SIN
LIBERTY AND LOVE #114
Everything in the Bible points to one fact: we are sinners and sin is a terrible thing from which we need to be saved. We, of course, do not understand the effects of sin or the devastation of sin, for we are sinners. Only someone who is holy—God—could possibly know how bad sin is. The Bible message is that sin estranges the sinner from God. It has not only damaged, but completely severed, the relationship of humanity to God. The restoration of the relationship between God and man comes about through Jesus Christ as Savior. Many do not like to hear that, but that only serves to illustrate how fully contaminated by sin we are.
The Bible is a book about Jesus and our salvation from sin and therefore this theme dominates its pages. From cover to cover, the Bible describes the results of sin in man’s relationship to God. Some eight different terms in the Hebrew Old Testament describe some facet of sin: “bad,” “evil,” “iniquity,” etc. About thirteen different words in the New Testament describe different aspects of sin, words like “evil,” “wickedness,” “unrighteousness,” “transgression,” etc.
The impact of sin in our world has been devastating. The Bible describes Satan as the original sinner (1 John 3:8; John 8:44), and he deceived our ancestors (Gen. 3:6-8). When sin entered the world, the earth was corrupted: there was a curse pronounced in Eden (Gen. 3:16-19), and later the horrible flood of Noah’s day that changed much about the earth and our climate (Gen. 6-8). The reality of death entered into the world, a direct result of sin (Gen. 2:17; Romans 5:12; 6:23). When mankind rebelled against God, the entire “creation” was subjected to the “bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:20-21). Thus sin has affected everything and we must not be blind to the facts of what sin has done to our lives and our relationship with God.
Sin is a small word but it is packed with meaning. Sin is described in the Bible as transgressing or breaking God’s law (1 John 3:4). It is also defined as disobedience or rebellion against God (Deuteronomy 9:7), as well as independence from God. The original translation means “to miss the mark” of God’s holy standard of righteousness.
There may be basic mysteries in the concept and in the meaning of the word itself, but what we do know is that sin came into the world when the serpent, Satan, tempted Adam and Eve and they disobeyed God (Genesis 3; Romans 5:12). The essence of the problem stemmed from the human desire to be like God. All sin, therefore, has its roots in idolatry—the attempt to put something or someone in the place of the Creator. Most often, that someone is one’s own self. While God allows sin, he is not the author of sin. All sins are an offense to God and they separate us from him (Isaiah 59:2).
The terribleness of sin is proved from the fact of the universal sinfulness of mankind. Everyone is a sinner (1 Kings 8:46; Isa. 53:6; Ps. 130:3; Rom. 3:19, 22-23; Gal. 3:22). Mankind’s fall from their relationship with God was absolute (Job 15:14-16; Gen. 6:5-6). Everyone goes astray early in life (Ps. 58:3; Prov. 22:15). Because sin is universal, everyone who is saved must be transformed. (John 3:3; 2 Cor. 5:17). The Bible teaches, in fact, that everyone sinned in Adam and that we all fell when he fell (Rom. 5:12-20).
There are many ways that the Bible describes sin. But the main point is that we are all rebels against God, we have insulted and offended his holiness, and whether we feel it or not, we all deserve to be lost. But sin does not have the last word, for in Jesus Christ, God has reconciled us to himself. The moment we turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and begin to love him and follow him, sin loses its power over us. Christ becomes our savior and he removes all of our sins from us.
