concerning sin, because

Unsure of the actual theology here -- though if I attended seminary to learn it, it would probably only serve to confuse the issue -- but thinking about sin today in a different way. Many tie sin to a particular action: lying, stealing, killing, being impatient, et al. That's why the Ten Commandments gets so much respect methinks -- an easy checklist by which one can track one's sin.

You can see how this mindset gets extended to how one assesses one's morality. "Well, I've never done A, B, or C, so I'm not a bad person." Or how it gets misused to characterize one's week. "I had a great week. I didn't sin because I didn't X, Y, or Z." Liar likes one to confine one's thoughts on sin in this way -- defining sin as an act.

My new line of thought is that sin is a condition in the same way alcoholism is a condition. An alcoholic is an alcoholic even on that two days that week he was sober. His approach to alcohol, his love of alcohol, his inability to stop drinking, all of that characterizes his state of being.

Sin in this view is similar. Sin is the condition where you are always in sin even if you have not committed a particular letter of the alphabet. When you are in this state of sin, your approach to holiness, your love of self, your inability to overcome temptation, all of that characterizes your state of being. You are captive to this condition.

When Christ says in John8 that He sets us free from sin, He is not merely using an analogy. He is, in fact, stating the truth of one's bondage to a state of being. Not sure what applications if any there are in this worldview. Just important to continue throwing out light to counter that darkness.