What is Sin?
Romans 5:12
“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned”
What is Sin?
Sin! Yuck! Why do we need to talk about sin? Well, to stay true to the Gospel of Christ we have to know sin.
Sin can be defined as: to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honor, to do or go wrong. Some may define sin as to miss the mark, to err or be mistaken. Another way is to say that sin is that which is done wrong, an offence and a violation of the divine law in thought or in act. Google says sin is an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law. I think we get the picture.
The problem is that most people do not equate themselves as being sinners. Sin is evil and who would like to consider themselves as being evil. If you ask a person why they should go to heaven the response that most people will give you is that they are a good person. They may say that they are not perfect but overall they are pretty good and God should let them in.
Understanding and knowing God’s law is crucial in understanding sin. Our purpose as humans is to be image bearers of God. In order to portray the image of God rightly there must be a standard to joyfully follow. To understand the will of God for our lives we must understand His law. Most people think they are pretty good because they compare themselves with other human beings. For example, if we are not in jail we must be pretty good. Now let’s rate ourselves against God’s law. Have you ever lied, stolen anything regardless of worth, disobeyed parents, passionately wanted a person or an object that is not yours and have you been unjustly angry at anyone? Here is another, have you loved God with all the energy that you have had from your mom’s womb in thought, word and deed until now? Chances are you will say yes to the first list and no to the second. You my friend are a sinner! I can say this with confidence as Paul also states in Romans that none are righteous, not even one!
Some may have the question as to how many times they must sin in order to be a sinner. James answers that in chapter 2 verse 10 of his letter, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” As image bearers of God we are responsible for portraying His image perfectly. If we stumble at any one point even once we are guilty of breaking the entire law. God is perfect, holy and just. His expectation is that we are to be perfect, holy and just.
The law of God can be summed up in “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF” – Luke 10:27. This is most personified in the Lord Jesus Christ. John 4:34 reads, “Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.” His work was to save us! Jesus was 100% focused on the glory of God and the good of others with the ultimate goal being the redemption of sinners. While we were yet sinners Christ died for us. This was the ultimate expression of what a perfect image bearer looks like.
One can say the best way to understand sin is to understand God’s law. This is true however if you want to see what a perfect display of God’s law looks like then you do not have to go any further than the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the perfect image of the unseen God. Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory. Anyone who wanders, falls short, misses the mark or fails to imitate Jesus perfectly, is a sinner.
Sin is scary. It is a hard topic to speak about as it brings a great consequence. God is just so He must punish those who sin against Him. For the wages of sin is death. Knowing sin helps us to combat it in our everyday walks but also helps us educate others in what sin is. Knowing that we are sinners helps us to apply the remedy and explain to others the remedy. The remedy is Christ and thank God that He loves us and will not let us perish when we believe in His Son, Jesus Christ.
