Sin

Copyright 1998:
William A. Simpson

God is righteous.  There is no sin or evil in Him.  Neither can He be tempted, or even look upon sin.  The Hebrew word "chata'ah" which is commonly translated "sin" in the Old Testament, and the Greek word "hamartia" in the New Testament both have to do with that which offends.  They may also be used in the sense of missing the mark, or falling short.  Sin is that which falls short of the perfect righteousness of God.  It is that which offends God, or that which is opposed to the character of God.  The study of the doctrine of sin is called hamartiology, from the Greek above.

The question is often asked, "If God is good, why did He allow evil in the first place?"  As a principle, where good is found, evil must also be at least possible.  That is, if evil were not possible, then good would have no meaning.  Where good or evil are possible, creatures who have wills of their own may do either one or the other.  God might have made mankind as automatons, who had no choice, but could only do those good things that they were "programmed" to do.  He could have made man in such a fashion that man must love Him.  He could have made man without the capacity for sin.   Had God done so, man would be immeasurably less than he is today, and the love that he has for God would be diminished by its involuntary nature.  Ultimately, allowing evil for a time -- until the saved were born and numbered amongst the saved -- God has shown His greater glory in a love that is not forced, but voluntary.  God never causes evil things, but he allows them in order that we might more clearly understand and appreciate His righteousness and His glory, and that His justice and mercy and love might be clarified in our hearts and minds.

Most religions speak of the original sin as occurring in the Garden of Eden, or some supposedly equivalent story.  However, this fails to account for the sin of the fallen angels, eons perhaps before man was even created.  Lucifer, who was the chief of all the angels, was the first to sin, the original sinner.  How lofty was his status, and how great his wisdom and power.  In the chain of command in the created realm, God was sovereign over all, and Lucifer was second.  This mighty angel ran the show under God's direction, and the rest of the angels answered to him.  But he was found to be proud (see Ezek 28: 11-19).  The glory of God was reflected by and refracted through Lucifer, and he began to think of that glory as his own.  He wanted to become like God, to supplant Him (see Isa. 14: 12-15).  This was the first sin, the original, and it occurred long before man was created.  Before Eve could be tempted in the Garden, the tempter had to himself become a sinner.

In the sense that sin is anything and everything that is in opposition to God, it may be seen that sin encompasses more than the ten commandments.  Bearing false witness against one's neighbor is not the same thing as a little white lie, which must also be sin.  Bearing a grudge is not the same as murder.  There are many things that we do which are sinful that are not covered by those social rules.  Sin is dragging God's clean, pure air down into these sinful lungs and polluting that air.  It is swallowing God's clear water and taking it into these sinful bodies and corrupting that water.  Everything that we do in the flesh may be construed as sin, for sin dwells in our flesh.

If that is the case, then why does God judge sin so harshly?  Why ought there be eternal condemnation for that which we do by our fallen natures, and which we cannot avoid on account of the sin that dwells in us?  The answer is to be found in the nature and character of God.   How can a just God fail to judge sin and remain just?  How can a righteous God wink at sin and yet retain His righteousness?  How can a good God overlook that which is evil and remain good?  There are theological answers to these questions, and we shall see them, but even philosophically the inconsistencies can be seen.  Logic tells us that if there is justice, then there must also be judgment upon evil.

Every snowflake has a speck of dust in its center around which it builds its beautiful structure.  It is dirty at its very core.  Every human being is like the snowflake, for there is within us all a sinful nature that motivates us in every aspect of our lives, though outwardly we might present a wonderful character, warm and loving.  Even a newborn will deceive with its cries.  Every child has a rebellious nature that must be tamed if the child is to become a civilized adult.  Anarchy is only possible because we are sinners.  What loving mother has not cried in frustration over the stubborn rebellion of her child?  Why, if undisciplined, do children grow up to become disrespectful of the law, delinquent, even criminal?  The answer is sin.  It is the speck of dust that corrupts us, turning immortal creatures to mortal.

God is then left in a dilemma that no one could resolve but Him.  That is, how to justly judge sin, and yet not condemn the sinner.  Even what we wrongly consider to be small sins are so grossly sinful as to deserve the very worst judgment.  Part of the problem of human reckoning of sin is this classification of sin into greater and lesser sins, as though God might not be as offended by some types of sin.  Even to think in this fashion is sinful, for it denigrates God's infinite holiness and righteousness.  God's righteousness makes the most insignificant (there's no such thing) sin absolutely and infinitely sinful and evil.  Not one sin can go unjudged, and we are all sinners.   How then can anyone be saved?  The answer is found more fully in the article entitled Salvation, but may be briefly stated herein:

God uses a simple expedient in the judgment of sin.  Simple, but not cheap.  Since man is unable on account of the sin in him to contribute anything in any way toward his own salvation, God must provide all that is involved in the salvation of man.  There is nothing in man that is meritorious and that can be counted toward his salvation.  How many good works must a man do in order to "make up" for a single sin?  How many charitable deeds must a man do in order to override God's judgment?  Is the sin that was committed all of a sudden less sinful because a man did good works?  No, every sin must be judged, regardless of the good works that a man may do.  Therefore, if a man is to be saved, it cannot be on his own merit, but must be the undeserved provision of God.

Suppose a man could pay another man to bear his judgment.  Then that man whose judgment was borne by another could be saved, for all his sin would have been judged in the person of another.  But who could bear another man's judgment when his own sin stands in the way?  If everyone is sinful, who can bear another's judgment?  His own sins must be judged before he could even attempt to bear the sins of anyone else.  In order for a person to bear the sins of another, he must first himself be found sinless.  Since there are none who are righteous (Rom.  3:10), there are no men available to pay for the sins of others.   But there is a Man who has become our Substitute in judgment, the God-Man Jesus Christ.   Jesus Christ bore the judgment of all men that we might be saved by simple faith in the sufficiency of the sacrifice that He made.  He is God, and since, in His earthly appearance, He was righteous, He was able to bear the judgment of our sins.

Jesus, suffering the agony that He endured in the Garden of Gethsemanee, sweating as it were great drops of blood as he knelt there and prayed, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not My will be done, but Yours," -- as Jesus was praying this desperate prayer to His Father, what do you suppose was in that cup?  The horrible suffering of the crucifixion?  Do you suppose He wanted to avoid that?  Or maybe the public shame of the execution?  No, Jesus was not afraid.  Neither was He too proud to bear the great indignity.  What was in that cup was sin.  He did not want -- wanted very desperately not -- to get any of that on Himself.

Oh, it was not some soup of all the sins of all time blended together.  No, it was every individual sin of every man since Adam up to that time, and it was every individual sin that would be committed in the centuries yet to come.  He looked into that cup and saw every sin you ever committed, and loved you enough to take that sin onto Himself and carry it to the Cross where He willingly and lovingly paid its penalty.  He had asked the Father, if there was any other way...  You see, none of us could get to heaven by being good enough.   There was no other way.  If any were to be saved, then He must bear the sins of all, in order to save those who believe.  God is just, and has found a way in His great wisdom to be both righteous and just in saving sinner.  That is grace.

Jesus was God then just as He was God before the incarnation, and just as He is God today.  When He looked into that cup He was fully conscious of every sin individually, understanding every aspect of the temptation that brought it about.  He was fully aware of everything that there is to know about the person who committed it, what all their relationships were at the time, even to knowing how many hairs they had on their heads at the time of the sin, and the number of each hair.  God did not reach into that cup and selectively start pulling out sins that He was not going to pay for.  There is no sin that you have committed that He did not knowingly pay for on your behalf.  There is no sin that you might commit tomorrow or in ten years that He has not already seen and paid for.  God loves you as you are, and has already forgotten sins that you have not yet comitted.

You have peace with God because you are justified by your faith.  There is no bad news for the believer, but the believer is ushered into a realm that the dark world cannot even conceive of, and in which we ourselves must trust God if we are to live and work.  Not an earthly realm, but a heavenly, and that, even while we are yet sinners.  How may we serve Him in that glad Day when we stand before Him in glorified bodies, sinless and pure?  Then faith will not be necessary, for we shall walk by sight.  Then hope ceases to be hope, but reality; and love conquers all.

The sin question was settled forever at Calvary, insofar as every sin, past, present and future was forgiven there when the blood of the Lamb of God was shed to pay the penalty on man's behalf.   However, this forgiveness is appropriated by faith in the sufficiency of that sacrifice.  Until a person accepts that sacrifice as  the payment of the penalty for his own particular sins, those sins are not remitted.  People do not go to hell for being sinners, but for rejecting the only possible payment for their sins that is sufficient.  When one accepts by faith the payment that Jesus Christ has already made on his behalf, seven things happen to his sins:

• All sin is removed from him as far as the east is from the west (Ps 103:12)

• It is cast behind the back of God where He can no longer see it (Isa 38:17)

• It is sought for and not found (Jer 50:20)

• It is cast into the depths of the sea (Mic 7:19)

• All sins, past, present and future are forgiven (Col 2:13)

• It is forgotten, to be remembered no more (Heb 10:17)

• It is removed from the sinner by cleansing with the washing of water by the Word ( Eph 5:26; 1 Jn 1:7)

     C.I. Scofield describes sin as threefold (See Scofield Study Bible, Rom 3:23, note):

            1.  an act, the violation of, or want of obedience to, the revealed will of God;
            2.  a state, absence of righteousness;
            3.  a nature, enmity toward God.

Notice This:

The sin that Lucifer committed was attempting to make himself like God, who had created him.  When he tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, it was with the same temptation; he told her that if she ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, she would become like God.   Today, when he persuades men that they must be saved by their good deeds and sinlessness, he is still saying the same thing -- not only that man may become like God, but that he must.   The sin is not only in the things that we do, but in the condition of our heart that tells us that we can be like God.  That state of mind and heart is a complete repudiation of the necessity of grace.

It took one sin for Lucifer to become lost.  It took one sin for Eve to become lost.  It took one sin for Adam to become lost.  How many sins does it take to become lost?  Only one.   My friend, if you have committed even one sin, then you are absolutely incapable of getting to heaven on your own merits, and you must turn to the One who has paid your penalty for you, Jesus Christ the Righteous.

Neither does one who is saved cease to sin.  Paul clearly declared himself to be a completely wretched sinner (see Rom 7:15-25).  Continuing to be a sinner does not cancel out the salvation that is found in Christ, for none of us ceases to sin until either death or the redemption of the body.  Our salvation does not depend upon our good works.  Nor does the security of the believer depend upon any turning over of a new leaf, so to speak, but upon the faithfulness of God.  If we were required to become sinless following salvation, then salvation would be pointless, for if we could lose our salvation through sin that followed belief, then we assuredly would lose it.  For we continue to sin just as Paul did, though our attitude toward that sin changes from pleasure to regret through repentance.  But we do not become sinless.  Did you?  Nor did your wretched author!

The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23), and these are the wages that Jesus reaped on our behalf.  That all are sinners is proven by the fact that everybody dies.  If a man was without sin, he would never die.  But anyone who has committed even one sin must die.  Jesus suffered the penalty for our sins by dying for us.  Now, the believer, when his earthly ministry is finished, does not die, but passes from death into eternal life  (See our article, "Life & Death").

The sins of the Christian are not dealt with by punishment or condemnation.  Sin in the Christian experience breaks fellowship with God, but cannot change the eternal relationship once established at the cross through the believer's faith.  When a Christian sins, he need not fear condemnation, but he certainly ought to fear the chastisement of God.  Our heavenly Father will use whatever means are required to bring us back into fellowship with Himself, knowing that a Christian will always turn to Him in times of stress.  Our heavenly Father is always as gentle with His children as we will allow Him to be, but also as severe as He must be in order to accomplish the end of restoring us to full fellowship with Him, even if it becomes necessary to bring the wayward soul home through death.  Ultimately, the degree of our chastisement is proportionate to the stubbornness of our wills.   God loves us and will restore us using whatever means He must in order to turn our hearts back to Himself.

Sin may be either willful or inherent.  We all must breathe; therefore, we all must sin.  But we are not required by our flesh to commit those overt acts that are contrary to God's revealed will.   When we do those things that we know we ought not, if we confess those sins, God is faithful to forgive and to restore.  If we do not confess our sin, but continue to practice it,, then we subject ourselves to chastisement from a loving Father who regards us as unruly children.  However, the chastisement that the Christian experiences at the hand of the Father is never to be construed as punishment, but as correction.  God cannot punish us for that which has already been paid for and forgiven, but He must maintain our fellowship, even if that requires occasional chastisement.  Our own children cause us grief, but we do not cast them aside.  We discipline them because we love them.  God loves us even more, and disciplines His children with wisdom.

For the unbeliever, it is as though his sin debt had not already been paid, because he rejects the payment that was made for him, insisting, as it were, that he should pay for his own sins.  Thus, though his sin debt has been paid, yet must he bear the burden of punishment, having rejected the provision that was freely offered to him.  His sins were paid for at Calvary.  Nevertheless, rejecting the Cross, he commits again the original sin of old Lucifer in determining that he not only is able, but also that he must become like God.

In order to get to heaven by his own good deeds, a man must be as just and as good and as sinless as God Himself.  Failing in that, he stands condemned.  What greater sin can there be than counting the Blood that was shed for his sins as no more holy than the blood of a dog?  What can be more arrogant than rejecting the free salvation that is offered to all by a loving God who must judge sin, but who bore the judgment in His own flesh rather than being required by righteousness to execute judgment upon the sinner?  How much more rebellious can a heart be than to reject the love of God in favor of His condemnation?  God is not unjust to judge sin, but he would be unjust if He did not.  It is a mark of the inestimable love of God that He would willingly die for sinners who hate Him.  How arrogant was Lucifer to think that he could become as great as the One who created him?  And how arrogant is man today who believes that he can be as good as God is?  Sin is setting aside the grace of God in favor of the will of man.

There is yet another aspect of sin that is not often discussed, for fear of being seen as preaching licentiousness.  Yet the Bible is very clear, and the Apostle Paul is careful to go into great detail concerning that one sin which the Book of Hebrews also declares to be the sin that so easily ensnares us.  It is the sin of doubting.

The writer to the Hebrews had in the preceding chapters shown the all-encompassing need of man for faith in the sufficiency of the shed Blood of the Lamb of God to pay for his sin, and to render him perfect and above reproach in God's sight.  He had also portrayed the believer as sanctified and holy on account of his faith, and instructed the believer to have his heart sprinkled from an evil conscience.  That is, the believer should have no consciousness of sin, nor should he consider himself under any law except the Law of Christ, which may also be called the Law of Love.

The real issue in the middle and late chapters of Hebrews is whether we ought to consider ourselves to be under the Mosaic Law, or if a New Covenant is now in effect which frees us from that which cannot save.  The conclusion in chapter ten is that we certainly are saved, and perfected, by our faith in the sufficiency of the sacrifice already made on our behalf.  Sin is shown to be those moments in which we attempt to reenter an old covenant and place ourselves under a law that has already been fulfilled, and which never applied to us in the first place.  Only the Jews were ever given the Law of Moses.  Showing the old covenant to have been done away because of the fulfillment of the New Covenant, the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews shows that the Blood of the Lamb of God cleanses all who put their faith therein.  He proves beyond any theological doubt that salvation is only applied to those who trust in the one Sacrifice which could pay for anyone's sin.  He settles the sin and faith issues.  Then he says a remarkable thing:

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (11:1)

He tells us that it is by faith that we understand what we do about the creation of the material universe from nothing.  There was no pre-existing matter to go, "Bang!"  Indeed, it is by faith that we understand that the universe was framed by the Word of God.  Oh, yes, my friend!   It is not the power of God that holds the universe together.  It is the mere Word of His power.  But let us not stray.  Having shown the sufficiency of faith to save, the writer continues.

He presents what has  come to be affectionately called, "The Faith Hall of Fame."  Beginning with Abel, the writer details the lives of saints, showing that the element that united them was faith.  He shows the many successes that faith has wrought over the millennia.  And he shows the many times it issued forth destruction and death.  The clear objective of these chapters of the Book of Hebrews is to teach that we are not to judge our relationship with God on any external basis or circumstance.  In good times and bad we are to trust Him completely.  In blessings and in trials, ours is to trust.  Ours is not to question why; ours is to trust.  No matter what.  No matter where.  No matter when.  Ours is to trust.  Whether we live or die, whether we perish or prosper, we know what we have believed, and why we have believed it.  For we know Him who has declared it.

Finally, the writer to the Hebrews, after presenting the many heroes of faith, says,

"Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" (12:1).

How do we know that the sin that is referred to here is doubt?  The Bible didn't actually use that word.  In the first place, the context tells us very plainly what idea the writer was conveying.   Coming where it does, it can have no other meaning.  More importantly, however, the Apostle Paul expanded upon that same thing in his letter to the Romans.   The Hebrews passage, taken together with the Romans passage, conclusively declares the believers' proper comprehension of sin.

Paul was writing to the church at Rome.  He had never been there, but it was his heart's desire to preach to the people of Rome the same great truths that he had preached all over the Roman Empire.   Paul availed himself of this grand opportunity by writing first to these Romans the details of the Gospel of Christ.  The first eight chapters of the Epistle to the Romans is an exposition of the Gospel of Christ.  It is a theological discourse of the highest order, and many consider chapter eight to be the highest point in the Bible.   In light of the message of that chapter, it seems quite remarkable that anyone could believe that a person could be saved and then be lost again.

Having laid the gospel out in theological form in the first eight chapters, Paul goes on in the fourteenth chapter to discuss one of the elementary principles of the Law of Christ, though he does not use the phrase, "Law of Christ."  He describes the relationship between the Christian and doubtful things as they pertain to the Law of Love which is to characterize the Christian.  Since space is not a problem, we will here include the entire fourteenth chapter of the letter to the Romans, and then we will discuss certain aspects of it.

Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things.
For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.  Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him.

Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.  He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.  For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.  For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.

For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.  For it is written: As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.
So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.  Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way.

I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.

Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil;  for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.
Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.  Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense.  It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.

Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.  But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.

The importance of this passage cannot be overestimated in any comprehension of sin.  It is interesting that Paul is not directly addressing the sin issue.  Rather, he is talking about the Law of Love.   His point is that we ought not do anything that a brother would consider sinful, causing that brother to commit what he considers to be a sin.  Where would love be in such activities?  It cannot be considered love if we cause a brother's conscience to condemn him in the things that we do not consider sinful.  However, in expressing this principle, Paul also tells us several things about what is sin and what is not.

Notice that at the beginning of the chapter he says, "Receive one who is weak in the faith."  He goes on to show that a person whose faith is strong can eat whatever his heart desires.  He is not condemned by what he eats.  But a person whose faith is weak is one who is afraid to eat certain things (or do certain things).  That weak person is trapped in a thousand prisons, all the things he cannot do or cannot eat on account of his fear that he might be sinful.  No liberty.  No freedom in Christ.  Still slaves to sin, though he is saved.

That person is weak.   Paul shows that it does not only refer to the things we eat, but includes the things we do, when he said that one man esteems one day above another, while another esteems every day alike.  If one who esteems every day alike causes the one who considers the Sabbath holy to do something to violate the Sabbath, then he has caused that brother to sin.  There is no love in that.

In that same context, in verse 14, Paul says, "I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself.  But to him who esteems a thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean."   So what is there in all of creation that is unclean for a man to eat just because of what it is?  Nothing.  Why then do we judge our brothers?  Such judgment is sin.  It comes from the weakness of our faith.  The one who has strength of faith is free to be who he is, unafraid of the judgment of men, but able to suppress his own desires in favor of the weaker consciences of others.  Hear what Paul had to say in closing this chapter:

"Do you have faith?  Have it to yourself before God.  Happy is he who does not condemn himself in that which he approves.  But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not of faith is sin."

We have perfect liberty.   There is nothing unclean of itself.  Everything that we do, everything that happens in our lives, all our deeds are according to God's wise and holy purpose, and for our good.  We are cautioned not to use our liberty as a cloak for our sin.  How is it that any of us ever walk in the flesh?  How is it that, having such a great and wise and loving and powerful and merciful God; how is it that we can turn aside from Him for a moment and turn to our own desires?  How can we do it so consistently, and for so very much of our time?  That, my friend, is sin.  If it could be imputed to us, we would certainly be lost.  Let us walk in the Spirit and thank God for His great mercy.  And let our hearts not condemn us in the things we allow.  Let us keep the faith!