Law or Grace?

"For no human being will be justified in his sight by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin." Romans 3:20 RSV

A baby knows nothing of wrong or right and we call this innocence. True innocence is a state of being that precedes knowledge, but quickly the 'ways of the world' impresses itself on that innocence. That impression is called knowledge.

Slowly the child learns either to trust when its needs or met or to distrust when they are not. A child learns love when it is loved and hatred and anger - either anger thrust outward or anger thrust inward - when it is not loved. As the child grows and experiments with its world, he is taught the rules in various, and at times, harsh ways. The world has made its impression on the child and the payment was innocence. The bill of sale is called Original Sin.

God created us, not for the world, but for the Garden; Paradise. By eating the apple, Adam and Eve invited the world into the Garden, and innocence was lost. Replacing innocence was hatred, anger, shame, guilt, criticism, blame and judgment.

The world cannot coexist in the same place as the Garden, and as Adam and Eve now carried the 'ways of the world' inside of them, it was necessary to remove them from the Garden. We each carry the Original Sin because we are each born into the world. There is no choice as the world will eventually impress itself upon us.

Jesus changed that. With his death and resurrection, we now have a choice. We can do nothing and continue to belong to the world, or we can choose Jesus and claim Paradise.

What would you choose?