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Showing posts with label Q and A With John MacArthur. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Q and A With John MacArthur. Show all posts

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Q and A With John MacArthur (2): Why Did God Allow Sin?




Question:


Why did God allow sin?


Answer:

There are questions like, “Why did God allow sin?” and the why questions are very difficult when they get into the nature of God! He did allow it and that suffices the issue because we just don’t know why. We can speculate why He allowed it--theologians have done that for years--that’s called the problem of theodicy or why God permitted evil.

And maybe the best solution to that question is to simply say He allowed it in order that He might destroy it. By that I mean this: if there is a right, there is a left; if there is an up, there is a down; if there’s an in, there’s an out; if there’s a good, there’s a bad. And so, if there was goodness, there was always potential evil and maybe God allowed evil to exist in order to ultimately destroy it so that it could no longer again exist. And that’s what heaven is all about.

But that’s a stab at it--that’s the way I kind of look at it--but there are some questions that are very difficult to answer because we just don’t know the mind of God and there is no specific revelation in the Scripture regarding such questions. Why did sin enter the world? And again we have the difficulty of that same question, and I mentioned it to you earlier: there is no answer to that question. We don’t know why; we just know that it did.

But the question that followed that is important: why did Adam sin? You ask most people, “Why did Adam sin?” and they say, “He was tempted by Satan and he sinned.” That isn’t true. Was Adam deceived? No. Paul said to Timothy, “Adam was not deceived; the woman was deceived.” Eve was deceived. That’s why women have (for one reason) taken the subservient role in God’s order: because they sinned, they were deceived.

Why did Adam sin? The best answer to that is that Adam sinned because he loved Eve and once she was what she was, he wanted to be what she was. In addition to that, there is no answer. But apparently--and most scholars say--to be what Eve was. I mean, at that point he didn’t have a lot of choice; she was the only woman around! If you wanted any kind of compatibility, that was how it was. It shows you the foolishness of man’s first decision.

Now don’t ask me what would have happened if he hadn’t done it. “What if” questions are tough too.



Saturday, August 7, 2010

Q and A With John MacArthur (1): What Is The Essence of Sin?



Question:

What is the essence of sin?

Answer:

Essentially, sin is any transgression or violation of God's law. This is seen in 1 John 3:4 where John wrote, "Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness." The New American Standard says, "Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness." In other words, any lack of conformity to the perfect moral standard of God is sin.

But our problem with sin goes much deeper than simple acts of disobedience, which are merely outward manifestations of inner fleshly compulsions. The basic inclination and orientation of man toward self-gratification-however religious or moral we may appear on the outside-is directly hostile to God. Even the good deeds of an unbeliever fail to fulfill God's law. Why? Because they are produced by the flesh, for selfish reasons, and from a heart that is in rebellion toward God.

Romans 8:7 tells us that the natural man is at enmity with God-meaning that he has a positive hatred toward God and stands in opposition to Him. Sin seeks to dethrone and depose God, usurp His authority, and put self in His place.

At its core all sin is an act of pride. Pride says, "Move over, God, I'm in charge, I'll do what I want." Therefore all sin at its core is blasphemy because it attacks God. When we come into this world we love sin, and so we love our rebellion and we love our pride and we love our blasphemy. We delight in it and we seek every opportunity we can to manifest it.

Jesus taught that the central demand of God's law is to "love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these" (Mark 12:30-31).

Thus, the essence of all sin is the failure to love God. That is the primary violation. And the essence of sin is most clearly seen in unbelief. This shows up in John 16 where Jesus said He would send the Holy Spirit who would "convict the world of sin…because they do not believe in Me" (John 16:8). In other words, any failure to love and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ is a failure to love God. Thus, the apostle Paul wrote, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be damned" (1 Corinthians 16:22).

So, the ultimate sin, the epitome of sin and the summation of sin, is any lack of love for God and His Son Jesus Christ. "And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment" (1 John 3:23).

HT: Bible Bulletin Board


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