Saturday, January 31, 2009

Sin According to Me


What is sin? According to Christian believers, sin is the violation of God’s Commandments or a transgression against divine law. When one violates God’s commandments, he/she have sinned. The Bible has many definition of sin. But they all tell us that sin is about breaking God’s laws/commandments. Christians have 10 Commandments to follow. If a Christian would violate one of these then he commits a sin. Basically, sin is whatever that contradicts God’s command. This is how the Divine Command Theory, which is held by many Protestant Christians, defines sin. And this is also how other religions like Islam and Judaism defines sin.  

On the other hand, for me, I do not define sin as that. Maybe I dont believe in sin at all. I believe that I have this thing called free will and no one is commanding me to do this or that or else I’ll suffer eternal damnation. So since I dont believe in sin and that I have free will, am I a bad? [Opkors not!] Do I know what is good and what is bad? [Opkors yes!] 

I dont believe in sin but I believe in immoral actsImmoral acts are acts that causes damage to others. That’s how I define bad [or sin to Christians]. Simple as that. Acts like killing or raping causes damage to others. Since it causes damage to others then I do not kill and rape. Now is gluttony or lust or envy bad/immoral? For me they are not unless they can cause damage to others. To others [I'm talking bout believers(most of them if not all)] they do not do bad things/immoral acts because that’s what the commandments say or that’s what their God say. What if their God would tell them to kill, would they? Look at 9/11 and the Crusades. These people are just afraid of the punishment of hell or they like the reward of heaven. They do not know what is really bad. Some of them are just forced [maybe] to not to do bad.

Unlike them, I really do know what bad/immoral is from the bottom of my heart. I do not do bad [immoral acts] just because I am forced to or I am afraid of hell or I want the reward of heaven but because I know from the bottom of my heart that it is bad [simply because it can cause damage to others.]  :D 

Lastly I dont like the idea of sin because it kind of takes away the essence of life which is absolute freedom. Man must have freedom in order to be human. Man must choose for himself what to do and what not to do and be responsible. 

Believing

When i went to church last Sunday [since my mom always forces me and as an obedient and 'maro' son i follow] i  noticed always that the the rituals and the pastor’s sermons always have to do with believing [ofkors in God]. Like for exmaple, when we eat the bread and wine and other similar stuffs. Its all about remembering and believing in God/Jesus. I also noticed that the Sunday school lessons were also about believing and/or having faith in God/Jesus.  [maybe not really "always" but most of the time].  Both the pastor and Sunday School teachers[SSTs] teaches us that when we have faith and that when we believe in God/Jesus, nothing is impossible.  They,both pastor and SSTs, really emphasizes  [i think] ‘believing/faith’.

But what is with believing anyway? Is believing to God really that important? Can one secure a seat in heaven [assuming that there is] just by believing? 

As person who have an open heart and mind on both sides [huh? what sides? lol] i think that believing is not that really important. Maybe for a very deeply religious person, believing is very important because it assures them of things and that they think that believing [alone] in God will assure them of afterlife/heaven.  But for me, i think that believing will not really assure one a seat or place in heaven. I mean, a person can believe and have a strong faith in God yet that person can still continue to do what is not right. Right? Example are the corrupt politicians we see on news/TV. They go to church with their family [or for some, 'families'] or they offer a mass for this and that yet they are still corrupt. Or a person goes to church every Sunday yet that person still do what is not right [ still commits immoral acts].  This is really ironic because they call themselves man/child of God yet still continues to commit immoral acts. 

So what now can secure a man a seat or place in heaven? ?  Hmmm…  For me, i believe that having a good conduct and clear conscience can secure a man a seat or place in heaven.  These two, i believe, is much more important than believing.  I will not elaborate on this because i know that you already know ‘why’. :D [i hope]. My point is that we should focus more on these two rather than just by believing alone.  And that the Church must not only promise its believers of heaven/afterlife but they should also teach its believers how to ‘really’ end up in heaven.