the day has passed, and we are no longer able to repent. From a Christian's perspective, you can deny or disagree with what God declares to be sin, but only temporarily ...
Romans 5:19 (NLT)-Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.
“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned or unprayed for” (Spurgeon 13). Too often Christians think they are exempt from sharing the Gospel because the power of salvation rests in God’s hands, which is true, but God uses means. “We should stop excusing ourselves from evangelism on the basis that God is sovereign” (The Gospel and Personal Evangelism 28). Many people think because God is in control and already has an elect, that Christians can neglect their calling to witness. “Maybe, when it comes down to it,
(Acts 20:28-29)” An effective guardian, will feed his flock but first of all holding fast to sound doctrine (2 Timothy 1:13), preaching and teaching that sound doctrine. He will preach and teach the word of God. He will proclaim Jesus Christ as a crucified and Risen One. It is also his responsibility to preach and teach the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven. To be an effective Guardian the pastor must in no doubt know his sheep.” I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and have known of mine.” (John 10:14). A good shepherd will love (John 10:11), lead (John 10:3, 15), protect (John 10:12, 16), feed (John 10:9), strengthen (Matthew 9:36), perfect (Hebrews 13:20 – 21), and preserve (John 10:27 – 30) his sheep. As a Guardian, the shepherd must understand his responsibility in preaching God’s word.” How very great, then, is the responsibility of those who preach God’s word! If the man is wrong and mingles his own unclean things in with the word, he defiles the word of God, greatly damaging it. The fundamental problem in preaching rests not on how much one knows of the Bible, for the mere knowledge of doctrine is a little avail…. As ministers, though, we can never be like the Lord Jesus who is the Word became flesh; still the Word of God is deposited in our flesh and is to be released through this flesh. We need to be daily disciplined Any defect in us will defile the Word and destroyed its
What this consists of is a defect or corruption in the soul. Human nature is damaged and unable to fully live up to what God intended it. As such there is something missing from humanity due to original sin. This also causes the Holy Spirit to not be fully present in us, guiding and influencing our actions and life. What his amounts to phenomenologically is that we find ourselves unable to obey God's law. As such we commit willful sin. Willful sin is sin which violates a known law of God. Such violations are known through the light of conscience, the teaching of scripture or the exercise of the power of the keys by the church. This also leads to other kinds of sinful acts, though, like sins of habit and sins of surprise. Sins of habit occur when sin has become so strongly entrenched in one aspect of a human life as to make a person unable to stop of their own will. Similarly, a sin of surprise occurs unconsciously and involuntarily as a result of an unexpected turn of events. However, as creatures with a sinful nature we will naturally commit sins as a result of who we are. These, however, are not acts of sin in the same way. Rather, these are sins of infirmity. These are failures we enact, such as lapses of memory which result in harm or going back on one's word. Sinful infirmity is an aspect of human nature that will not fully be healed until glorification. Concerning the range
The idea of temptation can be related to the ideas of evil, one’s soul power, and one’s idea of right and wrong. We might compare temptation to evil or the devil and how darkness represents evil. “And Night bore frightful Doom and the black Ker, And Death, and Sleep, and the whole tribe of Dreams. Dark Night gave birth to Blame and sad Distress.” (Wender, Dorothea pg. 30). This use of illustration shows how sin is dark and evil and how sins themselves are born out of darkness. In the reading, Selections from Hebrew Bible and Christian New Testament, the devil tried to temp Jesus to worship him by giving Jesus the opportunity to have splendid things: “ki...
I worry very well; actually I'm an expert at worrying. I am going to guide you through the complicated process of worrying. I’m not condoning being a worrisome person, but I do understand that worrying is a part of human nature and is a continual cycle for most people. Most people already know how to worry so most of this will be common knowledge.
For 2,000 years people all around the world have followed Jesus. For 2,000 years people have resisted Jesus and persecuted those who follow Him. As followers of the God of love, who is perfect and has called us to be set apart, what is our response? We cannot just sit by the side and say nothing, but we cannot retaliate. Out of resistance to the Gospel arose people called apologists. These are people who wanted to intelligently and logically defend their faith, opening the minds and heart of unbelievers to what they had to say. We can learn a lot from their bold example and their appeals to logic, emotion, and ethics. These apologists have lived out 2 Timothy 2:24-26 (NASB) The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all,