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Sin--should we take it seriously?
"Sin is the deliberate transgression of the divine will."
For thousands upon thousands of years, the 'fix' for having angered the Gods was to offer a sacrifice--often the blood of some poor animal. It is still happening--which might cause one to wonder concerning the nature of Gods that would trade forgiveness for a shot of animal blood.
Christians did away with this animal blood business by having their God accept the blood of his only Son as a fair trade!
The Urantia revelators have abandoned such barbarity, substituting the concept that God forgives in direct proportion to the sincerity of our asking. They also provide a spiritually meaningful concept of sin as simply being, "deliberate transgression of the divine will."
The problem we might have with this is that the more we study the revelation and the more we understand its meanings and values, the greater becomes the call for our commitment: "Your mission to the world is founded on the fact that I lived a God revealing life among you; and it shall consist of the life which you will live among men--the actual living experience of loving men and serving them, even as I have loved and served you."
These words were spoken by Jesus to his immediate followers--the men and women who were at his side day after day, those who knew him intimately, and whom he also knew intimately. The equivalent for us is our family and our closest friends, for such is the environment in which Jesus meant us to live, "de imitatione Christi," to live as Jesus lived.
Next to ignoring Jesus' call, the most serious error we could make is to interpret it as meaning that we are required to live as he did only when we are in the public eye.
Assuming we are serious about the revelation, is there any way that we can avoid responding to Jesus' call as being the will of God for us? And if we do justify ignoring it, is there any way that we can avoid facing up to the fact that in doing so, we transgress God's will for us--hence we sin?
Some readers see the statement "Now mistake not, my Father will ever respond to the faintest flicker of faith," as an escape clause. But put back into context, the statement also says: "But you, who have been called out of darkness into the light are expected to believe with a whole heart; your faith shall dominate the combined attitudes of body, mind, and spirit."
So yes, if we take the revelation seriously then we do need to take sin seriously.
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