There is No Sin
A friend is reading Meggan Watterson’s Book, Mary Magdalene Revealed. In it, Watterson brings the Gospel of Mary to the forefront and expounds on it’s themes and teachings. It’s a wonderful read that I highly recommend.
With that said, my friend has trouble with a statement Jesus made. I thought I would take the time and show that this isn’t a new or different theme from that found in the New Testament.
Peter said to him, “Since you have explained everything to us, tell us one other thing. What is the sin of the world?”
The Saviour said, “There is no sin, but it is you who make sin when you do the things that are like the nature of adultery, which is called ‘sin.’ That is why the Good came into your midst, coming to the good which belongs to every nature, in order to restore it to its roots” (ANNT[1], Gospel of Mary, 3.1-6).
Thus begins The Gospel of Mary Magdalene. This really throws off a lot of people. And I admit it’s a tough thing to get one’s head around, especially if you’ve grown up in the church or have been influenced by its presence. Almost every church that I’ve ever been to has — at some point in the service — a place to repent of one’s sins. It might be in the middle of the liturgy or at an altar call. But peppered throughout a lot of services there will be allusions or statements saying that “we,” i.e., all of humanity, are sinners and separated from God. With centuries of this (maybe even a couple of millennia), it has become so ingrained in our DNA that we cannot escape it.
And yet…
Here, within the opening sayings of an early second century Gospel, is a statement from Jesus saying, “There is no sin.” Or, if one prefers, “Sin as such does not exist” (TLG[2], The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, 3.3).
I’m sure many of us will quickly point out that the Gospel of Mary is not in the Bible! And since it’s not in the Bible and contradicts the Bible, we can’t accept it. We’ll then quote Bible verses like, “There is no one who is righteous, not even one” (Romans 3.10; NRSVUE[3]). And, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3.23; NRSVUE).
But does it really contradict the Bible? Let’s look at verses 23 and 24 together:
Romans 3.23-24 (NRSVUE): Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (emphasis added).
“All have sinned … [but] they are now justified by his grace as a gift.” If everyone has now been justified, well, “there is no sin.” This ties in perfectly well with what Paul wrote a few chapters later:
Romans 5.18, 21 (NLT[4]): Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. … So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus [the] Christ our Lord (emphasis added).
Adam’s sin brought condemnation to everyone, but Christ’s righteous act brought “a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.” It gave us “right standing with God,” resulting in the Life of the Ages.
If that has already happened — Christ’s one act of righteousness, i.e., his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension — then “there is no sin.”
Someone might say, “Jesus said he didn’t, ‘ … come to abolish the Law and the Prophets. [He came] not to abolish them but to fulfill them. The truth is, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter of the Law, not even the smallest part of a letter, will be done away with until it is all fulfilled’” (Matthew 5.17-18; TIB[5]).
“Since ‘heaven and earth’ are still here,” they’ll say, “the Law still stands. We have to obey the Law.” But when they’re pressed as to which Laws we’re supposed to follow, they’ll quickly tell us that we don’t have to follow most of the Law, only the “moral ones” or the Ten Commandments.
“So,” I ask, “when did ‘heaven and earth’ pass away? Or, when did Jesus say we only have to obey some of the Law but not all of it?”
In fact, James said, “[Whoever] keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it” (James 2.10; NRSVUE).
And Paul echoed that sentiment when he wrote, “For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law’” (Galatians 3.10; NRSVUE).
While this post isn’t about what “heaven and earth” means in Matthew 5 (we might explore that in another post), we can assume, quite literally, that it doesn’t mean the physical world and must point to something else. And that “something else” has “passed away” in some fashion, and, therefore, the Law is no longer and sin is no more.
In fact, Paul plainly stated, “For Christ has brought [the] Law to an end, so that righteousness may be obtained by everyone who believes in him” (Romans 10.4; ANNT). And if there is no Law, there is no sin.
Romans 4.15 (MEV[6]): … for where there is no law, there is no sin (emphasis added).
Romans 5.13 (ANNT): Even before the time of the Law there was sin in the world; but sin cannot be charged against someone where no Law exists (emphasis added).
How this all worked out is explained in the letter to the Hebrews.
Hebrews 10.1-4 (CEB[7]): The Law is a shadow of the good things that are coming, not the real things themselves. It never can perfect the ones who are trying to draw near to God through the same sacrifices that are offered continually every year. Otherwise, wouldn’t they have stopped being offered? If the people carrying out their religious duties had been completely cleansed once, no one would have been aware of sin anymore. Instead, these sacrifices are a reminder of sin every year, because it’s impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (emphasis added).
If the sacrifices under the Law had perfected the people, those sacrifices would have “stopped being offered … [and] no one would have been aware of sin anymore.”
Continuing in Hebrews 10—
Hebrews 10.8-10 (CEB): He says above, “You didn’t want and you weren’t pleased with a sacrifice or an offering or with entirely burned offerings or a purification offering,” which are offered because the Law requires them. Then he said, “Look, I’ve come to do your will.” He puts an end to the first to establish the second. We have been made holy by God’s will through the offering of Jesus [the] Christ’s body once for all (emphasis added).
Notice here that God “put an end to the first,” that is the Law or the Old Covenantal Age and System, “to establish the second,” that is, the New Covenantal Age and System. Under this Age, “we have been made holy … once for all.” Now, this “all” could have a couple of different meanings, but for this post, we’re going to use the understanding as “for all time” as seen in the following section.
Hebrews 10.11-12, 14 (CEB): Every priest stands every day serving and offering the same sacrifices over and over, sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when this priest (i.e., Jesus - brj+) offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, he sat down at the right side of God. … he perfected the people who are being made holy with one offering for all time (emphasis added).
We know the sacrifices from the Old System didn’t remove sins, but the point here is that Jesus’ sacrifice “removed sins for all time … [and] perfected the people … with one offering for all time.” If Jesus’ sacrifice “removed sins for all time,” then there’s no more sin.
Continuing in Hebrews—
Hebrews 10.15-18 (CEB): The Holy Spirit affirms this when saying,
This is the covenant that I will make with them. After these days, says [Yahweh], I will place my laws in their hearts and write them on their minds.
And I won’t remember their sins and their lawless behavior anymore.
When there is forgiveness for these things, there is no longer an offering for sin (emphasis added).
God no longer remembers our sins or lawless behavior. Why? Because of Jesus’ sacrifice. As Paul wrote, “God was reconciling the world to himself through Christ, by not counting people’s sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5.19; CEB; emphasis added).
To summarize, then, God removed the Old Covenantal Age and System, which only reminded people of sin and could never take it away, and birthed the New Covenant Age and System through Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension. Because of this, God’s “wonderful grace [now] rules over all people” and sin has been removed “for all time.”
Therefore, beloved, …
THERE IS NO SIN.
~~~
In the Love of the Three in One,
Br. Jack+, LC
[1] Scripture quotations marked (ANNT) are taken from A New New Testament: A Bible for the Twenty-first Century Combining Traditional and Newly Discovered Texts. Copyright © 2013 by Hal Taussig.
[2] Scriptures quotations marked (TLG) are taken from The Luminous Gospels: Thomas, Mary Magdalene, and Philip. Copyright © 2008 by Lynn Bauman, Ward Bauman, Cynthia Bourgeault. All rights reserved.
[3] Scripture quotations marked (NRSVUE) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
[4] Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the New Living Translation. Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
[5] Scripture quotations marked (TIB) are taken from The Inclusive Bible. Copyright © 2007 by Priests for Equality.
[6] Scripture quotations marked (MEV) are taken from the Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House. All rights reserved.
[7] Scripture quotations marked (CEB) are taken from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible. Used by permission.
This is great, Jack+. I don't think I've seen anyone collect up the evidence for the claim, "there is no sin," in this way before. And the nuance is critical - it's not as though we don't sin, of course we do. But from God's perspective our redemption precedes and nullifies our faults and failings, and God's love is what prevails. Thanks for this.
Beautiful