Main news for 5 August 2024

Speaking of sin, Paul calls the addressees of his letter not to grieve, as the Greek text says, God's breath ("the Holy Spirit of God"), whose seal they received on the day of their baptism, which the apostle calls the "day of redemption." These words are often understood allegorically, meaning that every sin committed by a Christian grieves God approximately as it would grieve a person striving to conform to certain moral and religious norms. It is then assumed that God too expects such conformity from a person and, not receiving it, becomes upset.

But this is still far too human an image, created by a human measure and a human assessment of what is happening. Of course human sins truly do not rejoice God. But the issue here is not morality as such. God does not expect perfection from fallen man; He knows better than anyone with whom He has to deal. Something else is important. God sent His Son into the world so that He would bring the Kingdom into the world and make it accessible to every seeker. The Kingdom is permeated with God's breath, in which, through Christ, everyone who trusts Him can share.

Such a person who trusts can truly live one life with Christ, the life of His Kingdom. But there can be no place for sin in this life. The breath of the Kingdom not only surrounds the person who shares in its life. It also enters within the person, into the depths of his heart. The Christian's heart becomes the door through which the breath of the Kingdom enters the world, transforming it. The world and the person are transformed by the same breath of God that permeates the Kingdom as well. And sin interferes with this process, slowing it down.

Sin nesting in the heart interferes with God's breath, the breath of the Kingdom, abiding in a person. It also interferes with the sanctification of the world. Figuratively speaking, the ability of a human heart poisoned by sin to let God's breath pass through it decreases just as the ability of a water pipe to let a stream of clean water pass through decreases if the pipe is clogged with debris.

God's breath, oppressed by grief, is a beautiful image describing this reality. Every sin diminishes the measure of the fullness of God's breath abiding in the Christian's heart. And this means it diminishes the measure of that heart's sanctifying effect on the world. Ultimately, it postpones the day of the Kingdom's full and final triumph and Christ's return in glory. And therefore the day of the sinner's own salvation as well.