7 DEADLY ZINS: The wine is good, the zins are bad

Don't get your shorts in a knot. This is not a wine review but an illustration. There is an exquisite Lodi region California wine called 'The Seven Deadly Zins.' The label lists the zins as Wealth, Vanity, Greed, Sloth, Gluttony, Envy, and Lust. The name is a clever pun spun from the fact that seven wines come from seven growers to comprise this big, bold and fruity spicy flavour that is great with barbecued meats. Connoisseurs say it has a spicy nose with raisins, jammy blackberry, walnut and black pepper, a bit of raspberry, tomato and cola. In the States it's $14.95 and in Canada it's $22.95 if one is lucky. The wine is good. 

Some of the seven are precisely the kind of zin or sin that offends God. Christian theology informs us that God is a three-personal God, three distinct persons not manifestations while remaining one being - God. Clearly it is something that must be received by faith because visual evidences are in shorter supply than they were in early New Testament times. Then, Jesus, the second person was actually resident on earth in human form. The Holy Spirit, while invisible most of the time, occasionally demonstrated his presence in the form of a dove that appeared in timely fashion. And God, the Father, also invisible, spoke intelligible and audible words such as "this is my beloved son with whom I am very pleased."

By the time Jesus was schedule to leave earth, he had clearly promised that in his absence, the Holy Spirit would continue to be with the disciples and all who follow Jesus anytime, but he would also be inside them, living within them. That is up close and personal. And this promise was given because Jesus is inclined to be graceful to us, God the Father loves us and the Holy Spirit partners with us. Since that is the dynamic or this relationship with God, it becomes clear that when we find sins so tasty, we risk offending the God-one inside us. So, the scripture declares a caution, "Don't grieve the Spirit of God." Do you know how he can be grieved? By us committing zins, well sins, such as lying, anger, corrupt language, bitterness, unforgiveness which are mentioned in verses that surround Ephesians 4:30, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”  

Are these sins deadly? They cost us more than money. Unless we give them up, they certainly kill everything that God would powerfully accomplish in us and through us. That's because by continuing to sin, we quench the Spirit, dampen the spiritual fire. And there is an accompanying command against that.   I Thessalonians 5:19, "Do not quench the Spirit.” The wine is good. The zins are bad.