Our Spiritual Fork In the Road – Steve Orr

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The religious mind is sin-conscious. This malady of the mind comes from the snake bite of “sin-management”—We were never intended to be a sin-conscious child of God.

Sin-management is the primary strategy of the false god of religion and a self-destructive “navel-gazing” practice, the only fruit of which is either self-righteousness or self-loathing.

One ingredient in the cure for this disease begins with a proper understanding of what sin is. Note John the Baptist’s exclamation upon seeing Jesus: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).”

John refers to sin in the singular, not an exhaustive list of bad behaviors which we must strenuously avoid. The Greek word for sin, hamartia (ἁμαρτία), is a singular state—the root condition of humankind’s having become separated from God. We lost our identity as being the children of our heavenly Father. It’s not about bad behavior; instead, it’s a thing—a state of separation, our shared lot, inherited from Adam and Eve’s choosing the rotten fruit of religion, encapsulated in the phrase “the knowledge of good and evil.”

In Romans 7, the apostle Paul conclusively points to the “law of sin” as an entity, an enslaving power that exists in all humanity. This entity wages war against our minds, makes us prisoners, and leads us to do things we detest. It is not just bad behavior—it’s a loss of identity, which leads us to living outside any awareness of our true source of life as God’s children.

Sin isn’t merely about bad behavior—it’s a spiritual identity crisis that results in self-destructive behavior that leads to death. It’s living outside any awareness of our true identity, which comes from our heavenly Father, the source of all life.

Our Triune God permanently dwells in the tabernacle of our heart. When we sometimes feel disconnected, it’s because of our divided heart. With unresolved internal conflict, we become double-minded and suffer from double vision.

“Confession is good for the soul.” Confession is having the humility to face the truth, and doing this means we give up the splitting of self. When we surrender the charade of self to the one who is Truth Incarnate, we are healed. Consider the apostle Paul’s sheer exasperation when he comes to grips with his predicament:

I am unspiritual, a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do and why I do it. But the reality is that it is not me who does it; it is the sin entity that lives in me that does it. I don’t do what I want to do. Instead, I do what I hate. Even though I want to do good, I cannot. So it’s not actually me that does evil, it’s the sinful entity in me that wars against my mind, making me his slave. What a wretched man I am! Who can rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! Therefore, there is no condemnation for us. Through Christ Jesus, the Spirit who gives life sets us free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 7:14-8:2 paraphrased)

The word “sin” comes with a lot of emotional baggage. Some pulpit-pounding preachers use this emotional baggage to practice their guilt-driven religion.

One meaning behind the word sin is “missing the mark.” I can relate to the archery metaphor because I have a compound bow, finely tuned to my body, and I have to practice a lot to become competent with it. So when I shoot my arrow at the target 40 yards away, and it misses the bullseye by a mere quarter inch, it’s a decent shot where missing the mark isn’t bad or evil. For golfers, it’s like hitting the ball on a par three to within six inches of the hole and saying they failed because they missed the mark.

I shared this etymology of sin after enduring a preacher’s pulpit-pounding sermon. He reacted by accusing me of being “easy on sin” and practicing “greasy grace.” This is the mentality of religion, and by stating this, I have not missed the mark!

Jesus said the road to destruction (missing the mark) is wide. In the broad span of history, only a minority (but still a significant number) of people have chosen the narrow way to eternal life in Christ. As Robert Frost so eloquently wrote, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”

The life path set before us meets a fork in the road. One fork continues down the path of identity crisis. The other solves the crisis. Here’s the path that makes all the difference:

SIN-Conscious→SON-Conscious

The fruit of Son-Consciousness is becoming a new creation in Christ, where the old has passed away, and our new identity is found through union with Jesus. Christ in us is our firm hope of glory. Our shedding of the old identity begins when we are crucified with Christ—our old self no longer lives, Christ lives in us. We are his workmanship, created for good works. We have died, and our true identity is hidden in Christ as a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation of people with a purposeful ministry.

(See 2 Cor 5:17, Col 1:27, Gal 2:20, Eph 2:10, Col 3:3, 1 Peter 2:9.)

As Christians, we are a new creation trapped in an old body. But with our new identity comes a new spirit body and a new name. Jesus will give us a white stone with our new name written on it, a name that proclaims that we are new creations in Christ, with an eternal destiny to enjoy an intimate relationship with God.

Since the Greek origin of my name is Stephanos, which means “crown,” I look forward to laying my crown and myself down at the feet of Jesus and receiving my new name.

The condition of our heart is central to our relationship with God, who looks at our hearts, not our outward appearance. Our hearts are the discerning source of our actions and intentions.

Regarding the fork in the road, we have a choice to make, and we don’t have to wait—we can choose (or reconfirm) the road that makes the difference now.

These are “Matters of the Heart,” not empty religion that leads to destruction. So let us be the light of the world that shines for all to see the path to God and the eternal bliss he desires for us all.

Steve Orr writes to us from Montana. After working in the mecca of technology, Steve traded the rat race of Silicon Valley for the adventures of High Tech in Big Sky Country. Steve has an MBA with experience in accounting, finance, technology, and management. He occasionally writes a little software code, but mostly he likes writing about Matters of the Heart.