In Episodes 1 and 2, I invited you to consider that God is always calling us near to experience
his presence in the core of our being, and that there is a Greek word for our core, phrein.
In this episode, we're going to look at the Greek word for sin and how that relates to
God calling us near to his presence.
What does sin mean to you?
How do you feel when you think about sin?
Hi, I'm Suzy Marvin.
For a very long time, I thought sin was bad behavior or attitudes and thinking.
And I felt discouraged.
I was very grateful that Jesus died and rose so that my sins could be forgiven, but I really
wanted what it took to not sin in the first place.
Then I saw the Greek word for sin, which is hamartano.
Ha is the negative, no.
Martano comes from meros, which means portion.
Sin literally means no portion.
The Strong's Concordance Dictionary says this means to miss the mark and so not share
in the prize or portion.
That goes along with the Old Testament Hebrew definitions of sinning as missing and sin
as an offense.
My perspective changed when I considered that sin could mean no portion.
In the Bible, the prodigal son asked his father for his portion, his inheritance.
And Jesus said Mary had chosen the good part or portion, which would not be taken away
from her.
And in the Psalms, David wrote, Oh, God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
And thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.
What does God is my portion or inheritance mean to you?
And what about no portion?
I'm thinking that God being my portion or inheritance is connection with him.
And sin, no portion, is disconnection from him and the thinking, attitudes, and behavior
that follow.
You might want to consider these verses from that perspective.
In Colossians 1, Paul writes his prayer for us, including verses 12 and 13, giving thanks
to the father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
For he delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved
son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Paul talks about sin in Romans 6.
In verse 4, he says, we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that
as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the father, so too we might walk
in newness of life.
Verse 11 says, therefore, consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
In Romans 14, 23, Paul says, whatever is not of faith is sin.
James writes in chapter 4, verse 17, to the one who knows the right thing to do and does
not do it, to him it is sin.
I'm practicing trusting in the Lord with all my heart and not leaning on my own understanding.
I'm giving up on my natural mind being able to grasp all of this, but Holy Spirit is calling
me near to say yes to truths like these in the core of my being, my frame, where I can
receive what I may not be able to understand.
I'm trusting him to teach me what it means to be alive to the three, to belong to them,
to live from their presence, and to reconnect my mind.
Could it be that the answer to disconnected behavior is reconnected thinking, which comes
from loving, intimate connection with God in the core of our being, our frame?
In John 16, 12, and 13, Jesus says,
Jesus said, I have many more things to say to you,
but you cannot bear them now.
But when he, the spirit of truth comes,
he will guide you into all the truth.
Holy Spirit will always be calling us near
for a conversation in the core of our beings, our frames,
about what newness of life and being alive to God
and Christ Jesus mean to us in each moment.
I look forward to reading anything you wish to share
about this in the comment section below.
Thank you.