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The thought from above in this episode is: “We know our sin in relation to Him.”

Sin is a very difficult topic to talk about. One of the most important things we can do is to think about how we understand it.

We tend to be subjective to our own sin but objective towards the sin of others. We are often much more judgmental towards others and less on ourselves, because we naturally try to think well of ourselves.

Smith says our fundamental identity is that we are “One in whom Christ dwells and delights.” However there is still sin in our lives. To help understand how we can be both, one in whom Christ dwells and still a sinner, Smith recalls a sermon from John Wesley. In the sermon Wesley states, after you become a Christian you will still have sin in you life, but even though it remains in us, it must not reign over us.

When we look at the passage from Colossians (3: 1-5) Paul explains how we can understand our sin through relationship with Jesus. What Paul is saying in the passage is this; if you know who you are, as a person in Christ. Then it is Christ’s relation to who you are as a person that really helps you understand what sin is.

When we are in connection with Jesus we really understand the nature of our sin. The saving work of Christ does not excuse our sin, it exposes it for what it is and in so doing it provides the power to repent. Once we know our identity (One in whom Christ dwells) we can see that sin doesn’t fit in with our identity because sin by its nature destroys.

James closes with this, “We know our sin in relation to him.  We know it, and we can, and only can, put it to death by the power of Christ within.

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5. Brother’s Keeper