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A Reflection on the Nature of Sin

The more I meditate on the topic of sin and the more I study evil, the more I am convinced of one truth. Evil does not exist, but it is very real. Allow me to explain that seemingly absurd statement.

Nothing that exists does so apart from God. God is the source of existence itself, therefore everything that exists derives its existence from God. We see this clearly in Scripture as it repeatedly affirms that God alone is the creator and sustainer of all things. We also see in Scripture that God does nothing evil and is not the cause of evil. In other words, everything God makes is good.

Now I can hear the objections being formulated as I type this. "Just look at the world! How can you say evil does not exist?!?" To state the point again, while evil does not exist it is very real and very dangerous. How can this be? Evil is actually a failure to exist.

God brings all things into existence. God makes everything good. Evil, then, cannot exist as its own thing, for that would mean God creates evil. So evil cannot exist. However, Scripture also affirms that evil is very real! It is real because it is the failure of created beings to exist as God intended.

Evil cannot create, because only God create. What evil is, then, is the corruption and distortion of the good things God has made. Think about sin for a minute, any sin will do. Aren't they all, when you really think about it, really just corruptions of good things? Is greed not simply the corruption of godly stewardship? Is lust not simply the twisted distortion of love? Is selfishness not simply an inverted failure of selflessness? The list goes on.

Evil is a privation of the good things God has made. We sin when we fail to live, aka to exist, the way God intended. This is why so much sin is so appealing. We were created to seek out what is good, true, and beautiful. Ultimately, this is God and he reveals these attributes in the world around us. When we sin, we are chasing after these things. We are just looking in the wrong place.

The things we chase after, however twisted and corrupted they may have become, still hold that nugget of existence that only comes from God and is good. Lust is a perversion of the holy act created by God to be good and beautiful in its proper context. When one lusts after somebody else they are failing to live up to the standard of God. It never fulfills the underlying desire to seek out what is good, true, and beautiful. However, there is a hint of that there, for despite how depraved the act the person still sees someone made in God's image.

It's like being desperately thirsty, but instead of going to the mighty river for water you spend all your energy digging in the mud for that one, precious drop of water. It's filthy, contaminated, and muddy but it is still water. Instead of going to God, the source of all life and goodness, we chase after pathetic imitations.

So evil does not exist, but it is very real. Existence in general is not a concept we address much, but it is fascinating and also can help us understand the reality presented in Scripture. Thinking this way grounds all existence in that which is most real, that which truly exists more than anything else; God.

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