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Introducing: The Sin Issue

"What sin issue ..?", should be your bewildered response.

How can I say that sin is not an issue? I can say this because sin is not an issue. Not between you and God, anyway. The traditional Christian doctrine on sin has had cataclysmic effects on the health and effectiveness of the church, choking believers with the idea that their sin is separating them from God and blinding many to the freeing message that the Gospel contains.

Unfortunately, for the sake of thoroughness, I will need to briefly explain the doctrine of sin as taught by most Christian denominations (or variants of this basic explanation). In short, the doctrine of sin says that sin is an issue between man and God. It says that every time we do something that does not come into line with the Bible, or sin, then God holds it against us and we need to repent; all stemming from Adam's original sin. Terms like 'be holy' and 'get sanctified' are commonplace when this is taught. The basic outcome of having a doctrine of sin in the body of Christ, is that Christians become increasingly sin-focused or sin-conscious.

Unfortunately many Christians think that it is a noble thing, to feel condemned and guilty all the time, to focus on the wrongs and then strive to right them. To put it bluntly, this is madness. It's what the Apostle Paul calls self-righteousness (Philippians 3:9), where we attempt to vainly attain a standard of right-living in order to somehow please God. Many Christians use guilt to fuel their convictions and live out their 'Christian' lives. How many of you know that you cannot reproduce anything else but who you are and what you have? Due to this reality, Christians impose guilt and condemnation on other Christians; reproducing themselves in those they are discipling (In keeping with Matthew 28:19).

Sin is only an issue because we have made it an issue. If this statement is true, then the Bible needs to be able to back it up, right? Of course, however, most people don't let the Bible get in the way of what they believe, let's hope you do.

Let me start by asking you a few questions: How many times did Jesus die for our sins, how long does this sacrifice hold and who does it apply to? The answer to the first question, according to history, is once. According to the Bible, it is also once. Hebrews 10 puts it pretty plainly:

• v10 "By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." 
• v12 "But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever ..."
• v18 "Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin."

All three the questions are answered above: Jesus died once and He will not die again, why? Because 'Once sins are taken care of for good, there’s no longer any need to offer sacrifices for them' (Message). This sacrifice was for ALL people. This sacrifice was for ALL TIME.

The result: Your sins are forgiven past, present and future.

Please read the follow-up posts to this one, as this is an incomplete study, with more statements than evidence. The evidence is to follow.