Galations 5:22

Few, if any, in our society would argue that we are the epitome of social, moral, and spiritual health, but the majority are rejecting the cure, which universally is Christ crucified and personally our dying with him (Galatians 2:20). Rejecting God’s cure, men prescribe three R’s for dealing with sin.

Relabel sin as sickness. In October 1973, Dr. Karl Menninger, M.D., a psychiatrist, and founder of the Menninger Institute, wrote a book entitled “Whatever Became of Sin?” in which he traced the demise of sin in society—or to be more exact, the demise of the use of the word sin, for the behaviors described in the Bible as sin, are alive and well on planet earth. Relabeling sin as sickness is like having cosmetic surgery to stay young. One may look younger but be the same old hag or crotchety old codger inside. Paul divides all human behavior into two categories: works of the flesh and fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-26). We can call drunkenness addiction, but it still leads to hungry, abused children, broken dreams, wasted fortunes, and on and on. We can call fornication swinging if we are from a previous generation or hooking up if we are up to date, but the behavior is the same—sinful sex. We need not explore every sin of the flesh to get the point that relabeling sin as something else does not change the personal and social consequences.

Restrict behavior by external forces such as law and punishment. We certainly need laws that are enforced. However, according to statistics given by the Bureau of Justice, of 300,000 prisoners released in 15 states in 1994, 67.5% of them were rearrested within three years. If external restraint of behavior changed the heart, righteousness would have been by the Law of Moses (Galatians 3:21). It is God’s will in our hearts that not only changes behavior but secures forgiveness for misbehavior, or sin (Hebrews 8:7-13).

Reform society. Society certainly needs to be reformed but to reform society, we must begin with reforming individuals; otherwise, we are treating the symptoms instead of the “disease.” For the right price, an “expert” can be bought who will excuse any criminal act as a disease, for which someone else is responsible. A few years ago, lawyers for a rich kid found an “expert” who put the blame on the rich parents who certainly did a poor job of rearing the young man, but poor parenting should not be a defense against a criminal action. In other cases, the blame is placed on all of us collectively, but none of us personally.