In Genesis 3, the fall of man is described. Before Adam and Eve sinned, they had no consciousness of sin, they did not know they were naked, they did not know sin. Eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, caused them to be corrupted by the evil that they were now aware of and knew. Before they fell, because they knew no sin, for them, sin was not real.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
The word for truth, can also mean "what is real". Here, Jesus is not meaning that He is doctrinal truth, it means that He is real. He is the only person in the universe who is not corrupted by evil, whose mind never thinks an evil thought, and whose conscience never condemns him. He is the only person who does not have the reality of sin.
Jesus was not just a man who never sinned and kept the Law perfectly, he was a man who knew no sin:
2 Cor 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
The religionists, on the other hand, had great knowledge of sin, in fact, they even went looking for it. They condemned Christ for breaking the Sabbath, they brought an adulterous woman to Him and expected Him to condemn her. Jesus never seemed shocked or perturbed about a person's sinful condition, or condemned anyone. To Him, He was their great Physician, and they were sick people in need of a doctor. In the same way that we would not condemn a cancer patient for having cancer, Jesus never condemned someone for having sin.
Jesus had no knowledge or consciousness of sin, because unlike Adam and Eve, and every human being since, Jesus never ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Because of this, Jesus could acquaint with sinners, even be called a "friend of sinners", and yet never be affected by them or their sin.
Knowing no sin, is also reflected in the life of the apostles. Paul could have focussed and even studied all of the sins and problems in the Corinthian church, but He did not, there is only one thing that Paul wanted to know, and that was Jesus Christ crucified:
1 Cor 2:2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Many problems we face, including sin, in our life, is because we think it is real, and even permanent. It is real in a sense, in that it exists, but it is not the truth. Only Jesus Christ is "the truth".
When we focus on Christ, who is full of grace and truth (John 1:14), we lose consciousness of sin. In some way, we are freed from the corrupting influence of the tree of knowledge.
There are people in Christianity who prefer to know sin, rather than to know Christ, because to them, sin is more real to them than Christ is. Both the religionist, who wants to fault find and point out the flaws in others, and the poor person who is in bondage to sinful addictions, are two types of people where sin is more real to them than Christ. How many times are we more conscious of our sin, than we are of Christ's presence with us? Rom 8:68 - we must set our mind on the Spirit, and not the flesh. To set our mind on sin in the flesh, is not to set our mind on the Spirit.
There are other religions and philosophies that say "sin is not real", but normally they mean "sin does not exist, there is no sin", which is wrong. "Sin is not real", does not mean that sin does not exist, or that we turn a blind eye to it, in our own lives or the lives of others, or that we are no longer aware of it, because as long as we are in the flesh, we will sin. It means that we do not focus and dwell upon it, and we do not let it define who we are, as our identity is in Christ. When we sin, we simply confess it, and move on (1 John 1:9). We do not focus on it, or entertain any thoughts that we are now not saved, or not a "real Christian", or that we can never overcome it - that is focussing on the sin and letting it define us. Even to know that we have sinned, we should always look to Christ, and not at our problems or ourselves. He will tell us in His time, what sin we have done and what we need to confess, and He does it in such a way that He does not condemn us. The conscience, on the other hand, being activated by eating the tree of knowledge of evil, will certainly condemn us, tell us that we are "naked", evil, dirty, and not worthy to be a Christian - we need renewal of our mind in God's Word, to be free from our condemning conscience, this is part of our sanctification, renewal, transformation and glorification. In the future, in Heaven, the Christian will know no sin. In Heaven is the tree of life (Rev 22:2), but there is no tree of knowledge of good and evil. For this reason, we do not have to be afraid that we might sin in Heaven, because we will not know sin any more.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
The word for truth, can also mean "what is real". Here, Jesus is not meaning that He is doctrinal truth, it means that He is real. He is the only person in the universe who is not corrupted by evil, whose mind never thinks an evil thought, and whose conscience never condemns him. He is the only person who does not have the reality of sin.
Jesus was not just a man who never sinned and kept the Law perfectly, he was a man who knew no sin:
2 Cor 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
The religionists, on the other hand, had great knowledge of sin, in fact, they even went looking for it. They condemned Christ for breaking the Sabbath, they brought an adulterous woman to Him and expected Him to condemn her. Jesus never seemed shocked or perturbed about a person's sinful condition, or condemned anyone. To Him, He was their great Physician, and they were sick people in need of a doctor. In the same way that we would not condemn a cancer patient for having cancer, Jesus never condemned someone for having sin.
Jesus had no knowledge or consciousness of sin, because unlike Adam and Eve, and every human being since, Jesus never ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Because of this, Jesus could acquaint with sinners, even be called a "friend of sinners", and yet never be affected by them or their sin.
Knowing no sin, is also reflected in the life of the apostles. Paul could have focussed and even studied all of the sins and problems in the Corinthian church, but He did not, there is only one thing that Paul wanted to know, and that was Jesus Christ crucified:
1 Cor 2:2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Many problems we face, including sin, in our life, is because we think it is real, and even permanent. It is real in a sense, in that it exists, but it is not the truth. Only Jesus Christ is "the truth".
When we focus on Christ, who is full of grace and truth (John 1:14), we lose consciousness of sin. In some way, we are freed from the corrupting influence of the tree of knowledge.
There are people in Christianity who prefer to know sin, rather than to know Christ, because to them, sin is more real to them than Christ is. Both the religionist, who wants to fault find and point out the flaws in others, and the poor person who is in bondage to sinful addictions, are two types of people where sin is more real to them than Christ. How many times are we more conscious of our sin, than we are of Christ's presence with us? Rom 8:68 - we must set our mind on the Spirit, and not the flesh. To set our mind on sin in the flesh, is not to set our mind on the Spirit.
There are other religions and philosophies that say "sin is not real", but normally they mean "sin does not exist, there is no sin", which is wrong. "Sin is not real", does not mean that sin does not exist, or that we turn a blind eye to it, in our own lives or the lives of others, or that we are no longer aware of it, because as long as we are in the flesh, we will sin. It means that we do not focus and dwell upon it, and we do not let it define who we are, as our identity is in Christ. When we sin, we simply confess it, and move on (1 John 1:9). We do not focus on it, or entertain any thoughts that we are now not saved, or not a "real Christian", or that we can never overcome it - that is focussing on the sin and letting it define us. Even to know that we have sinned, we should always look to Christ, and not at our problems or ourselves. He will tell us in His time, what sin we have done and what we need to confess, and He does it in such a way that He does not condemn us. The conscience, on the other hand, being activated by eating the tree of knowledge of evil, will certainly condemn us, tell us that we are "naked", evil, dirty, and not worthy to be a Christian - we need renewal of our mind in God's Word, to be free from our condemning conscience, this is part of our sanctification, renewal, transformation and glorification. In the future, in Heaven, the Christian will know no sin. In Heaven is the tree of life (Rev 22:2), but there is no tree of knowledge of good and evil. For this reason, we do not have to be afraid that we might sin in Heaven, because we will not know sin any more.
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