In this essay I'd like to consider my understanding of such complicated concepts like sin and salvation and clarify my very own attitude to these concepts. It should be noted Catholic Church considers sin like direct or indirect violation of religious precepts, rarely sin is recognized as violation of dominant moral and ethical rules, regulations, established in society. The most frequent definition states that sin is the consequence of an act of the will of the individual that implies guilt and posesses reward, as described in Why Talk About Sin?
In turn, salvation - is the recognition of guilt and the desire of the individual to atone for his sins. Confession gives the Christian an chance to receive forgiveness from God himself (contrary to public opinion, a confession in Christianity is definitely given only by God; the priest is only a witness). As an undeniable fact, penitent must show the desire to avoid further repetition of the old life of sin, where he has repented. Closely with the idea of sin is linked a central doctrine of Christianity for salvation. Christ suffered and died atoned for the sins of humanity all together and for each individual in particular, as explained in Christian's understanding of salvation.
According to The Holy Bible: "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. Plus the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the simple truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and simply, to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity. If we say that people never have sinned, we make him a liar: and His word is not in us" (John 1:7-10). For me, this quote states that following the Fall, man becomes "sick", but the Son of God has given everyone the possibility to be healed. Our Church teaches that the Son of God involves the suffering of unfathomable sacrifice and His love had an chance to save every individual. And the only reason for salvation and incarnation - is the love of God. Sacrament of penance is the beginning of treatment, a prerequisite of which is humility - awareness of their sinfulness and damage, as well as a desire to fix this nature. Repenting of sin and showing the need to be with God restore the shattered relationship, that have been broken by sin. Every sin is a sin against love, because God Himself is love. Therefore, eliminating sin, man returns to love, returns to God, as described within a God-Centered Understanding of Sin, 2010.
It should be noted that nowadays, people, generally, make reference to the sin lightly and ironically; they consider sin as only human weakness or lack of will. As a matter of fact, 300 years ago more than 90% of folks who had believed in God, kept the faith until the end of life. Today, this number is probably less than 5%. It could be said that unlike that point, the humanity has changed the perception of the world. As an undeniable fact, most people do not believe in the Creation and Fall, as described in Why Talk About Sin? As a result, sin has been given new meanings - the increased loss of self-esteem or residual aggression. So when evangelicals want to preach about sin, repentance, instead of people and invocation to God for mercy, they meet strange and even hostile reactions. Because of this, evangelicals' sermons about sin and the Judgment Day reduced to a minimum by offering students the happiness here and now, instead of salvation from eternal damnation.
There is an outstanding article Why DISCUSS Sin?, where is described very interesting exemplory case of modern attitude to sin and salvation: "In the event the flight attendant asks you to put up a parachute to make you feel better through the flight, you will soon take away the parachute, because you will feel uncomfortable with it and, in addition, other passengers will laugh at you. However, if the flight attendant asks you to put up the parachute because the plane will crash soon and you need to save your life - you will not care, convenient it is perfect for you or not, or how people will react - you'll still will be sitting with the parachute. The same manner youth live their lives. They just do not care what sins they are doing and what consequences there could be because of their souls and conscience, as explained in Why Talk About Sin?. For me, this example describes how people just do what they want to do and feel that in the long run of life they will come to a church, confess and get a salvation. But they have forgotten that to get a salvation your confession must be sincere and truthful, they just cannot cheat God. Moreover, many of them do not surpass the moment of confession, many people die suddenly in car crash for example and have no a opportunity for salvation and eternal life.
It should be noted that among Christians is widespread the thoughts and opinions that sin - is the fall of the soul, I disagree with this statement. I feel that sin - is an inevitable manifestation of humanity, because everyone is sinners. Quite simply - there is absolutely no sinless people. In a few extent, our sinfulness separates us from God. So, there may be the key question that every person should be asked: "Did you recognize the energy of God and repent in your sins?". In the event the answer is yes and it is sincere truthful (and the priest is witness of the action) - the individual can get a salvation, if the answer is no - the person will be in hell for eternity.
To conclude, I'd like to state that sin is the result of an act of the will of the average person that implies guilt and posesses reward. In turn, salvation - is the recognition of guilt and the desire of the individual to atone for his sins. I think that God gave us an chance to have eternal life in paradise, everyone decides for himself should he have confidence in hell and paradise or not. In the end, time will put everything in its place.
