Dealing with Sins & its Consequences
( The Gospel of John) When Jesus tells the man to "stop sinning" in (John 5: 14) (NIV), He implies, first of all, that the man's illness was caused by sin in some sense. Continued sin might result in a relapse of paralysis. There is however, an even deeper element here. The form of the word translated "sinning" is extremely continuous.
Jesus commands the man to stop something that he had been doing continuously, right up to the time of this encounter in the temple. This implies that the man had somehow been continuing in paralyzed state. What kind of sin was Jesus talking about? A paralyzed man cannot rob banks, commit adultery, or kill anyone. Jesus must have been referring to sin of the mind---- his thoughts, his attitudes, his imagination.
But while the healing of the man's body was totally an act of grace on Jesus' part there was a part in his recovery, as well. Sin not only separates us from God; it produces ongoing consequences that eventually destroy the quality of all aspects of a person's life. The consequences of sin include not only physical injuries and disease; there are emotional, spiritual, and psychological effects, as well.
All these can and should be addressed by a relationship with Jesus. All other things being equal, a genuine walk with Jesus brightens the facial expressions, soothes the emotions, warms the heart, and brings renewed energy to the body. This is way Seventh-Day Adventist Christianity is so concerned with diet, exercise, and the right attitude.
Nevertheless, most Christians readily acknowledge that their inner lives, particular the emotional aspect, can be quite unstable even after conversion. This passage tells us we have an active role to play in cooperating with Jesus in our recovery from sin and effects on our life. Sin destroys our lives and it also causes separation from GOD. In the Bible Adam and Eve were the first human beings to create sin; simply by disobeying God words. Genesis 2: 16,17.
They did something God told them not to do. God told them they could eat food from the trees of the garden. But from one tree God said not to eat, or else they would die. He kept that tree as His own. And we know it is wrong to take something that belongs to someone else, don't we? Well, what happened?
One day when Eve was alone in the Garden, a snake spoke to her. Think of that! It told Eve to eat a fruit from the tree from which God told them not to eat. Now, when God made snakes he did not make them so they could talk. So this can only mean that someone else was making the snake speak. Who was that?
It wasn't Adam. So it had to be one of the persons that God had made long before he made the earth. Those persons are angels, and we cannot see them. This one angel had become very proud. He began thinking that he should be ruler like God. And he wanted people to obey him instead of obeying God. He was the angel that made the snake talk to Eve.
This angel was able to fool Eve. When he told her that she would become like God if she ate the fruit, she believed it. So she ate, and Adam did too. Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and that is why they lost their beautiful garden home.
From my personal experience it is better to obey God rather than man: I hope you have learned something from all of this experience.
"Remember only we can change our evil behavior."
"And He gives us the power to do so."
"And He gives us the power to do so."
Author: Bible Study Guide .