In 1974, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn released one of his best-known works, Live Not By Lies, a bold and unwavering call to resistance in the face of ideological totalitarianism. Though Soviet Russia was capable of unspeakable violence and oppression, Solzhenitsyn was quick to point out that a heavy hand was not necessary to subdue a people who were willing to submit to the lies they were told, what he called a “daily participation in deceit.” In his mind, the cure to this captivity was both simple and accessible: an unwavering commitment to “a personal nonparticipation in lies!”

Whatever societal lies swirl about in any given age, there is a far more personal and immediate application to these words. Each and every day, there are lies we are tempted to tell ourselves, untruths that have the power to hold us captive and keep us from the freedom of an abiding life with Christ. Though many could be named and called out, two immediately rise to the surface. So often, our captivity is caught up in a belief that we are either far better off than we are, or that we are worse than we can possibly imagine. Both are lies that must be rejected in order for us to be free.

In ages past, entire generations were crushed by the weight of their own guilt, desperately seeking the “blessed assurance” of their pardon and right standing with the Father. In our modern age, this experience largely falls on deaf ears, quickly replaced with a search for the spark within, or the desire to be loved for who we really are. We dismiss and distance ourselves from our faults and failures, seeking to convince ourselves (and others) that these shortcomings are anomalies, blips on the radar, momentary lapses in judgment, bugs in an otherwise healthy and whole system. 

Mindful of this great untruth, well-meaning Christians have often swung the pendulum in the other direction, doing all they can to emphasize the wretched condition of the human soul. We are seen, not as creatures made in the image of God (Gen 1:26) and therefore worthy of dignity and respect, but as vile sinners, scum of the earth and rotten to the core. As is often the case, the most compelling lies contain half-truths, which makes them harder to see for what they are and, therefore, easier to embrace and believe to be the truth.

We, indeed, remain sinners for the whole of our lives. From our first cry to our dying breath, our prayers must be united with the tax collector in Luke 18:13, who cries out, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” We live under the weight of our self-made exile from the love and mercy of God, and the journey of life is defined by daily repentance, learning to reject this isolation and return to the love of the Father. And as true as this is, the weight and burden of our journey must be tempered and transformed by an equally powerful truth of Scripture. As St. Paul says, “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation.” (2 Cor 5:17)

For Paul, our identity as sinners must be viewed through the lens of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In baptism, we are joined with Christ in this death so that we can experience the new life of resurrection (Rom 6), not only in the life to come but in a way that animates and inspires every moment of every day. It is impossible to understate the significance of the “in Christ” life. We are new creations being made ready for his coming kingdom. 

“It is true that sin is cause of all this pain; but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” Julian of Norwich