“So initially I was drawn into the darker side of life. But it’s really just human nature. I started to learn that everything that’s considered a sin is what makes you a human being. All the seven deadly sins are man’s true nature. To be greedy. To be hateful. To have lust. Of course, you have to control them, but if you’re made to feel guilty for being human, then you’re going to be trapped in a never-ending sin-and-repent cycle that you can’t escape from and you’re going to be miserable. Ultimately, you’re going to be living in your own Hell, so there’s no need to worry about going to Hell because Hell is going to be on Earth.”
Marilyn Manson
That this sounds so familiar, so common-sensical . . . until the punch in the gut of its source. . . . it’s frighteningly ironic and poignant. Only Paul’s inspired words resolve this angst:
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.1 For the law of the life-giving Spirit2 in Christ Jesus has set you3 free from the law of sin and death. For God achieved what the law could not do because4 it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 8:4 so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
No battle. No war with the flesh. No old man. He was crucified with Christ (note the passive voice). Christ has won. We are more than conquerors. We are joint-heirs. We are new creatures.
Amen.