On Sin & Consequence: A Brief Exegesis

When we experience conflict & suffering as either a direct or an indirect consequence of sin, this is in large part due to the perception of the loss of God's protection & benediction over us. We are told in the Judeo-Christian Scripture that evil does indeed exist, albeit manifesting itself in ways both overt & subtle, through the malicious words, actions, and even inactions of human individuals acting either in service to Good or to Evil. We are also told that we are not battling against the flesh & the spirit insomuch as we are battling dark, unseen principalities. I personally theorize, as many scientific-minded do, that the spiritual forces we so often commonly refer to as "good" or "evil" are subatomic phenomena which, although they cannot be directly observed, are nevertheless very much sensed & intuited by many sentient beings attuned to them.

We are also told that when one serves other idols, demi-gods or gods before the one true & living God, that we will eventually face the consequence of the myriad bodily & even mindly manifestations of illness or disease which afflicts all creatures great & small. And these idols can take the manifestation of both those classical idols of stone, metal, gold, etc. or of more intangible idols such as those afflictions & addictions of thought & emotion. However, contrary to fundamentalist evangelical sentiment, God is not some petty, white-bearded tyrant in the sky who delights in sadistic glee whenever we humans succumb to our various foibles & weaknesses. This variation of theological anthropomorphism however, does seem to be a contentious issue of human cognitive tendency. But the analogia entis reminds us that we were fashioned in God's image, & not the other way around. And, thank God for that!

In actuality, it is when we are not seeing God accurately in who & what His character & imago truly is, that we are led into all sorts of venary, plight & other assorted unnecessary embarrassments. And what are these attributes that I refer to in the aforementioned insight? I speak mainly of those concerning how God's nature is to delight in the childlike faith & surrender of His children & to bless us in accordance to our allegiance to Him, rather than to punish us whenever we go astray. Rather, He chastens & corrects in order to protect & preserve. Moreover, as a matter of theological discourse, the Scripture, both Old & New Testament, teaches us that it is actually the work of Satan, or demonic forces, & the work of other human beings which we often confuse with the work of God Himself when we become afflicted.

Furthermore, it is these satanic forces which work to give us a distorted image of ourselves, others & especially, of God, which wreaks the most havoc amongst human society. For the Devil wishes to turn us in self-hatred against ourselves, as this is the clearest path he has towards getting us to commit all sorts of injurious and/or ruinous acts upon others. And contrary to the blindly obeisant Nicenean indoctrination that the inmost, core essence of man is vile, base & corrupt, otherwise known as the doctrine of Original Sin, I believe that it is important to come to terms with our darker potentialities & urges. Furthermore, it is also much more psycho-spiritually sound to focus upon cultivating & actualizing our inherent & God-given virtues & character. Ultimately, I have found this to be a much more amenable & efficacious approach to the resistance of Evil.

In finale, God's love is always available to us. Is is the immutable essence infusing all of the good, and all of the beauty of this existence. But, it is we who must accept it. It is we who must allow ourselves to be crafted into the person God knows that we can be. And as He builds us up from the inside-out, we may then feel thus empowered & worthy to accept His love & guidance. For I believe that the blessings of existential security & even prosperity offered up to those who live according to God's precepts, are desired by each & every one of His children. For the devil & his legions know when we are feeling unworthy & use our human vulnerabilities & character weaknesses as deft instruments to keep us from experiencing the wholeness & completion that the Holy Spirit offers us.

"But what of free will?" so many then ask? Yes, God has granted us our freedoms but with the caveat and the expectation that we will utilize this free will & choice towards pursuits that are most actualizing in a godly way, and that are then, by extension, worthy of God. And many attempt to twist the word of God, precisely because they do not want to be held accountable for their lives. But we forget all too easily the allegory of Eden, don't we? And we cry out "Antinomy! Antinomy! Antinomy! Everything is mere Antinomy and thus is meaningless, meaningless, meaningless!" "But aren't we unconditionally loved by God?" we argue further. Yes, we are. But if one still has the urge to sin against oneself & others, then one hasn't truly reached a place within oneself where they either feel worthy of the love of God, or they are merely resistant to the attendant kenosis & metamorphosis which they must undergo from the inside out, which come along with a genuine acceptance of God's Love & Redemption.

Nevertheless and in the end, when all of the semantic & legalistic reductio ad absurdum maneuverings are deployed & depleted, one more transcendental proof continually testifies to the Immutable & the Absolute: God completes us. He fulfills us. He is the Ultimate Source from whence we came & to which we strive to return. In addition, when we are ready to free ourselves to feel worthy of God's love, and let Him into our minds and our hearts, we no longer feel the ominously omnipresent urge to go forth living our lives in resistance to surrender, for we will have been made whole & our weary, trembling souls, will have been quelled by the inimitable presence of His Grace, Benediction, & Assurance.

We are all loved unconditionally by God our Creator, and His love & guidance are always available to those who seek it. But we are also still morally accountable to ourselves, others & our God for how we use the lives & individual gifts He has blessed us each with. And indeed, we are likewise responsible for how we navigate the obstacles we have been cursed with. For contrary to popular opinion, there are moral absolutes in this life, despite the compulsions of cultural reductionism, to reduce the wondrous complexity of life into excruciating banality. However, there is, in every circumstance we are placed, a choice to do "right" or to do "wrong." The variables may be intricate, even tricky & complex, but the solution is ever constant. And its divine alchemations can be found both in God's Word & in the transcendent wisdom granted to those who ask for it.

For when we open this sacred tome, humbly asking God to grant us His Holy Spirit that we might reflect upon its immutable truths, God always shines forth His light to guide us in our exegetical travails, however humble or sophisticated they may be. For ultimately, in imago humanus we may struggle & toil, but in imago divinus we are are freed, we are redeemed.