If shame and guilt are part of concupiscence, why should we not run away from them? Of themselves, they cannot do away with the tendency towards sin. They may temporarily help us refrain from acts of sin, which are attempts to practice virtue; but virtue is the fruit of the Spirit, which comes from living and walking in the Spirit (cf. Galatians 5:16-25). Holiness is beyond reason and self-restraint; and is a work of grace. Purity of heart cannot be practiced into existence. It is a function of relationship with God that opens us up to the grace to avoid sin. It enhances our will-power so that we can avoid sin from a position of strength rather than weakness; and it deals with our tendency towards sin.
How can purity of heart, as a gift of grace, enhance our will-power, but holiness still be beyond reason and self-restraint? If God just makes us holy and virtuous without our cooperation or free will, what would be the point of enhanced will-power?
The cooperation with God is our act of the will to surrender to God by unconditional trust in Him. When we have holiness or purity of heart as a result of this, we are strengthened to effectively make use of our will-power to avoid sin. Holiness does not arrive only by reason and self-restraint. This is what I meant when I said that holiness is beyond them.
So then, when God gives us the grace to avoid sin, would you say that shame, in the way I defined it and according to its ability to help us avoid sin, as you said, is a help to this effort? That by feeling shame for our sins, or protecting ourselves from the concupiscence of others by our sense of shame and modesty, we are better able to cooperate with grace and choose to avoid sin?
If we are strengthened by God to avoid sin, I don’t see any role for shame or guilt. We now avoid sin because we don’t want to revert back to its slavery. This is what Christian freedom is about: being free from the tendency to sin (cf. John 8:34-36).
So once God gives us grace, we no longer sin or are even capable of sinning? If we will still sin, wouldn't shame then have a role to play in helping us avoid sinning again in the future, while also helping others not to sin by protecting ourselves from their concupiscence?
This gets into the nature of sin in the new covenant. Because we are not under religious law in Christianity, we don’t sin in the sense of law-breaking as in the old covenant. Sin is not legally imputed or charged when there is no law; but we are always capable of sinning to the point of again being enslaved by it. This is why I don’t want to do the things that I did before surrendering to God, and discard it, even apart from the eternal consequences. This is what protects me from the concupiscence of others. It is not guilt that protects me. When I was sinning before this, guilt prevented me from sinning only for a limited time, and not for the long-term.
If shame and guilt are part of concupiscence, why should we not run away from them? Of themselves, they cannot do away with the tendency towards sin. They may temporarily help us refrain from acts of sin, which are attempts to practice virtue; but virtue is the fruit of the Spirit, which comes from living and walking in the Spirit (cf. Galatians 5:16-25). Holiness is beyond reason and self-restraint; and is a work of grace. Purity of heart cannot be practiced into existence. It is a function of relationship with God that opens us up to the grace to avoid sin. It enhances our will-power so that we can avoid sin from a position of strength rather than weakness; and it deals with our tendency towards sin.
How can purity of heart, as a gift of grace, enhance our will-power, but holiness still be beyond reason and self-restraint? If God just makes us holy and virtuous without our cooperation or free will, what would be the point of enhanced will-power?
The cooperation with God is our act of the will to surrender to God by unconditional trust in Him. When we have holiness or purity of heart as a result of this, we are strengthened to effectively make use of our will-power to avoid sin. Holiness does not arrive only by reason and self-restraint. This is what I meant when I said that holiness is beyond them.
So then, when God gives us the grace to avoid sin, would you say that shame, in the way I defined it and according to its ability to help us avoid sin, as you said, is a help to this effort? That by feeling shame for our sins, or protecting ourselves from the concupiscence of others by our sense of shame and modesty, we are better able to cooperate with grace and choose to avoid sin?
If we are strengthened by God to avoid sin, I don’t see any role for shame or guilt. We now avoid sin because we don’t want to revert back to its slavery. This is what Christian freedom is about: being free from the tendency to sin (cf. John 8:34-36).
So once God gives us grace, we no longer sin or are even capable of sinning? If we will still sin, wouldn't shame then have a role to play in helping us avoid sinning again in the future, while also helping others not to sin by protecting ourselves from their concupiscence?
This gets into the nature of sin in the new covenant. Because we are not under religious law in Christianity, we don’t sin in the sense of law-breaking as in the old covenant. Sin is not legally imputed or charged when there is no law; but we are always capable of sinning to the point of again being enslaved by it. This is why I don’t want to do the things that I did before surrendering to God, and discard it, even apart from the eternal consequences. This is what protects me from the concupiscence of others. It is not guilt that protects me. When I was sinning before this, guilt prevented me from sinning only for a limited time, and not for the long-term.