Condemned ... Thankfully

S

(Romans 8:3) For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and [as a sacrifice] for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh.

O

Paul continues to personify law, sin, and our flesh to help us see--by pretending these things have a life and will of their own--how darkened our own life and will are. Flesh is weak because seeks whatever brings it pleasure and avoids whatever causes pain or threatens its survival (Romans 5-6,) Law is weak, too. Like a Mafian mobster, it makes demands without concern for its victim's ability to satisfy those demands. Being caught between the Law's moral demands and Sin's apparent relief, Flesh colludes with Sin and mistakes God as its enemy, itself (Flesh) as another victim, and Sin as the savior. This perpetual cycle only increases our alienation from God, reality, ourselves, and our community.

A (Personal)

God solved this problem by condemning sin, and Paul points to three dimensions of that condemnation. First, God's Son obeyed His Father and became flesh; and while clothed in humanity, He (unlike any of us) unveiled the beauty and attraction of a perfect life--a life fully surrendered and holy. That glory exposes my anti-Christ behaviors and attitudes, and I see them as rightly condemned. Second, God's Son became the only perfect sacrifice for sin. His blood atoned for all of sin's wrongfulness; therefore, sin's presence in me is no longer justified. Because sin's false promises have been exposed and condemned, I no longer have to maintain an intimate, dependent relationship with it. Because God condemned sin, it is worthless and obsolete to me (not that it ever held any true value). Third, when God's Son came, He came "in power according to the Spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:4). This means that as I continue to walk with Him in the power of His Holy Spirit, I no longer have to rely on my own strength. He gives me power to do right, to be moral and loving. He condemned my sin by carrying it to His cross and to His grave. The same resurrection power that freed Him from the condemnation from my sin is now resident in me to free me from all the frustrations of my sin, my flesh, and my own imperfect struggles to keep the demands of the law. Through my love for Christ (instead of fear), His Spirit empowers me to become Christ-like, something I could never do by myself.

A (Psychological)

If Paul had said this in a clinical setting, he would seem to have violated numerous ethical codes. He appears to have been imposing his perspective on others, placing his views in a superior hierarchical position. Such language is (by definition) justifiable only when God, with absolute knowledge and care, is speaking. And, of course, as a Christ-follower, I believe Paul was writing by the influence of the Holy Spirit and was indeed speaking as Christ's agent.

Corey, Corey, and Callanan (Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions, 2007, pp. 75,76) warn against value imposition, and they define it as "counselors directly attempting to influence a client to adopt their own values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors... actively or passively.... [But] it is now generally recognized that the therapeutic endeavor is a value-laden process and that all clinicians, to some degree, communicate their values to clients.... The challenge for therapists is to recognize when their values clash with a client's values to the extent that they are not able to function effectively. Merely having a conflict of values does not necessarily require a referral; it is possible to work through such conflicts successfully. In fact, we think of a referral as a last resort."

Ethical codes for counselors don't proscribe counselors from having their own political, spiritual, or any other category of value. However, they do require honest treatment of those values (p. 72): "When therapists expose their values, it is important that they clearly label them as their own. Then values can be discussed in an open and noncoercive way, which can assist clients in their exploration of their own values and the behavior that stems from these values."

What are the implications that counselors may take from Paul's letter? First, Paul wasn't acting as a counselor or therapist, he was an evangelist revealing a theological truth. These are distinct roles. Nonetheless, when values need clarifying, Paul's writing demonstrates honest clarity. Second, therapists are probably right in having an aversion to strong words like condemnation and sin. In many conversations, these theological terms can create virtually impassable therapeutic chasms, and the Holy Spirit doesn't force people to address them. The Holy Spirit, like a good therapist, unfortunately allows people to choose their own paths, even to their detriment and destruction. That takes respect for people far beyond what ethical codes dare. Only when a person is willing to look honestly at their core issues and values can their healing process move forward. To encourage that honesty, "God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh." He entered our world so we could see His demonstration of "unconditional positive regard" and a better option than the behaviors and attitudes that God, whose name is Love, kindly condemned (I John 3:4-10; 4:7-8). The greatest work a therapist could do for clients is to introduce them to Jesus Christ.

P

Savior, thank You for condemning sin! I could never thank You enough. Otherwise, I would have never seen it for what it is. I wouldn't have been able to separate myself from its pimp-like deception. Thank You for condemning it so I could become separate from it and released from its power and condemnation.