Angre – af hvad?

Handler omvendelse kun om at fortryde store fejl, vi har begået, eller handler det mere om livsstilsvalg?

Anger

Jesus’ forløber, Johannes Døberen, lærte, at enhver, der ønsker at blive en sand tilhænger af Gud, skal omvende sig, bekender deres synder og lader sig døbe. Men omvendelse måtte være langt mere end blot en erkendelse af fejl. Den måtte ændre vores værdisystem og livsstil fra egoistiske og uretmæssige handlinger til medfølelse og retfærdighed.

At hæve barren

Jesus begyndte sin tjeneste ved at gentage Johannes’ kald og på samme måde krævede, at folk skulle døbes (Jn 3:22-4:2; Mat 28:19; Mk 16:16; Acts 2:38). Men Jesus støttede ikke blot Johannes’ budskab: han hævede standarden dramatisk! Og så opsummerede han det ved at sige, “være perfekt, ligesom jeres Fader i himlen er fuldkommen” (Mat 5:48). Men det er bestemt umuligt – eller er det?

Synd ikke mere

On two occasions we find Jesus telling people to ‘sin no more.’ Was he seriously suggesting that it is possible to live without sin? Both the apostles Paul and John tell us that Christians have everything they need to conquer the temptation to sin. Hvis så, then we have no valid excuse for sinning in the future.

Er en rigtig kristen ude af stand til at synde?

Some cite the apostle John (1Jn 3:9) to argue that if someone does sin again then it proves they are not a real Christian. Denne lære er kendt som 'syndefri perfektionisme'.’

Men er det, hvad Jesus – eller endda John – virkelig undervist? Ingen. Ancient Greek verbs contain shades of meaning that cannot be expressed in English without using a lot of extra words. When these are taken into account, as confirmed by the rest of John’s letter, a more complete rendering of this verse might read something like this:

Anyone born to become a full-grown child of God does not produce a sin in a given circumstance, because God’s seed remains in him; so that he is not empowered or motivated to sin, because he is born to be a child of God.

A child may be very unlike its parents to begin with: but as it matures it should increasingly display the family likeness. Kærlighed, righteousness and purity are essential aspects of God’s nature and, despite lapses, will become increasingly dominant in our lives. Otherwise we cannot be a true child of God.

Lektioner fra evangelierne

At se nærmere på Jesus’ praktisk beskæftigelse med spørgsmål vedrørende synd og omvendelse.

Falske forudsætninger

Jesus fremhævede for særlig kritik to adfærdsmønstre, der, mens de fremstår god og gudfrygtig, er virkelig farlige bedrag.

Selvretfærdighedens arrogance

I sit første brev understreger Johannes, at enhver, der hævder at være 'uden synd', bedrager sig selv (1Jn 1:8). One particular parable of Jesus vividly demonstrates that he had a similar view of such people. Yet he himself openly challenged his enemies to prove him guilty of any sin.

Nødvendigheden af ​​forandring

Some professing Christians have been led to think that if they just welcome Jesus as their Saviour, they are forever free from any risk of God’s judgement. I den forstand, at der ikke er noget tilbage for os at gøre for at tjene vores frelse, det er helt rigtigt. Men at antyde, at Jesus ikke forventer nogen yderligere forandring i vores liv, er et dødeligt bedrag. This section demonstrates why.

Hvordan Jesus håndterer synd

Hvordan stemmer Jesu og hans apostles lære overens med Jesus’ eget eksempel?

Jesus tilgiver synd

Et af Jesu træk’ ministerium, der mest antagonerede det religiøse etablissement, var hans villighed til at tilgive folks synder. De anerkendte dette som et krav på guddommelighed ('Hvem kan tilgive synder uden Gud alene?’ – Mk 2:7). Men på trods af risikoen for ham selv, Jesus var hurtig til at erklære sin tilgivelse.

Hvad var Jesus’ Holdning til gentagne lovovertrædelser?

Da Jesus sagde til folk, at de ikke skulle synde mere,’ betyder det, at han ikke var parat til at give dem en chance til? Hvad med da han bad Peter om at tilgive sin bror 770 gange?! (Mt 18:21-22.) Eller hvad med hans advarsel om, at vi ikke skal dømme andre? (Mat 7:1-3.)

Hvad med hans holdning til sine disciple’ Synder?

Jesus’ Disciplene var langt fra perfekte; og han tøvede ikke med at konfrontere deres dårlige opførsel. Men, efter at have irettesat dem, he never held it against them or gave up on them.

Synden og kirken

Historisk set, kirken har ofte undladt at leve op til Jesus’ standarder. Er dette en acceptabel situation?

Hvad med efter opstandelsen?

Although Jesus was not physically present very often after his Resurrection, he sent the Holy Spirit in his place to guide the fledgeling church. So we should look to see how the Holy Spirit dealt with sin in the church.

Åbenbaringens Jesus

I Rev 2:1-3:22, Jesus issues a number of severe warnings about the penalty to be expected if the churches continue in their current sins. When we consider the gross nature of some of these, it is surprising to see how patient Jesus has been with them: but also how severely he rebukes complacency and half-heartedness.

I Rev 5:1-14 we learn that the only person God considers fit to act as judge against the human race is the one who would rather die himself than condemn anyone who can possibly be saved. But the final chapter warns that there will come a point where change is no longer possible and judgement must fall.