Guilt: The dual nature of humanity is to sin and then feel bad about it

We all struggle with guilt and sin. Not just some of us, all of us. It is our nature.

The Bible talks about our sinful nature, but what does that mean?

Basically, we are born with a preference for sin because our predecessors, Adam and Eve, erred by eating the forbidden fruit. They didn’t mean to do it any more than we want to sin. And yet they did it and so did we.

If you carefully read and reread Romans chapter 7 in the Bible, it explains this phenomenon. But, it also makes most people say, ‘what?’ because it’s so hard to explain or understand. So I’m going to try to say it more clearly because it’s important that we understand why we sin like there’s no tomorrow. And, we all know that it exists.

Sin according to the Bible’s definition is doing something that leads to death. We all know that eventually we will all die, but you can die while you are still alive if your spirit is broken or destroyed by depression, grief, illness, hardship, abuse, isolation, or the death of loved ones. Humans are not immortal and no matter how good you are, you will eventually die physically. Mother Teresa died. Pope John Paul II died. We all die.

We are considered “alive” only when we are totally and completely without sin. Nuns, priests, ministers, pastors and other highly religious people are no longer alive like you. Because?

Because you can’t be “alive” as long as the body you currently possess is still physically alive. The body contains the sinful nature, whether you are a Christian or not. The mind or spirit is a different matter. We all start with a sinful mind. Our thoughts make us do things that we want to resist but for whatever reason we can’t.

Once you become a Christian you are given a spiritual helper (Holy Spirit) who now resides in your mind, but so does that stupid sinful nature. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go away when you become a Christian. This is where the dual nature part comes into play.

Once saved, we don’t want to have bad thoughts about the driver in front of us who can’t go faster than a snail, but we can. We know those thoughts are sinful, but now we feel a pang of guilt. We’re supposed to love everyone regardless of their actions, but some people make it really hard. We know what is right, we think wrong, we feel guilty, we wish we could stop feeling guilty, and we promise to do better next time. Then another driver comes out going even slower than the last. Arrrrg, your sinful mind screams. Ah-hem, remember the spiritual mind. And we go through the good, the bad, the guilt, the remorse, and the promise of something better next time.

Does it ever end?

No, I’m afraid not. But it becomes easier to listen to the Holy Spirit instead of the Enemy (the devil). And, like a muscle, the more you use your spiritual mind and ignore the sinful mind, the stronger the spirit grows until it can easily outshine the sinful nature.

Jesus promises that our suffering on earth will end after we die and that we will join him in heaven for eternity. Once the sinful body leaves, the sinful mind leaves with it. Only the spiritual mind remains and can transcend the physical realm. We are only finally freed from our sinful nature after our physical body dies.

You may be contemplating taking your own life to end your suffering, thinking that I just gave you the perfect solution. Think again.

The Holy Spirit will never lead you to take your life. Never. So if your sinful mind is strong enough to convince you to commit suicide, you will not transcend suffering in the afterlife, you will suffer even more and this time for an eternity. Do the math: 80 years of suffering now vs. an eternity of suffering later. Even if every day of your life sucks and is horrendous, it’s only a small span of time compared to an eternity! In Save yourself! the plain truth, I explain how you can access the Holy Spirit by accepting salvation. Salvation makes suffering here on earth much more bearable and guarantees an eternity full of good things (love, joy, peace, etc.), and nothing bad.

Sin only becomes sin once you know what sin is. Sin is not sin if you don’t know anything about it or are unable to understand it. This is why animals cannot be sinful even when they kill, which we all know is one of the biggest sins you can commit. Animals do not have the capacity (or vocabulary) to understand that sin is the willful disobedience of God’s commandments. Very young children with mental problems and indigenous people without contact with the outside world are also exempt from the sinful nature.

Does that mean if you don’t believe in God, you don’t have a sinful nature?

No. It is the lack of knowledge about right and wrong (God’s commandments) that exempts you from that sinful nature. God has uniquely equipped humans living in isolation to believe in a higher spiritual being without “knowing” about sin. Anthropologists studying isolated cultures have found that they have a natural reverence for nature, food sources, water, and each other. They kill only to eat or when they feel threatened, just like animals. Most of these cultures lack the sins that modern cultures have, such as coveting material things (they naturally share to preserve the whole community) or lying (they live so close to each other that they have nothing to hide). They are “innocent” of sins.

The awareness of sin brings shame. That is why Adam and Eve hid and covered their nakedness from God after they had sinned. Before the sin they had nothing to be ashamed of. Unfortunately, awareness of sin made Adam and Eve, and most of us, more likely to engage in sinful behavior. We seem to be programmed to be stubborn and disobey when someone tells us No do something. The Bible even says that we will wrestle with this.

It fills us with shame when we do bad things, even when we don’t mean to. It is sin acting, not us. But we have the choice to listen to the Holy Spirit instead of our sinful nature. No one said it was going to be easy but the rewards are greater.

The Bible says that the sinful mind brings constant thoughts of death, while the spirit-filled mind brings abundant life and everlasting peace.

You know you are using your sinful mind, rather than your spirit-filled mind, when you consider anything that will lead to death, your own or someone else’s:

• Take your own life to stop your suffering
• Getting revenge or settling scores by hurting another person
• Driving on purpose in a manner that endangers others
• Physically harming yourself or someone else to get them to do what you want
• Physically harming yourself or someone to teach them a lesson
• Using children, the elderly, women or any other “weaker” person for inappropriate sexual purposes
• Drinking or using alcohol, illegal or prescription drugs in a way that harms you physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually
• Abuse any substance that may diminish your health or well-being: tobacco, alcohol, diuretics, stimulants, depressants, or excessively fatty, sugary, and preservative-laden foods.
• Engaging in “donkey” type behaviors: dangerous stunts or risky activities such as skateboarding behind moving vehicles, jumping off rooftops, etc.
• Ignoring life-threatening diseases and illnesses or refusing to seek medical care for yourself or others.
• Harming, torturing, or killing animals for fun or for any other reason, except as a source of food
• Any other activity, behavior or action that endangers oneself, others or nature (animals, environment)
• Any obsessive thoughts that lead you to consider any of the aforementioned things.

It is difficult to understand how you can be “alive” while being “dead” in sin. The only way to feel “alive” is to ask for salvation through Jesus Christ. Salvation begins with a simple prayer (explained in my book, Save yourself! the plain truth) and end with a new life in which you feel more alive and at peace than you ever thought possible. This is what it really means to be born again. You have the opportunity to start over.