The Nature of Degeneration by Oswald Chambers
Just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned… ROMANS 5:12
The Bible does not say that God punished the human race for one man’s sin, but that the nature of sin, namely, my claim to my right to myself, entered into the human race through one man. But it also says that another Man took upon Himself the sin of the human race and put it away— an infinitely more profound revelation (see Hebrews 9:26). The nature of sin is not immorality and wrongdoing, but the nature of self-realization which leads us to say, “I am my own god.” This nature may exhibit itself in proper morality or in improper immorality, but it always has a common basis— my claim to my right to myself. When our Lord faced either people with all the forces of evil in them, or people who were clean-living, moral, and upright, He paid no attention to the moral degradation of one, nor any attention to the moral attainment of the other. He looked at something we do not see, namely, the nature of man (see John 2:25).
Sin is something I am born with and cannot touch— only God touches sin through redemption. It is through the Cross of Christ that God redeemed the entire human race from the possibility of damnation through the heredity of sin. God nowhere holds a person responsible for having the heredity of sin, and does not condemn anyone because of it. Condemnation comes when I realize that Jesus Christ came to deliver me from this heredity of sin, and yet I refuse to let Him do so. From that moment I begin to get the seal of damnation. “This is the condemnation [and the critical moment], that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light…” (John 3:19).
From My Utmost for His Highest Updated Edition
(SN) I find this helpful and supportive. I have a long while been saying that we cannot simply say a 15-second prayer and be done with our spiritual development. If we do that and return to sin, obviously we are not following God’s Way, we are not keeping His commandments, therefore We do not love Him and thus at the end He may say, “I never knew you. Go away into Outer Darkness!”
Our modern world teaches us we can have instant hot and cold water, almost instant food, instant washing, convenient, easy transportation, communication, even go on line and instantly find a temporary “Sex Playmate!” That’s not the natural way the world works and it’s not the way of spiritual development. If you had a lifetime of opportunities to have spiritual development and squandered them, as Jesus alluded to in several parables, you’ll be rejected. You had better think about that, because money and what it can buy should not be your major focus. Money is temporary, therefore, chasing riches is a fool’s game!
What we of humankind have done to ourselves leads to mass death through sinful degeneration. Our bodies degenerate, our cities, our societies, our countries, our entire planet can degenerate until it will not support life. This is caused by our sinful nature. Turn back to God if you seek any hope of revitalization!
Focus upon God, the light of God entering YOU! Focus on prayer, seeking understanding, reading more here of the great many articles and books. Learn all you can and in prayer seek God’s Righteous Way before it’s too late!
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