What is Sin?
Sin is anything contrary to the will and plan of God. Sin is falling short of the righteousness of God. Romans 3:23b. In eternity past, God knew every sin that every person in the human race would commit and His perfect righteousness condemned our sins so that all mankind is born into condemnation. However, God’s love did not leave us in that state. Instead, the justice of God judged Jesus Christ on the cross for every sin in human history. He was our substitute. John 3:16; Romans 5:8. As a result, sin is not the issue for the unbeliever. The issue is the unbeliever’s acceptance or rejection of God’s grace gift of His Son. John 3:18, 36; Ephesians 2:8-9. That is why it is so important to make the gospel message clear so that the unbeliever understands and can decide.
Note that the cross involved only the judgment of sin. But even though it did not involve the forgiveness of sin, it became the basis for forgiveness of sins. At the moment a person believes in Jesus Christ as Savior, God forgives the pre-salvation sins of that person. But once we are saved, we do not stop sinning. 1 John 1:8, 10. God in His grace also provided a simple solution for our post-salvation sins, the sins we commit after we are saved. 1 John 1:9 gives us the solution. All we do is name our sins to God the Father and He forgives us for the sins we name plus any sins that we may have forgotten that we committed or that we may not even know are sins. He is faithful to forgive meaning He always does the same thing no matter how many times we have committed that sin and no matter what our motivation is in naming the sin. He freely provides this solution and it is totally undeserved. That is His grace.
When we sin, our sins generally fall into three categories: sins that we think, sins that we say, and sins that we do. Mental attitude sins include things like arrogance or pride, hatred, anger, bitterness, self-pity, jealousy, self-righteousness, etc. Sins of the tongue, or verbal sin, include gossip, maligning, judging, slander, lying, etc. Overt sins include all criminal activity, unlawful violence, breaking the law, sexual sins, drug abuse, drunkenness, suicide, etc.
Proverbs 6:16-19 tells us that there are some sins that God takes a harsher view of. Read that passage. It may surprise you what is on the list and what is not. Regardless, for every believer, the solution to all sins is naming them to God the Father. This is important because only by doing that can the believer regain the filling of God the Holy Spirit (the power for the spiritual life), be restored to fellowship with God, and resume the spiritual life.
Memory Verse: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Inherent in every human being is a sin nature referred to in Scripture as “the flesh” or “the old man” (Romans 6:6; 13:14). Although the sin nature tempts us to sin, that temptation is not the source of sin. Our volition is the source of all sin in our life. We make decisions to succumb to the temptation and sin. As believers in the family of God, sin removes us from fellowship with God and temporarily turns off the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives as revealed in John 14:26, 16:12-14; 1 Corinthians 2:9-16. The grace procedure outlined in 1 John 1:9 is the only way for the believer to take responsibility for his sins, by naming them to God the Father.
In living the Christian life, it is important to know what sin is, so that we can say no to temptations in the first place, or that we can name it if we do sin. Understanding what sin is gives us the opportunity to build up resistance against it. Also keep in mind that just because society today may no longer consider something to be a sin, for example, homosexuality, it is nevertheless a sin. Romans 1:26-27.
Countless passages identify specific sins in the Bible, including violations of the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20:2-17. Here are a few additional passages that identify specific sins: Proverbs 6:12-15; 1 Corinthians 3:5-10; 2 Timothy 3:2-7; 1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; Matthew 5:27-28; Leviticus 18:6-17, 22, 23; 20:13-15; 19:29.
Proverbs 6:16-19 lists the seven worst sins in God’s eyes.
- A proud look is arrogance. Arrogance is directly connected with a whole host of other sins such as bitterness, jealousy, vindictiveness, implacability, hatred, revenge, self-pity, gossip, slander, maligning, judging, etc. (v. 17)
- A lying tongue refers to malicious gossip and slander. (v. 17)
- Hands that shed innocent blood refers to murder. Murder takes away the human life that God breathed into the soul of the person at the moment of their birth. (v. 17)
- Conspiracy or anything that undermines authority, e.g., civil disobedience. (v. 18)
- Feet running rapidly to evil refers to criminality, destruction of property and life in the name of some crusade. (v. 18)
- A false witness who utters lies. (v. 19)
- Sowing discord or strife or playing one person against another. (v. 19)
A believer can commit any sin. Without the Word of God in His soul, the believer will think, decide, and act just like an unbeliever. In a state of perpetual sin or carnality, the believer becomes an enemy of the cross of Christ. Philippians 3:18. Regardless, no sin ever removes the believer from the family of God. John 10:28.
Memory Verse: “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2).