Dr Paul Allen

English: An anxious person (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Stress” is not a biblical word. “ Worry ” and “ anxiety ” are. And they are sins. That’s the thought that started a conversation the other day. Can we actually say that something like anxiety is sin? What makes it a sin? Isn’t it just a weakness to be delivered from? Or, rather, shouldn’t we conceive of it as a mental illness ? There are a few different ways that we could go about answering. Let’s try beginning with the commands of Jesus himself. It’s a Command! The command “Do not be anxious” is repeated several times by Jesus in Matthew 6 ( Matt 6.25 , 27 , 31 , 34 ) and it is repeated again in Matt 10.19 . While those commands deal with specific situations, the underlying reality at play is that if Jesus commands people to “not be anxious” we know that (1) it’s not just a chemical imbalance or a mental disorder, and, (2) there are at least some ways in which anxiety is a sin, simply because Jesus commands against it.

Our Lord Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The concept of sanctification is found throughout Scripture and in reference to a variety of subjects. For example, God sanctifies the seventh day in Genesis 2 , Moses and the people sanctify the priests in Exodus 28, Jesus commands us to pray that God would sanctify his name in Matthew 6 , and so on. But though the subjects and circumstances can vary, the general meaning of the word remains consistent. To sanctify (the process of which we call sanctification) means to render someone or something unique, to set it apart or make it holy. In Christian theology , the term sanctification is used most often to describe the setting apart or making holy of Christians . After being justified and adopted by God, Christians begin a process in which, through the power of the Holy Spirit , they are incrementally transformed in every aspect into the likeness of Jesus Christ. One of the clearest passages on this is Paul’s prayer at the end of