|
The
Nature of Sin
All Orthodox Christians know from the Holy Scripture,
and believe, that God created man in His own image and likeness. Therefore,
in the creation man received a sinless nature, but not even the first man,
Adam, remained sinless. He lost his original purity in the first fall into
sin in paradise. The toxin of this sinfulness contaminated the entire human
race, which descended from its forbears who had sinned - just as poison
water flows from a poisoned spring. Acting upon the inclination to sin
inherited from our ancestors, each person commits their own personal sins,
as the Scriptural indictment says, "There is no one who will
live for a single day and not sin." Only our Lord Jesus
Christ is absolutely free from sin. Even the righteous, God's saints, bore
sin within themselves and, although with God's help they struggled with it,
yet they humbly acknowledged themselves to be sinners. So, without
exception, all people are sinners, tainted with sin.
Sin is a spiritual leprosy, an illness and an ulcer which has
stricken all mankind, both in his soul and his body. Sin has damaged all
three of the basic abilities and powers of the soul; the mind, the heart
and the will. Man's mind became darkened and inclined toward error, thus,
man constantly errs - in science, in philosophy and in his practical
activity.
What is even more harmed by sin is man's heart - the center of
his experience of good and evil, as well as feelings of sorrow and joy. We
see that our heart has been bound in the mire of sin; it has lost the
ability to be pure, spiritual and Christian, to possess truly elevated
feelings. Instead of this, it has become inclined toward pleasures of
sensuality and earthly attachments. It is tainted with vainglory and often
startles one with a complete absence of love and of the desire to do good toward
one's neighbor.
What is harmed most of all, however, is the
capability of our will to effect our intentions. Man proves to be without
strength of will particularly when it is necessary to practice true
Christian good - even though he might desire this good. The holy apostle
Paul speaks of this weakness of will when he says: "For I fail
to practice the good deeds I desire to do, but the evil deeds which I do
not desire to do are what I am always doing." That is why
Christ the Savior said of man the sinner, "Whoever practices
sin is the slave of sin," although to the sinner, alas,
serving sin often seems to be freedom while struggling to escape its net
appears to be slavery.
How does a sin develop in one's soul? The holy fathers,
strugglers of Christian asceticism and piety, knowing the sinful human
soul, explain it far better than all the learned psychiatrists. They
distinguish the following stages in sin: The first moment in sin is the
suggestion, when some temptation becomes identified in a person's
conscience - a sinful impression, an unclean thought or some other
temptation. If, in this first moment, a person decisively and at once
rejects the sin, he does not sin, but defeats sin and his soul will
experience progress rather than degeneration. It is in the suggestion stage
of sin that it is easiest of all to remove it. If the suggestion is not
rejected, it passes over first into an ill-defined striving and then into a
clear, conscious desire to sin. At this point, one already begins to be
inclined to sin of a given type. Even at this point, however, without an
especially difficult struggle, one can avoid giving in to sin and refrain
from sinning. One will be helped by the clear voice of conscience and by
God's aid if one will only turn to it.
Beyond this point, one has fallen into sin. The reproaches of
the conscience sound loudly and clearly, eliciting a revulsion to
the sin. The former self-assurance disappears and the man is humbled
(compare Apostle Peter before and after his denial of Christ). But even at
this point, defeat of sin is not entirely difficult. This is shown by
numerous examples, as in the lives of Peter, the holy prophet-king David
and other repentant sinners.
It is more difficult to struggle with a sin when, through
frequent repetition, it becomes a habit in one. After acquiring any kind of
habit, the habitual actions are performed by the person very easily, almost
unnoticed by himself, spontaneously. Thus, the struggle with sin which
has become a habit for a person is very difficult since it is not only
difficult to overcome, but is even difficult to detect in its approach and
process.
An even more dangerous stage of sin is vice. In this
condition, sin so rules a person that it forges his will in chains. Here,
one is almost powerless to struggle against it. He is a slave to sin even
though he may acknowledge its danger and, in lucid intervals, perhaps even
hates it with all his soul (such is the vice of alcoholism, narcotic
addiction, etc.). In this condition, one cannot deal with oneself without
special mercy and help from God and one is in need of prayer and the
spiritual support of others. One must bear in mind that even a seemingly
minor sin such as gossiping, love of attire, empty diversions, etc. can
become a vice in man if it possesses him entirely and fills his soul.
The lowest stage of sin, in which sin completely enslaves one
to itself, is the passion of one or another type. In this condition, man
can no longer hate his sin as he can with a vice (and this is the
difference between them). Rather he submits to sin in all his experiences,
actions and moods, as did Judas Iscariot. At this stage, one literally and
directly lets Satan into his heart (as it is said of Judas in the Gospel)
and in this condition, nothing will help him except Grace-filled Church prayers
and other such actions.
There is yet another special, most terrible and destructive
type of sin. This is blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. Even the prayers
of the Church cannot help one who is found in this condition. The Apostle
John the Theologian speaks of this directly when he entreats us to pray for
a brother who has sinned, but points out the uselessness of prayer for the
sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself says that this sin - the
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit - is not forgiven and will not be
forgiven either in this age or in the future. He pronounced these terrible
words against the Pharisees who, though they clearly saw that he worked
everything according to the will of God and by God's power, nevertheless
distorted the truth. They perished in their own blasphemy and their example
is instructive and urgent for all those who would sin mortal sin: by an
obdurate and conscious adversity to the undoubted Truth and thereby
blaspheming the Spirit of truth - God's Holy Spirit.
We must note that even blasphemy against the Lord Jesus Christ
can be forgiven man (according to His own words) since it can be committed
in ignorance or temporary blindness. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit
could be forgiven, says St Athanasios the Great, only if a man ceased from
it and became repentant. But the very nature of the sin is such that it
makes it virtually impossible for a man to return to the truth. One who is
blind can regain his sight and love the one who revealed the truth to him and
one who is soiled with vices and passions can be cleansed by repentance and
become a confessor of the Truth, but who and what can change a blasphemer
who has seen and known the Truth and who has stubbornly refused and hated
it? This horrible condition is similar to the condition of the devil
himself who believes in God and trembles but who nevertheless hates Him,
blasphemes Him and is in adversity to Him.
When a seduction, a temptation to sin, appears in man, it
usually comes from three sources: from man's own flesh, from the
world and from Satan.
Concerning man's flesh, there is absolutely no doubt that in
many respects it is a den and source of anti-moral predisposition's,
strivings and inclinations. The ancestral sin - this inclination towards
sin, a heritage from the sin of our progenitors and our own personal sinful
experiences: all this added up and each (experience) strengthening one
another, creates in our flesh a source of temptations, sinful moods and
acts.
More often, though, the source of seduction for us is the
world around us which, according to the Apostle John the Theologian, "is
under the power of the Evil-One" and friendship with which,
according to another Apostle, is enmity with God. The milieu around us
seduces us, the people around us do likewise (especially the willful,
conscious seducers and corrupters of youth about whom the Lord said: "Whoever
causes one of these little ones to stumble and sin, it were better
for that man that a millstone be tied around his neck and he be cast into
the sea."
The enticers are also external goods, riches, comforts,
immoral dances, dirty literature, shameless attire, etc. - all of this is
undoubtedly a fetid source of sin and seduction.
But the main and root source of sin is, of course, the devil,
as the Apostle John the Theologian says, "He who practices sin
is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning." In
struggling with God and His Truth, the devil struggles with people,
striving to destroy each of us. He struggles most intensely and with the
most malice with the saints as we see in the Gospel and in the lives of the
saints. We, sick and infirm, are specially defended by Christ against those
fierce temptations to which God's saints, strong in spirit, are subjected.
Nevertheless, Satan does not ignore us, acting through the enticements of
the world and the flesh, making them stronger and more deceptive, and also
tempting us by sinful suggestions of all kinds. It is because of this, that
the Apostle Peter compares Satan with a "raging lion which
stalks about seeking whom he might devour."
|
Social Plugin