WHAT IS SIN?
WHAT IS SIN?
By: jack Guyler
I want to answer this question in three parts: What is sin? Why does it matter? Is there a remedy for sin?
WHAT IS SIN?
The religious leaders of Jesus day defined sin as breaking their rules or the religious customs that they had set up. They were more concerned about people keeping these rules than God’s rules. Jesus inferred in his teachings that sin was more dangerous than physical pain or suffering. He said He came to call sinners (people who sinned) to repentance. This was His mission. Sin is breaking God’s laws for living. In other words, God the designer of human beings designed us to function a certain way, and when we don’t, we are sinning or going against God’s design.
Who sins? The truth is, we are all sinners. Because we sin and have such a propensity to sin, we become sinners (persons who sin regularly). Sinners are like drug addicts – they can’t help but sin because it is in their nature to do so.
Paul defines sin in Romans 1 as misdirected worship. Being designed to worship the Creator God, people from the beginning have worshipped idols or things created by God rather than God Himself.
So really, sin is missing the mark of worshipping the God of creation and failing to function as we were designed to do.
WHY DOES SIN MATTER?
It can be argued that some people sin more than others. It can be argued that some people or families have greater weaknesses or tendencies for dysfunction or bad behavior; but what can’t be argued is that every person has flaws (some more fatal than others) that affect themselves and others.
N.T. Wright in The Day the Revolution Began, says, “Sin is actually the result of idolatry, in which humans hand over their God-given powers to other forces which then enslave them.” If this is true, then sin puts us and keeps us in bondage or enslavement to toxic thoughts and sometimes dangerous behaviors. Again, sin acts like a drug to us. At first, we control it. Over time, it controls us and causes us to think and do things we would never do without its influence.
Why does sin matter? Because it is like a toxin to us over time that causes us to worship things other than the true God, enslaves us to thoughts and behaviors that are unhealthy and causes fractures and disappointments in our relationships with others. We often think of letting go of the “sin” in our life as letting go of funs things in life. But it is actually the opposite. Sin is what keeps us from functioning as we have been designed. It is sin that keeps us from being the best version of ourselves. And maybe worse of all, we don’t have the power on our own to get out from under its influence or the results of sin.
IS THERE A REMEDY FOR SIN?
Yes, and His name is Jesus. In the church there is a lot of talk about Jesus forgiving our sins. And while that is needed and welcomed, it is only a starting point. We all know the good feeling when a person we love forgives us of something we have said or done. But forgiveness alone doesn’t empower us to change our behavior or cleanse our soul. But Jesus died for more than to forgive us. He died to set us free from sin and its power. Paul puts it this way in Romans 6 – “But thanks be to God, that, though you used to be slaves to sin…you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”
In other words, Jesus has not only forgiven you, but he has also freed you from its power and grip. Though you might sin from time to time, you no longer have to be defined by sin. And he adds one more bit of good news – for those in Christ there is no condemnation. In other words, God doesn’t see you any longer as a sinner. He refers to you as a son or daughter. And this is huge because how we see ourselves defines how we think and live. The real power of moving beyond a life of sinning is to know the truth as to how God sees you. So when you realize and accept that God has forgiven you, freed you and calls you a son or daughter rather than a sinner (or a failure or a dysfunctional mistake), you will not only have the power to live free from sin, but you will have the want-to because you will want to be who God sees you to be!
