"I have long feared that my sins would return to haunt me."
--Benjamin Martin, The Patriot
Warning: This may be completely heretical!! I'm just brainstorming.I've been thinking a lot about the above quote, lately, having just watched
The Patriot (Mel Gibson) this past Independence Day. Plus a friend of mine recently quoted it as well. And it got me thinking about Sin. While I can't remember the verse off hand, I really feel like I remember something in the Bible that says something to the effect of "even in some evil there is good." I know Joseph says something similar to his brothers, but that's not exactly what I was thinking of, though it may still apply.
But the idea is sound. Our greatest example being
the greatest thing to happen in all Eternity. The Death of Christ Jesus. What a terrible thing for the Son of God to be tortured and put to death! But in this dark occurrence we find our greatest wonder and joy. For by Christ's wounds we are healed. And by His death we are (and will be) Saved.
In fact, I
could (and
will) even use Joseph as an example. His brothers turned on him, cast him in a well, sold him into slavery, he was falsely accused, imprisoned... but God used this to raise Joseph up, using something viewed as
bad and making it good.
Forgive the geekiness, but we even see this in a fantastic piece of fictional literature;
The Lord of the Rings. In
The Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf the Grey falls to his doom in 'mortal' combat with the Balrog... only to be raised up again as Gandalf the White, sent back to aid his friends. And in a minor version: In
The Return of the King's conclusion, Gollum, that twisted, vile creature, steals back the Ring... only to take it with him to his doom in the fiery lake, effectively completing the objective of the adventure.
Where am I going with this? Probably some place heretical. But I was thinking of Sin. And with that idea of "even in some evil things there is bad", can there be some good in Sin? Now to quote Paul:
"...where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? Certainly not!"
--Romans 5:20-6:2
So just to make that point clear,
I do not believe we should continue to sin.
Au contraire we are to fight against sin through Christ Jesus or Lord and Savior!
But the Sin we have failed to fight over the years... could there be some good in it? For example (
warning: for those of you knew to my blog, I am very blunt about my Sin life. I have very little that I hide, for by hiding my sin, Lucifer is victorious--more on this another time) over the years, as many of you already know, I have been in a terrible battle with Lust and Pornography. Now, not a month goes by where I don't wish I could travel back in time to my first struggle (and all subsequent ones) and
stop myself. But then, my thoughts suddenly shift to a new line of thinking. Perhaps there is some good in this? If I have children some day, particularly a son, and, God-forbid, he ends up in the same mess I am in, perhaps I will be of more help and comfort to him in his battle with Sin because he knows I had the same problems and can identify with him, just as it was a help and comfort to me that members of my family have
indeed experienced the same struggles.
Certainly I have to believe that God is big enough to use anything for His purpose. In fact we have Biblical proof that He does:
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."
--Romans 8:28
It really is difficult to know how to approach this subject, because almost every way you try to think of it, it sounds like you are trying to say "Well maybe it wasn't so bad that I sinned", and that's kind of what I'm saying but not really in that way. I don't know. I can only imagine what this sounds like to
you the reader.
But another example could be just the fact that, when we reflect on our past sin, when our sins "return to haunt" us, it reminds us of God's wonderful Grace and Love. It reminds us of what we have been bought from. It reminds us of what we have been
Saved from. We remember the guilt that comes once the sin has been committed, and a lot of times that can aid in deterring us from committing the same sin.
Does this make any logical Christian sense? Or is this just complete and utter heresy? Perhaps I should just shut up before I get myself.... ex... Christianized.... or something. Or struck by a bolt of lightning. Because there are storm clouds gathering overhead....
