Lance quotes Debbie: > How can we deny that we share in > this corporate responsibility, and does > that not also count as sin?
She makes a good point here. I think of Daniel 9 when I read this. Daniel's prayer shows him confessing his sins and the sins of his people (Dan. 9:20). Moses too found himself accepting the responsibility for what the people did. This is the place of the intercessor, and prophets often find themselves in this position of confessing the sins of society and treating them as his own. However, when we look at this attitude, do we say, "ah-ha! Daniel had the sins of his society upon him." Do we impute guilt and iniquity upon Daniel? No, I certainly do not see it that way. I see God loving Daniel all the more because he put himself in the position of interceding. When Moses found himself in a similar situation, although he had the same attitude, the Lord desired to wipe out Israel and keep Moses. Such indicates that while Moses placed himself with the people and complicit in a way with their sins, the Lord did not. Of course, confession of sin and repentance puts us in this position that God forgives and perceives we no longer will walk in that sin. Therefore, the intercessor who confesses corporate sin, the sin of society, he is expressing a heart that he and others in society are recognizing their error and the outlook is not one of being in a perpetual state of sin, but rather of leaving that sin behind and walking in the kind of righteousness that God expects. Another thought along these lines is the consideration of Christ becoming sin for us. Do we say, "see, even Jesus had sin because of society, so nobody can be without sin"? Do we condemn Jesus for taking upon himself the sins of the whole world? Not at all. Rather, we commend him for taking such upon himself, just as we commend Daniel for confessing the sins of his people. Jesus Christ truly is our example in what we mean when we speak about being free of sin. Do we mean that we no longer have a sinful nature within our bodies that might tempt us to sin? No. Jesus had that. Do we mean that we do not share any part of societal sin, corporate sins? No, Jesus was in this position as well. Surely we are just as complicit in those sins as Jesus was. What we mean is that just as Jesus did not commit sin, neither do we, because we have received his Spirit. It is the gift of God, not something we do in our own effort. We do not TRY to do what is right. Rather, we do what is right because of the Spirit which he has given us which leads us in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. For us to claim that we will always sin, or that there will be some point in the future when we are going to sin is to express doubt in the promises of God. Just as we do not doubt that we will be resurrected and receive eternal life, we should not doubt that the Lord will keep us safe and give us a way of escape for every temptation that comes our way. David Miller. ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
