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Sin means refusing to do God’s will or being disobedient to God.
Since Adam’s rebellion against God, our nature has been to disobey Him. Out sin cuts us off from God. Sin causes us to want to live our own way rather than God’s way. Because God is morally perfect, just, and fair, He is right to condemn sin.
Each person has sinned, either by rebelling against God or by ignoring His will. (Romans 3:23)
No matter what our background or how hard we try to live good and moral lives, we cannot earn salvation or remove our sin (Romans 3:10).
Only Jesus Christ can save us (John 14:6).
God’s definition of sin, and His way of deliverance.
The question “What Is Sin?” is of extreme importance because of the judgment against those who commit sin.
In the Old Testament it says, “The soul that sins, it shall die.” (Ezekiel 18:20)
The New Testament says: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
So, the payment for sin is death; or the return for sin is death.
The one who lives in sin throughout their earthly life and faces God without God forgiving them will be sentenced to an eternity separated from God. Sin became full-grown among men right from the beginning. Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God. The first boy born on this earth grew to manhood and murdered his next oldest brother. And sin has existed in every generation since. There seems to be some confusion about what sin is or is not and since a person will not seek forgiveness for sin until he knows what sin is, a clear-cut definition is needed.
Sin Is Not Necessarily a Crime
A “sin” is against God the creator. Since God does not change, sin does not change. With new technology, we find more ways to accomplish the sin, but the act of sin does not change.
A crime is against the laws of the land you are living in. In time, we change governments and laws. So what used to be a crime becomes no crime any longer. Or what used to be no crime, under a different government becomes a crime.
In Romans 13:1 it says, Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. (KJV)
So we are to obey the laws of the land (the higher power) when it does not conflict with the laws of God. When the laws of the land do conflict with the laws of God then we are to obey the higher power - God.
Crime is committed against the government of the land. A sin is committed against God. If the government has said that a certain thing is allowed, but the law of God said it is not - then it’s still a sin to do it.
Sin Is Not Unbelief Alone
Near the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus told His Disciples that the Holy Ghost would “convict the world of sin . . .because they believe not on me” (John 16:8-11). Misinterpreting His meaning, some have concluded that sin is nothing more than unbelief. But Jesus meant that unbelief would form the basis of sin. People sin because they do not believe on Jesus Christ and His teachings. Unbelief is sin, and it leads to further sin.
Sin Is the Transgression of the Law
Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. (1 John 3:4)
This definition is given in 1 John 3:4. By law, the apostle meant the Word of God, which originally was the Old Testament but now includes the New Testament as well. Sin, then, is the transgression or the breaking of a commandment found in the Bible - one of God’s commandments.
Types of sin:
Sins of commission.
Sins of omission.
A person who fails to do what they know God has commanded is guilty of a sin of omission. “To him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17)
Original Sin
All Unrighteousness Is Sin
1 John 5:17 declares this truth. A person is unrighteous when they do what is wrong. According to this verse, then, when someone does wrong, they commit a sin.
What then is sin?
Simply put, sin is doing what God forbids or failing to do what He tells us to do.
Is it a sin to just think about committing a sin (contemplate doing it) even if I don’t actually do it?
Yes. Jesus said that even thinking evil thoughts in our hearts is as bad as committing the sin.
28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. (Matthew 5:28-30)
In other words, get rid of anything in your life that causes you to sin. Jesus is saying that it is not only the wrong things we do that are sin, but it is also the wrong things that we think that are sin. Why? Because God looks at a persons heart, not just their actions.
Is There a Remedy for Sin?
The Bible declares, “The soul that sins, it shall die.” (Ezekiel 18:20). Then it adds, “For all have sinned.” (Romans 3:23-24). These two verses place everyone under the sentence of eternal death.
The death that it’s speaking of here is separation from God, not our physical death. Since our life comes from God, when we are separated from Him, then we no longer have life. Thus death is separation from God.
But Jesus did not sin (1 Peter 2:22). Thus He, not being under condemnation for His own sins, could die for the sins of others. Therefore, Isaiah could say, “All we like sheep have gone astray; . . . and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
The only remedy for sin is found in Jesus’ death upon Calvary’s cross. “Without shedding of blood is not remission” (Hebrews 9:22), and in Christ “we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14).
Must a person respond in any way to obtain this remedy for sin?
Yes! The Bible says, “He that covers his sins shall not prosper; but whoever confesses [to God] and forsakes them shall have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). And in 1 John 1:9 it says: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
In Acts 2:36-37, sinners who had rejected Jesus as Lord and Messiah asked the apostles, “What shall we do?” Acts 2:38 records the answer: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” More on Repent
God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)
So what is the Remedy for Sin? See Salvation
Repent and believe that Jesus Christ DID pay the penalty for your sins.
> ADMIT your spiritual need. “I am a sinner.”
> BELIEVE that Jesus Christ died for you on the cross to pay the
penalty for your sins.
> RECEIVE, through prayer, Jesus Christ into your heart and life.
Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in . . .” (Revelation 3:20)
Pray a prayer much like this one - and mean it.
Lord Jesus,
I know that I am a sinner. I believe that you are the Son of the Living God and that you died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins. I believe that you then rose from the dead. Jesus, please forgive me for the sins I have committed and clean me from the inside out. Right now, Jesus, I ask you to come into my heart and make of me a new person
Thank you Lord Jesus Christ for coming into my heart.
Amen
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