Beads and I agree on something, that sin is like vomit and like dung. I would also agree with lost and found that hell is something misunderstood as well. Jesus died for our sins, he was aquainted with all our weakness but without sin. Thus the reason that his birth was born from a virgin. He was flesh and blood but without the sin of our natures born in him as well. Yet he understood us all. How deep shall we go, or shall it just be said that he was a perfect man. That when he died his body was glorified, he was the second Adam, and we are born again from that seed. Sin is not about whats right and wrong, sin is about distruction and death.
Here we are, in the flesh and those of us with the knowledge of the Son of God don't accept the full sanctification. What will happen to us when we say we don't have this sin in us any more? Does God point his finger and tell us that we are bad to say such things? We are dealing with weaknesses and when we recognize/confess them as such, he is the one that, through the Holy Spirit, works in us his good will.
That means that we stop blaming ourselves or anyone else for that matter. I agree this world can be a cold cold place to live in. We might even say "whats the sense of it all". But there is sense and there is disappointment, yet we are never alone and he comforts us when we feel that things just won't ever change. They do and he makes a believer out of us.
Did the early Christians die for their faith? Yes. They were good, loving people who sought no wrong on anyone. Why did they die, some at the hands of Saul, now Paul? what was the outrage. Was it not that they believed that they no longer had sin in them because of this Jesus, that was a heritic > or was it because they were peaceful people letting others know of this great gift free to anyone? They never harm anyone, they were not rising up in groups to produce war. They believed in the resurrection, they believed that those that are Christs are without sin, set free and they lived as such. Who had a bible in the early days...it was the Church. They took the word and formed it into one book and read and interpreted the word to their clergy, to the people.
I agree that we have lost some of the true meaning through translation. We might wonder why this happened. I have come to know and believe in is so revealing, why does it have to be such a dogged item? Its good news don't you think.
While we wait to die and go to heaven and be set free from sin completely, we are like Dorothy with the ruby red slippers living here on earth. I can hear him say "You had me on all the time, you had my sanctification and my love, I never reissued sin in your lives...why did you ever doubt this?" Possibly because we had been taught otherwise?
We don't have to wait, we can wake up now and make the restitution in our lives complete and then walk or run what ever the case may be, we do it without sin in our lives. We are human spiritual creatures naked before the Lord. If he doesn't count sin against us then why do we? And we do count "today I sinned Lord, I lied, please forgive me" thats one...how many more do we count.
More to the point "today I lied Lord, what is going on with me that I did this?" This is not confessing your sin, this is confessing your weakness. Your answer is only a prayer away.
If it makes no difference whether is called sin or weakness, then what are we talking about here? Sin is like vomit, like dung...and we have been made clean in him.
In his peace, your sister in the Lord.