I have recently decided to do a blog series where I review a few chapters of this book titled "The Biology of Sin" written by Dr. Matthew Stanford. Who is Dr. Matthew Stanford, you ask? He is a psychology, neuroscience, and biomedical studies professor at Baylor University. He serves there as the director of the Psychology department. I greatly respect this man, so please do not think this is an attack on him. I would like to review his book to spread the word about his work. In this blog, I shall review the first chapter of his book. It is not a very long chapter. If you are interested in what you read and would like to get a copy for yourself, there is a link to the book below.
The first chapter of the book is titled "Crouching at the Door". He starts the chapter by explaining how we all are subject to sin. It does not matter whether you are a drug addict or neuroscientist because we all are sinful. I like what he has to say on page 2 of the chapter. He says,
"Sin is a ruthless beast: crouching at the door, waiting to consume us all (Genesis 4:7). When we encounter those whom it has overcome, we should feel sorrow rather than self-righteous pride. Sitting across the table from impulsive and aggressive patients is more like looking into a mirror than gazing at a monster. I see my own imperfections, the stain of sin, and I am grateful for God's abundant grace (Romans 5:17, Ephesians 1:7-8). A pastor friend of mine often says he never met a person that Christ didn't die for. Each time I sit down at the interview table, I am reminded that I haven't either"
The reason I love this excerpt is because far too many people believe that someone who is a professional (such as a neuroscientist) is somehow better than a drug addict or a prostitute. However, what I see Dr. Stanford saying is that we all are ravaged by sin. It does not matter who you are or where you have come from because we are all guilty of sin. I am reminded of something one pastor has said. I do not remember his exact words, but it was something like "If you knew the thoughts that came through my head, you would not want me as your pastor". It would do us some good to have this kind of humility to honestly say that we are not perfect.
On page 3, he proceeds to talk about what is sin. This is especially important because so many of us do not even comprehend what "sin" even is. We seem to think that sin is mere actions, when in reality it is a state of being. I like how the Westminster Shorter Catechism defines sin. It says,
"Sin is any disobedience or lack of conformity to God's law"
Now, let's see what Dr. Stanford says concerning sin. He says the following,
The Bible uses a number of Hebrew and Greek words that we translate as 'sin', but two are most common: Chata and Hamartia. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word Chata (e.g. Exodus 20:20) is most often used to describe sin. Chata means 'miss', as in to miss a target. The same word is used in Judges 20:16 to describe a group of left-handed warriors from the tribe of Benjamin who could 'sling a stone at a hair and not miss'. In the New Testament, the most common Greek word used to describe sin is Hamartia, which means 'to miss the mark'. Paul used this word when he wrote in Romans 3:23, that 'all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God'. Sin, then, is best defined as missing, or falling short, of the glory of God
I know that "missing the mark" is the most common definition of sin these days and I really do not have any issue with anyone wanting to define it this way. However, I do think that this definition itself falls short of how heinous sin really is. The reason why I personally do not like this definition is because it assumes that we are all trying to hit the bullseye on a target, which is God's standard of perfection. In reality, we are aiming our arrows at God Himself because we want to kill God. That is how much we hate Him before the Holy Spirit regenerates our hearts. You may be wondering how I arrived at this conclusion. Well, Romans 5:10 tells us,
"For if while we were still enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life"
It is clear by this text that before we were saved by Christ we were His enemies. There is no love between enemies but only hate. The natural man, before God changes their heart, is at enmity with God.
On page 4, Dr. Stanford goes on to explain what God's perfect standard is all about. He says,
"The glory of God is the sum total of all he is: his divine nature, characteristics, and abilities altogether. As I mentioned above, it is also the standard of which sin is defined. The glory of God is the standard for our every thought and action. Whatever we do, it is to be done to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).. Evaluated in this way, sins to be more a state of being than a set of wrong thoughts and behaviors that should be avoided"
As I read this portion, I immediately thought of Dr. Michael Horton's words: "I sin because I am a sinner". Sin is not really about our outward actions, but more about our nature. Our sinful nature manifests itself in outward actions such as theft, lust, etc. But, sin goes so much more deeper than our outward actions. I also like how he says that God's glory is the total of all He is. God's glory is perfect and we should strive to be perfect as He is perfect. We will never achieve perfection in this life, but that is why we put our trust in the Savior who took our punishment upon Himself.
In the next portion, Dr. Stanford talks about the origins of sin. He talks about the fall of Lucifer, and how he was once a beautiful angel of God. Satan was puffed up with pride and thought he could usurp God's throne and how he even got some of the other angels to revolt against God with him. Then, God cast them down to the earth. Then. Dr. Stanford talks about the Fall of Man. God created man in His image and placed them in the Garden. The first man and woman were perfect and lived in complete harmony in relationship with God, But, then the devil tempted the woman with the same temptation that overtook him: pride. The devil told Eve that if she ate from the Forbidden Tree, then she would be like God. As a result, Adam and Eve ate of the tree and sin entered the world. Since then, humankind has been ravaged by sin. Dr. Stanford says the following on page 7,
"There are basically two types of sin: original sin and actual sin. Original sin is also called inherited sin, because it was passed down to us by our father Adam. But how can I be held responsible for something this Adam guy did long before I was born? Well, like it or not, it's true. Furthermore, if we are going to reconcile the biological and spiritual aspects of sinful behaviors, such as drunkenness and homosexuality, it is essential that we have a correct understanding of the doctrine of original sin"
I wish that he would have gone into a fuller explanation of original sin because he is right that a proper understanding of original sin is essential here. The doctrine of original sin means that our entire being has been corrupted by sin. As the apostle Paul can say about himself--that there is no good in him--so we can say of ourselves as well. I understand how some people may not understand the doctrinal of original sin, and may even think it as unfair. However, for reasons only God knows, Adam was our covenant representative. This means that he was our figurehead, so whatever he did was passed down to us. Think of it as the days when there were kings and queens. The kings and queens represented their nations. Anything the king did reflect on the nation they ruled over. In America, we sort of have the same thing with the president. Anything our president says or does, whether good or bad, will reflect on our country. This is basically how it worked for Adam in the Garden of Eden. If Adam had obeyed God by casting out the serpent and not eating from the Forbidden Tree, he would have ushered in the New Heaven and New Earth right then and there. Tragically, this is not what happened.
All of this may seem hopeless for us because there is no way for us to overcome our sinful natures. It is true that if God had left us in this predicament and cast us all into hell, He would still be holy, just, righteous, and loving. However, this is not where the Lord has chosen to leave us. As Dr. Stanford says on page 9,
"Is there any hope for us? Even if we weren't born with the guilt of original sin upon us, how could we ever meet the standard of sinless perfection necessary for life with God? Thankfully, someone else has met the standard for us.; and he offers us the opportunity, through faith, to be forgiven and made new (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Who is this man that Dr. Stanford speaks of? It is the God-Man, Jesus Christ. Only Jesus perfectly obeyed God's law and was sinless. As a result, He willingly sacrificed Himself on a bloody Roman cross to take the punishment that you and I deserve. Then, three days later, He rose bodily from the dead. Now, God commands everyone everywhere to repent and turn their lives over to God. Every knee will one day bow before Jesus and declare Him king. Either we will do it now willingly or later by force. If we bow the knee to Christ now, the Holy Spirit will forgive us of all our sins, and He will make us into new creations, As new creations, we will be seen as holy and blameless in His sight because we will be covered by the righteousness of Christ.
I hope that you enjoyed reading this first part of my review of Dr. Stanford's book and I hope that it was enlightening to you too. If you'd like to check out this book for yourself, here is the link: The Biology of Sin by Dr. Matthew Stanford. I really enjoyed reading this book and I am sure you will too. May the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!
***STAY TUNED FOR PART 2 OF THIS SERIES***
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
The first chapter of the book is titled "Crouching at the Door". He starts the chapter by explaining how we all are subject to sin. It does not matter whether you are a drug addict or neuroscientist because we all are sinful. I like what he has to say on page 2 of the chapter. He says,
"Sin is a ruthless beast: crouching at the door, waiting to consume us all (Genesis 4:7). When we encounter those whom it has overcome, we should feel sorrow rather than self-righteous pride. Sitting across the table from impulsive and aggressive patients is more like looking into a mirror than gazing at a monster. I see my own imperfections, the stain of sin, and I am grateful for God's abundant grace (Romans 5:17, Ephesians 1:7-8). A pastor friend of mine often says he never met a person that Christ didn't die for. Each time I sit down at the interview table, I am reminded that I haven't either"
The reason I love this excerpt is because far too many people believe that someone who is a professional (such as a neuroscientist) is somehow better than a drug addict or a prostitute. However, what I see Dr. Stanford saying is that we all are ravaged by sin. It does not matter who you are or where you have come from because we are all guilty of sin. I am reminded of something one pastor has said. I do not remember his exact words, but it was something like "If you knew the thoughts that came through my head, you would not want me as your pastor". It would do us some good to have this kind of humility to honestly say that we are not perfect.
On page 3, he proceeds to talk about what is sin. This is especially important because so many of us do not even comprehend what "sin" even is. We seem to think that sin is mere actions, when in reality it is a state of being. I like how the Westminster Shorter Catechism defines sin. It says,
"Sin is any disobedience or lack of conformity to God's law"
Now, let's see what Dr. Stanford says concerning sin. He says the following,
The Bible uses a number of Hebrew and Greek words that we translate as 'sin', but two are most common: Chata and Hamartia. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word Chata (e.g. Exodus 20:20) is most often used to describe sin. Chata means 'miss', as in to miss a target. The same word is used in Judges 20:16 to describe a group of left-handed warriors from the tribe of Benjamin who could 'sling a stone at a hair and not miss'. In the New Testament, the most common Greek word used to describe sin is Hamartia, which means 'to miss the mark'. Paul used this word when he wrote in Romans 3:23, that 'all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God'. Sin, then, is best defined as missing, or falling short, of the glory of God
I know that "missing the mark" is the most common definition of sin these days and I really do not have any issue with anyone wanting to define it this way. However, I do think that this definition itself falls short of how heinous sin really is. The reason why I personally do not like this definition is because it assumes that we are all trying to hit the bullseye on a target, which is God's standard of perfection. In reality, we are aiming our arrows at God Himself because we want to kill God. That is how much we hate Him before the Holy Spirit regenerates our hearts. You may be wondering how I arrived at this conclusion. Well, Romans 5:10 tells us,
"For if while we were still enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life"
It is clear by this text that before we were saved by Christ we were His enemies. There is no love between enemies but only hate. The natural man, before God changes their heart, is at enmity with God.
On page 4, Dr. Stanford goes on to explain what God's perfect standard is all about. He says,
"The glory of God is the sum total of all he is: his divine nature, characteristics, and abilities altogether. As I mentioned above, it is also the standard of which sin is defined. The glory of God is the standard for our every thought and action. Whatever we do, it is to be done to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).. Evaluated in this way, sins to be more a state of being than a set of wrong thoughts and behaviors that should be avoided"
As I read this portion, I immediately thought of Dr. Michael Horton's words: "I sin because I am a sinner". Sin is not really about our outward actions, but more about our nature. Our sinful nature manifests itself in outward actions such as theft, lust, etc. But, sin goes so much more deeper than our outward actions. I also like how he says that God's glory is the total of all He is. God's glory is perfect and we should strive to be perfect as He is perfect. We will never achieve perfection in this life, but that is why we put our trust in the Savior who took our punishment upon Himself.
In the next portion, Dr. Stanford talks about the origins of sin. He talks about the fall of Lucifer, and how he was once a beautiful angel of God. Satan was puffed up with pride and thought he could usurp God's throne and how he even got some of the other angels to revolt against God with him. Then, God cast them down to the earth. Then. Dr. Stanford talks about the Fall of Man. God created man in His image and placed them in the Garden. The first man and woman were perfect and lived in complete harmony in relationship with God, But, then the devil tempted the woman with the same temptation that overtook him: pride. The devil told Eve that if she ate from the Forbidden Tree, then she would be like God. As a result, Adam and Eve ate of the tree and sin entered the world. Since then, humankind has been ravaged by sin. Dr. Stanford says the following on page 7,
"There are basically two types of sin: original sin and actual sin. Original sin is also called inherited sin, because it was passed down to us by our father Adam. But how can I be held responsible for something this Adam guy did long before I was born? Well, like it or not, it's true. Furthermore, if we are going to reconcile the biological and spiritual aspects of sinful behaviors, such as drunkenness and homosexuality, it is essential that we have a correct understanding of the doctrine of original sin"
I wish that he would have gone into a fuller explanation of original sin because he is right that a proper understanding of original sin is essential here. The doctrine of original sin means that our entire being has been corrupted by sin. As the apostle Paul can say about himself--that there is no good in him--so we can say of ourselves as well. I understand how some people may not understand the doctrinal of original sin, and may even think it as unfair. However, for reasons only God knows, Adam was our covenant representative. This means that he was our figurehead, so whatever he did was passed down to us. Think of it as the days when there were kings and queens. The kings and queens represented their nations. Anything the king did reflect on the nation they ruled over. In America, we sort of have the same thing with the president. Anything our president says or does, whether good or bad, will reflect on our country. This is basically how it worked for Adam in the Garden of Eden. If Adam had obeyed God by casting out the serpent and not eating from the Forbidden Tree, he would have ushered in the New Heaven and New Earth right then and there. Tragically, this is not what happened.
All of this may seem hopeless for us because there is no way for us to overcome our sinful natures. It is true that if God had left us in this predicament and cast us all into hell, He would still be holy, just, righteous, and loving. However, this is not where the Lord has chosen to leave us. As Dr. Stanford says on page 9,
"Is there any hope for us? Even if we weren't born with the guilt of original sin upon us, how could we ever meet the standard of sinless perfection necessary for life with God? Thankfully, someone else has met the standard for us.; and he offers us the opportunity, through faith, to be forgiven and made new (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Who is this man that Dr. Stanford speaks of? It is the God-Man, Jesus Christ. Only Jesus perfectly obeyed God's law and was sinless. As a result, He willingly sacrificed Himself on a bloody Roman cross to take the punishment that you and I deserve. Then, three days later, He rose bodily from the dead. Now, God commands everyone everywhere to repent and turn their lives over to God. Every knee will one day bow before Jesus and declare Him king. Either we will do it now willingly or later by force. If we bow the knee to Christ now, the Holy Spirit will forgive us of all our sins, and He will make us into new creations, As new creations, we will be seen as holy and blameless in His sight because we will be covered by the righteousness of Christ.
I hope that you enjoyed reading this first part of my review of Dr. Stanford's book and I hope that it was enlightening to you too. If you'd like to check out this book for yourself, here is the link: The Biology of Sin by Dr. Matthew Stanford. I really enjoyed reading this book and I am sure you will too. May the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!
***STAY TUNED FOR PART 2 OF THIS SERIES***
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
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