Great thoughts. You are right, I hadn’t thought of all the deeper philosophical questions that could come from it. I think the biggest thing to remember is that any benefit that comes from sin is the result of defeating that sin with the guidance of Christ. The moment we stop relying on Christ for our strength is the moment sin loses it’s benefits(loosly said).

As to some of those deeper questions, well, I’ll leave those to the experts. (unless, of course, I am hit with some grand insite). Thanks for visiting.

On your original question, “Is sin bad?”, although as you say the answer is pretty obvious, at the same time there are at the fringes of that questions a lot of issues to deal with that are really interesting!

* the “genesis” of sin — whether you believe God permitted sin to enter creation or He ordained it or even He caused it (not the view I hold to), is sin…necessary? If it’s necessary, then it serves some purpose. If God permitted/endorsed/ordained/caused it, then in some larger conceptual sense (as opposed to in any particular individual’s life), is it all bad?

* A friend of mine brought up the other day the case of her sister, who had a child out of wedlock. I’m not sure what the status of her soul was or is, but this child is loved and the sister is now married (not to the father) and living a stable life. There’s no question that sexual immorality is a sin. But something good came *out of* that sin. I’m not sure that’s the most appropriate way to characterize it (“for the wages of sin is death”!) though.

* “Should we sin all the more so that we experience grace all the more? God forbid!” But I found your point here thought-provoking. It reminded me of the philosophical argument about the presence of good and evil — that we would not recognize or rejoice in “good” if we did not have “evil” as a point of comparison. Had I lived up to Jesus’s command to “be perfect,” would I recognize the ultimate perfection that is in Christ? Well, of course this line of thinking is entirely philosophical because “all have sinned and fall short.”

Anyway, lest you have doubts, I could never try to argue anything other than “sin = bad.” But I do think that, like many of concepts we kind of take for granted, it’s an interesting idea to explore.

Thanks for sharing.I can totally relate with the times we attempt to justify our sin, especially by comparing ourselves to other people. I have found it helpful to remember that I am always a worse sinner that I think I am and that Christ is a much greater God and Savior than I comprehend Him to be.

Justin