Sin isn’t a big topic in popular culture these days, as reality TV shows feature young adults with no visible means of support indulging in vast amounts of alcohol-related activities, sexual romps, and selfish betrayals. They rarely tell of the sad consequences that normally follow that kind of lifestyle. But then, this is entertainment, not everyday life, right?

Still, the example these programs set makes it hard for some of the young people I know to come to grips with the concept of sin. In fact, for most of them, the word sinner may be painfully old fashioned. That’s at least partly because everyone identifies sinner with helplessness and condemnation.

Here’s a different view of sin: “A deadened sense of identity that ignores Spirit’s love and one’s own essentially spiritual nature, and instead believes that fleshly goals and desires will bring happiness.” From this standpoint, you can see sin as a wrong turn on the highway, a mistake that can be corrected. And Christianity’s goal from the very beginning has been to save people from the misdirections and temptations that lead them into sin.

Different Christian denominations approach the work of salvation from different standpoints. But they probably would agree in general that the first step is for the individual to awake to the error of thought and behavior, or sin, and to desire to change his or her life.

For some people, this may be relatively simple. For example, I used to indulge in the minor but annoying sin of profanity. Gradually, as I saw more of God’s infinite goodness and His love for me, I no longer wanted to express myself this way. Christ touched me and showed me God’s goodness, and my consequent purity as His child. This touch made me want to change my life for the better, and I did.

Clearly, there may be times when the journey to spiritual wholeness isn’t as simple. But the first step—recognizing the need for change—prepares us to do the work of saving ourselves and, later, others. For Christian Scientists, the goal is to be completely cleansed from the temptation to indulge in sin, and they do this by considering sin unreal in the face of God’s goodness.

In the tenets that Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of the Christian Science Church, gives in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, she wrote: “We acknowledge God’s forgiveness of sin in the destruction of sin and the spiritual understanding that casts out evil as unreal. But the belief in sin is punished so long as the belief lasts.”

This is an important point. Sin is more than imagination—it’s a false concept that, until recognized and dropped, can mislead and destroy. Jesus showed over and over again, through his examples, that evil of every kind—whether it was seen as sin, sickness, or even death—could be destroyed. This, of course, culminated in the crucifixion and his subsequent resurrection, events that changed the course of the world. Jesus as the great Teacher also exhorted his followers to follow his example, and it is through walking in his footsteps that we find our own salvation.

The great sacrifice of the crucifixion was to fulfill this promise: “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” While Jesus’ act set the example for us to emulate, I believe we still have a responsibility to follow his teachings and to live as close to his life as we can. In a homely illustration, one might say that he didn’t wash our hands for us, but he showed us how to do it for ourselves.

Often I think of a wonderfully rousing gospel tune, “Jesus Dropped the Charges,” by the O’Neal Twins, which I first found in the 1982 documentary, Say Amen, Somebody. With full-hearted exuberance, the piece rejoices in our inevitable freedom from sin through the liberating touch of Christ. Remembering this piece has helped me when I think I’ve made a mistake and am retracing my steps, because it reminds me that God loves me and never condemns. Jesus pointed this out when he remarked, “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.”

The truth about God and man, which comes to us with transforming and redemptive power, is the Christ. Jesus exemplified this divine message to such a degree that he was at one with Christ, but the divine message is with us today, also. It is the eternal Christ which knocks at the door of our thought, not only at Easter time, but every day. It comes individually, but needs to be welcomed in. And when sin is repented of and dropped, it stops looking real, because we finally understand that a totally good and loving God didn’t create it. In the sense of ultimate reality, the kingdom of heaven, sin just isn’t real.

In some ways, I like to think that “Jesus Dropped the Charges” illustrates something Mrs. Eddy wrote in Science and Health: “What shall we say of the mighty conquest over all sin? A louder song, sweeter than has ever before reached high heaven, now rises clearer and nearer to the great heart of Christ; for the accuser is not there, and Love sends forth her primal and everlasting strain.” When we see our lives in these spiritual terms, and do our best to live accordingly, the charges are dropped.

Jesus’ life and resurrection truly did “drop the charges” that we are sinning mortal beings with no hope of ever experiencing the fullness of God’s love. Through his example, each of us now has an open road to salvation.

Sin forgiven:

Science and Health
497:9
568:25-30

King James Bible
I John 1:7 the blood
Luke 15:7 (to 2nd ,)