Diagnosing the Impurity of Sin and Its Effect on Human Nature

By Archdeacon Habib Guirgus

Sin is trespassing. It is an ethical disease and an evil spiritual habit, which tears apart the spirit, and your life to wither. This disease hits the human nature, humiliates it, and causes it to be separated from God-The Creator.

Before sin, man was pure, holy, and righteous, overshadowed with grace, glory and brilliance. He enjoyed his presence with God, happy with the holy relationship with The Most High.  This resulted in comfort, peace and holiness, entrusting eternal life in his hands.  Man's life was pain free, nothing causes sadness to deprive him of his peace, no exhaustion or pain, no death to chase him or overwhelm him by thoughts; man had all requirements for happiness, joy and gladness.

But unfortunately, sin hit our nature, and plucked out all what God has granted us, and deprived us from everything holy, and caused us to be exiled and thrown out of the earthly paradise-The Garden of Eden.  The result of sin was; diseases started knowing its way to the human body, subdued us to catastrophes, calamities, poorness, hunger, thirst, aging, and death!  Our minds were darkened, our will was spoiled, our heart blemished, and we became inclined to evil and filth, which caused the crown of glory to be removed from above our heads.  Our spiritual strength became very weak, the power of our human nature was deformed, lusts and vile rose high on our priority list, virtue was weightless as it measured so low on our scale, causing purity and holiness to shy away, while filth and sensual desires afloat and have the upper hand!

Sin does to the soul what the worst diseases cannot do to the body.

It faded its beauty and its glamour, and caused it to be ugly and despised.

Memory was sick with forgetfulness, conscience became numb toward sin and lost the differentiation between good and evil, and man committed all and every trespass without feeling the sense of guilt, and sin became like a big, huge, and heavy mountain pressing on the heart, causing it to lose its feeling and senses, while leading a dark path, and a fearful valley, which leads to its death (cf. Psalm 23), seeking any light, but cannot see.

After the heart was a temple for God, sin made it a dwelling for Satan and his soldiers, filling it with evil, and vile earthly thoughts, causing it to be deserted and wild like a desert, where foxes, crows and beasts make it their home.  

Isaiah the prophet said; "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save ... But your iniquities have separated you from God; and your sins have hidden His face from you ... For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue has muttered perversity. No one calls for injustice, nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; they conceive evil and bring forth iniquity. They hatch vipers' eggs and weave the spider's web; he who eats of their eggs dies, and from that which is crushed a viper breaks out. Their webs will not become garments, nor will they cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their ways; they have made themselves crooked paths; whoever takes that way shall not know peace" (Isaiah 58:1-8).

Add to the above, that we became weak in worship, manipulative in laziness and slumberness, heroes of evil, unable to resist lusts, very effective in caring for the body to the extent that we are almost worshipping it.

The thunder of sin caused us to boast, become hypocrites, and reject the rights of others, making us children of anger and wrath, after we were the children of God, hearing only His charming voice.

As a result of sin, earth gave thorns and thistles (cf. Genesis 3:18) de-powering it from giving the vegetation and fruits it used to.