Quintessence of Religious Doctrines - Malankarasyriac Voice

67On Sin 133 134Quintessence of Religious Doctrinesinvolvement is due to the erroneous exercise of the free will,which we are endowed with. It may be recalled that, it isthrough baptism that the stains of original sins are washedoff. Repentance and its corollary confession, remove theimprints of the sins committed in the post-baptismal life.2. Sin, other than original sin, is not created by the nature of man.Ref: (a) Ecc. 7:29... God made us plain and simple, but wehave made ourselves very complicated. (G.N.B.)(b) Gen. 1:26, 27, 31. Then God said, “And now we shallmake human beings; they will be like us and willresemble us...” So God created human beings, makingthem to be like himself... God looked at everythinghe had made, and he was very pleased... (G.N.B.)CommentIt is not correct to say that human beings are by nature sinfulor corrupt. The S.O.C. says so, considering that God createdhuman beings in His image and likeness. God’s substanceand nature cannot be sinful. So their counterparts in humansmust also be sinless. After all, sin is a behavioral flaw and itcreeps into human activity as a result of the defective exerciseor maladjustment of the boon of free will.3. It is rather related to the Covenant and originated by the violationof the Command.Ref: (a) Cor. 15:56. Death gets its power to hurt from sin, andsin gets its power from the Law. (G.N.B.)(b) Rom. 4:15. The Law brings down God’s anger; butwhere there is no law there is no disobeying of thelaw. (G.N.B.)(c) Rom. 5:13. There was sin in the world before theLaw was given. But where there is no law, no accountis kept of sins. (G.N.B.)CommentWhen the free will is employed carelessly as to violate divinecommands or break the Covenant of God, sin entails. Thisview of the Church has Pauline touch.4. Men do good or bad due to their freedom of action and notbecause of the difference in their nature. God has not createdanybody a sinner.Ref: (a) Deu. 11:26-28. You have a choice - Do you want theLord to bless you or do you want him to put a curseon you? Today I am giving you his laws and if youobey him, he will bless you. But if you disobey himand worship those gods that have never doneanything for you, the Lord will put a curse on you.(L.B.)CommentThe fact that the misuse of human will is the cause of sin ispresented again. Human nature is basically the same in allindividuals. It can, in conjunction with the will, ward off sin orin the other way round make the individual perpetrate sin. Insimple words, the will of the individual can make or mar men’sdestiny. Nobody shall shirk off the responsibility for havingcommitted evil things on the plea that it was God’s will thatprompted to commit the sin.5. Nobody is coerced to do good or bad; no reward or punishmentis meted out by forcefully making somebody do good or bad.Ref: (a) Jas. 1:13-15. Don’t blame God when you are tempted!God cannot be tempted by evil and he does not useevil to tempt others. We are tempted by our owndesires, that drag us off and trap us. Our desiresmake us sin and when sin is finished with us, itleaves us dead. (L.B.)(b) 1Pet. 5:12. Just as shepherds watch over their sheep,you must watch over everyone God has placed inyour care. Do it willingly in order to please God andnot simply because you think you must. Let it besomething you want to do, instead of somethingyou do merely to make money. (L.B.)(c) Is. 1:19-20. If you willingly obey me, the best cropsin the land will be yours. But if you turn against me,your enemies will kill you... (L.B.)