I'll deal with the interpretive issue first. Verse 6 says, "Everyone who resides in him [Jesus] does not sin; everyone who sins has neither seen him nor known him." Yikes. From an interpretive standpoint, this gets even more complex because at the beginning of I John 2, the author makes very clear that Christians do sin. I'm going to be honest and tell you that I'm not quite sure what to make of this passage. My best educated guess is that it is referring to "living a life of sin"--that is, living a life in which committing sin is the norm and there is no guilt for it. Here is a much better analysis of I John 3:6.
If this interpretation is correct, it still leads to a very difficult application. I grew up in a church that essentially taught what is sometimes referred to as "easy believism". Too often I hear something to the effect of, "If you ask Jesus into your heart, then you will go to heaven. It doesn't matter what happens from here on out, you can be sure of your salvation." Or, to put it differently, "Pray a prayer and you get your guaranteed ticket." (For the record, my church would have never actually stated the second version, but I have heard a more blunt pastor put it that way once.) The problem is that I don't see any way for this theological position to square with today's passage or many other places in the Bible. To read a much more thorough (yet still incomplete) analysis, check out John MacArthur's controversial The Gospel According to Jesus: What Is Authentic Faith?
.This is a very dense chapter, but I want to bring out one final point. (I have a feeling this post will be edited and added to quite a bit in the future.) At the end of the chapter John summarizes what it means to be righteous before God. He says, "Now this is his commandment: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he gave us the commandment." My analysis of what "believe" means in the New Testament will have to wait for another day. But, righteousness is summarized as having true faith in Christ and loving each other. Very simple, but also very hard.
My Aspie wife wants to know, "How can I tell the difference between a sin and a mistake?" I suggest she make definitions for these two terms -- maybe the difference will be revealed as she compares them. I draw her toward the first step, a definition for sin. "Sin is 'missing the mark'", she says Oh dear, no...that is often told to us by preachers, and it's the word origin, but as a definition it, err, misses the mark. "Sin is not doing what the Bible says to do." This is closer, but hints dangerously at a mechanistic view. What about God?
ReplyDeleteOur conversation takes many turns and many minutes. Gradually she complies with my idea of the concept, but overall it feels unproductive to me. I doubt she is ready to look at sin as rebellion and self-seeking that tears at our relationship to God. I think she views sin as a failure to comply with God's directives. It makes me think: There must be legalistic churches that are filled with Aspies.
How does an Aspie helpfully understand sin? Until then, 1 John 3 comes loaded with challenges to preclude as deep an examination as you offer here.
Can you have a mistake that is not a sin? Or, a sin that is not a mistake? As my beloved Aspie offers answers, they assess behavior and infer a good or bad motive. In several cases I can complicate the scenario and reverse the outcome. Performing badly on an exam, due to carelessness, was a sin. I countered this, for it seems untrue -- as a blanket statement. I gave her such a splendid case of preoccupation that she had to offer amnesty. You ask difficult questions, she laughed. I said (with an ungracious tone, I am sad to mention) that all the questions are hard if you want simple answers.
ReplyDeleteIronically, I've never actually worked through a Bible study with other Aspies, so I've sort of trained myself to answer questions for NTs. But let me give this a shot.
DeleteThere is a difference between sin and a mistake. Take social settings. If I talk incessantly about my "special interest" at a dinner party, that is a mistake, but I don't think it is a sin. It doesn't violate a command of God or disrupt my relationship with Him. It probably does negatively impact my relationship with others, though. It is a mistake, but not a sin.
A sin is more like disobeying a parent. By disobeying God, you are going to have more trouble maintaining a good relationship with Him. It displeases Him. (This might be closer to a definition of sin, "Saying, doing, or thinking something that displeases God".) And God, because he doesn't want us to displease Him, provided the Bible as a guide-book to learn about Him and His will. When we disobey, we are intentionally harming our relashionship with the Heavenly Father since he has laid out His will for us.
For many Aspies, it seems that understanding the obedience part is easy enough, but the challenge comes in understanding the relationship part. Is this the case with your wife? One theme in I John is that loving God implies obeying God. The two concepts are very intertwined. Obeying God is out of relationship much more than out of duty. It is easier for many Aspies to think of things as being an issue of duty because obligation is a concept that comes easier to us than the challenges of navigating relationships.
But I think the parental analogy might be the most helpful in your situation. I'm not sure since I am highly fallible and I don't know your wife (there is tremendous diversity among Aspies). But take what might be valuable and feel free to ask if you have follow-up questions.