Daily Sin: Doctrine or Delusion? by Pastor Walter Snyder The response to my words about "daily sin" (17 December) included in a letter to the Concordian shows that different people understand sin and sinfulness in various ways. I quoted Martin Luther from his comments on the Lord's Prayer. He says of the petition "forgive us our trespasses" that we "pray ... that our Father in heaven would not look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them. We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment." Luther invented no new teaching. He merely acknowledged the truth that never, as long as we live on this earth, are we free from the stain of sin. Even if we aren't actively sinning, we aren't free of the "body of sin" (Rom 6:6), that inborn separation from God afflicting all humanity. John Cassian (ca. AD 400) calls it, "that body of death from which we cannot escape, pent in which those who are perfect, who have tasted 'how gracious the Lord is,' daily feel with the prophet 'how bad for himself and bitter it is for a man to depart from the Lord his God' (from Jeremiah 2:19)." Likewise, Augustine and other Christian writers of earlier and later times have understood this Scripture. They show that even if one is not actively sinning, his sinful nature remains locked in a struggle with God, ready to break out in rebellion at every opportunity. Lest we think this a novel understanding of sin, we need only turn to Saint Paul, especially his discourse in Romans 7. Paul wrote (vv. 18-20), "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me." This wasn't the unregenerate Saul, before his conversion on the road to Damascus. This was the spiritually mature, deeply believing missionary apostle. He summarized our plight at the close of the chapter: "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin." Paul then spent the eighth chapter of Romans showing how God overcomes sin not by changing us internally but by applying to us the righteousness of Christ. If we were fully changed and sin ever completely removed, we would no longer be forced to dwell away from the full and glorious presence of God. Our continuing mortality and our ongoing exile from heaven both testify that sin remain sad parts of our beings. So even though we are counted righteous for Christ's sake, sin remains until the final redemption of our bodies (8:23). Our prayers likewise would be futile, since "we do not know what to pray for as we ought"---another sign that we are imperfect, that is, sinful---but the Spirit "intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words, (8:26)" Of course, these arguments will only convince those already convicted of their sinfulness by the power of God's Word. If He doesn't daily, hourly, minute-by-minute remind us that we remain frail, broken, sinful creatures then we likewise don't acknowledge our daily, hourly, minute-by- minute need for a Savior. Yet if we don't "need" a Savior, we are either translated into glory and are living in heavenly bliss or else remain self-deluded on earth, like those Pharisees who saw sin- sickness in others but blindly refused the Great Physician's healing (Matt 9:12). While Jesus was speaking to unregenerate Pharisees, his concluding remarks, quoting Hosea 6, also convict us of our continuing sinfulness: "Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. (9:13)." If your entire life is one of mercy, of loving your neighbor, always doing good, always looking out for others, and always pleasing God in thought, word, and deed, then you are free of sin. Similarly, if Jesus no longer needs to call you to repentance and to forgiveness, you are free of sin. However, if you think that Jesus no longer needs to call you, yet you are not with Him in heaven you have deluded yourself. Catechism quoted from Luther's Small Catechism, © 1986 by Concordia Publishing House. Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from ~The Holy Bible, English Standard Version~, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles. Ask the Pastor, © 2004 by Walter P. Snyder. It may be reproduced in totality, including this disclaimer, by anyone, provided that no profit is generated by said republication and redistribution. Translations into other languages should similarly note the United States and any appropriate international copyrights, as well as God's Scriptural injunctions concerning the property of others. Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of the book "What Do Lutherans Believe."