Talking to a crowd one day, Jesus told them, "It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man" (Matt 15:11). Peter asked Jesus to explain the parable (Matt 15:15). Jesus said,
Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man. (Matt 15:17-20)Jesus here does not place the blame for the sin -- in this case, "not washing their hands before eating" (Matt 15:2) -- on the violation, but on the violator. It's not what you do that is the problem; it's what you are. We aren't so much sinners because we sin; we sin because we're sinners.
Back to porn, then. Pornography is a problem, but not the problem. We are the problem. We sinners are the reason for our sin. If we didn't have evil thoughts, sexual immorality, etc. in our hearts, we wouldn't be doing them. That is, the real problem of porn (and all other sin) is that it tells us what we are inside. Paul said, "To the pure, all things are pure" (Titus 1:15). That is, if we were pure inside, we wouldn't have a problem outside. We aren't, so we do. What we need is an internal wash, a cleansing from within. What Paul calls, "the washing of water with the Word" (Eph 5:26). That is what we call the process of "sanctification." That is the real need. We need to be cleansed from the inside out.
9 comments:
Every time we sin, we are telling God that He didn't provide something we think we need. Only when we fully accept our place in God will we be free of sin, and that is an always progressing state. Please, Lord, help me to feel sufficient in You.
This certainly goes to the point regarding our sin nature and gives more evidence of that teaching in Scripture...though I'm told nothing in Scripture tells us we're born sinners.
Yes, David. I suspect that's one of the reasons Scripture so stresses "death to self."
No, Art, nothing in Scripture tells us that ... except, of course, for the parts of Scripture that do (Rom 5:12-19; Psa 51:5; Gen 8:21; etc.).
Well, who are you going to believe, Stan? Some "book" or a modern progressive with years of serious and prayerful study under his skirt?
I know it is risky to bring up a point of logic with you :), but I have never agreed with the assertion, “We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners.” Although I understand the point being made here--i.e. we cannot not sin due to our basic sinful nature--I believe that we are indeed sinners (by definition) because we sin and also that we sin because we are sinners (also by definition). It was in fact Adam & Eve’s first act of disobedience (i.e. sin) that made them (and all of us who follow) sinners. That saying always strikes me as illogical because it is not the case that both clauses cannot be equally true since they are not contradictory; rather, each statement causes the other to be true. (I bet there is a term of logic for such an argument!) Am I missing something?
First, Lorna, Adam and Eve were not sinners by birth. Their first sin was the first sin. So, biblically, we all became sinners by nature because of Adam's sin (Rom 5:12-19). Second, it's not my logic; it's Jesus's. He said that evil comes out of the heart (Matt 15:17-19). David wrote that we are sinners from conception (Psa 51:5). Our basic sin nature (as you recognize) causes us to sin. Now, obviously, our ongoing status of "sinner" is maintained by our ongoing sin. Adam and Eve were the first of the race. They started as non-sinners, committed the first sin, and became sinners by deed and by nature. The rest of us carried that nature from birth. Thirdly, part of the problem here is language. Is sin a nature or an act? Is it part of our being or just what we do? The answer is ... yes. So, we are sinners by nature which causes us to be sinners by behavior. It's also the primary problem with the "You can work to be saved" folks. They assume we are not sinners by nature, and if we work hard enough, we can become good people ... a patent impossibility biblically, and the big reason we need a Savior.
I appreciate your reply, and of course I concur with all three of your points. To clarify, my quibble was not with any doctrinal points of your post but only with the phrasing of that particular saying (to which you added the words, “so much,” which did soften it a bit). I was focusing on the illogical way the two clauses are contrasted and how that causes the first clause to be inaccurate. (Rather than “not that but this” I prefer to see “that and also this.”) In any case, Jesus’s words--and your good application of them today--are solid and trustworthy and certainly get no arguments from me!
Like many sayings, not knowing the point of the saying can lead to confusion. The purpose of the saying is to point out that the origin of our sinfulness isn't that we sin and then become sinners, but that we sin because we are born sinners. It has become a short-hand, but it is always good to remind ourselves the meaning of the shirt-hand, lest we lose it's true meaning.
David,
As I remarked above, I understand the intended meaning of the saying (and all the doctrine related to it, including the “origin of our sinfulness”). The point of logic I was making was that both “we are sinners because we sin” and “we sin because we are sinners” are true statements; they are not conflicting or mutually exclusive assertions, so there is no need to deny the first truth to make the point of the second truth--however paramount that second truth is perceived to be. (It’s bad writing as well as illogical.) An early version of that saying which I found quoted online (purportedly made by a Mr. William Lincoln in an 1859 publication) reads this way: “We are not sinners only because we sin, but we sin because we are sinners.” I believe that is a somewhat better way to say it, as that wording gets the point across without making a false statement.
By the way, this “not only...but also” correction is the same one I pointed out about Charles Spurgeon’s “discernment” quote on Jan. 24. Clearly, I notice things that others don’t (including seeing the irony of finding an error in a quote about discernment).
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