Tag Archives: Sin

Our Problem: To Explain the Human Condition

Genesis 3 tells how humans first entered into what I’m calling our problem. Some people find the story there hard to believe on account of the talking serpent and the seemingly magical fruit. We’ll come back to that. For now I want to show what it is in Genesis 3 that makes more sense than …

January 31, 2012 – 5:50 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Bible, The Faith, Worldviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (28)

Penn State Sex Scandal: “Losing Control Draws Me Toward All of This”

Joe Paterno has been fired as football coach at Penn State. It happened at about 10 pm yesterday. News reports say he was notified of his dismissal by phone. The situation evokes grief over all that has been lost, astonishment over the absurd disproportionality of it all, and of course outrage over crimes reportedly committed …

November 10, 2011 – 1:02 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Life and Choices | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (10)

The Dangerous Prayer: Praying While Sinning

Temptation begins with, “I want to …” The second step is, “I shouldn’t …” The third step is “But I really do want to …” The fourth step is what determines the direction of my life, and it’s the great difference between Christianity and every other way of living. Every religion and every secular system …

September 30, 2011 – 9:13 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Bible, Life and Choices, The Faith | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (11)

The Shrinking Lies of Sin

A popular hymn in the church where I grew up began, “I was sinking deep in sin.” I think another song could be written, “I was shrinking deep in sin.” For it seems to me that one effect of sin is to make us smaller. God created us to live large. Genesis 1:28, the first …

February 24, 2010 – 8:36 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Life and Choices | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

What Christ Does for Us, Part 9: The Cross, Again

In a series on what Christ does for us, one post on Christ’s cross and resurrection is hardly enough. I must linger a while longer. Ravi Zacharias once said (according to a friend of mine), “The only alternative to the cross is the trivialization of sin.” I’m sure he was speaking pastorally, to Bible believers, …

January 27, 2008 – 12:54 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in The Faith | Tagged , , , , | Comments (6)

What Christ Does For Us, Part 2: Broken Roots

Yesterday we saw that God created humans to have great dignity, and superior value and worth, above every other created thing. We were in fact created for relationship with God. He has always intended to love us, and for us to love Him. This is not love between equals, though, for God created us to …

January 3, 2008 – 10:42 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in The Faith | Tagged , , , , | Comments (10)