SIN

The need for cleansing
There is a kind of purification, ritual (e.g., washing in the sacred river), and ascetic (fasting, killing, etc.). We know that there is a dam between God and us, that we do not have free contact with him, and somehow they caused this unnatural state. Figuratively speaking,
that people are “unclean,” that they need “cleansing.” Greek philosophy justified this with a psychological law: We can only know what is similar to us. Then God is only a spirit. So we get to know him all the better, the more we purify ourselves of matter and sensory impressions (Platonic catharsis), from passions (the Stoics place particular emphasis on the purification of this species). Even Scripture often speaks of purification. How many purification ceremonies were in the Old Testament! Immediately before the arrival of the Messiah of St. John, baptizes the «unclean» at Jordan pagans and Jews. They profess so publicly that they, too, need to purify themselves to hear the word of salvation promised by what they are pure in heart (Mt 5: 8). So, a kind of superficial is not enough purification from matter and senses. The stain is in the very heart of man, in his spirit. It is called sin. God is holy, holy, holy (Is. 6: 3). Nothing sinful can come near him (cf. Ecclesial 7:25). All books on spiritual life must therefore take the question of sin seriously. It is not enough to talk about virtues. St. John  Chrysostomus  compares to the letters of the gospel that we write on heart plate. Of course, the old Scripture of malice, sin must first be erased.

The need to think often about sins.” He may come to forger in heaven, but never in his sin!” This and similar statements of repentant monks to us they seem not only exaggerated but also fundamentally incorrect. They show Christian perfection only from an opposing point of view. However, a unique statement is always one-sided. Right can only be understood in context. The ancient Egyptian hermits used to be very brief and matter-of-fact. They didn’t like it when someone used beautiful words he did not carry out when he developed plans of perfection for which then it was not enough. So, that one knows what he must always have his sin before him (Ps 50, 5).

He who knows his sins knows himself. Whoever remembers them counts on reality, on the fact of life. It doesn’t rise like a mad idealist.
Scrupulous, anxious, spiritually unbalanced people, of course, he also often thinks of his sins. They are still afraid that God has not yet forgiven them. But it is a manifestation of unrepentant or unbelief in God, not a virtue. He who has recovered completely can think of his past illness calmly, without fear, and often. It was an essential part of life if it was a deadly disease, very instructive for further development. He who thinks sin correctly and will often learn a lot. The fundamental Christian truths will pass through his mind: the question of good and evil, God’s love, life and the redemptive work of Christ, the modest appreciation of one’s strength, the need for God’s grace and prayer. Right, we know all this from sermons and reading, from thinking. However, if we see these truths with one’s error, with daily decreases, they become a living experience. The questions concerning the division of sins, their gradation, and their judgment from the confessor’s point of view they discuss in detail. Even dogmatic theology must seriously stop at this topic, especially when it comes to the first sin, hereditary guilt, and redemption. Spiritual writers speak of sinless systematically. However, they highlight the elements that we should often remember and vividly aware, even experienced car drivers warn of dangers on the road. It’s not because they don’t know how to behave at an intersection, in a bend. However, when driving fast, he easily forgets that there is a risk of skidding, that he may suddenly appear car in the opposite direction, etc. Preachers must draw attention to the dangers of moral life.

So they talk about sin often and try to make their words psychologically impressive. Maybe they even exaggerate. Mothers also have such a tone when they let their children go to the stream, to the cliff. The famous “preaching horror” is an expression of the love of the Mother Church. Sin itself is, of course, something negative. That is why it can only be properly thought about in a positive context. Evil will be understood only by those who see it in the light of good. The English mystical book The Invisible Cloud says two concepts are inseparable in the mind of a man on earth today: sin and God.