One of the greatest changes to modern society, from that of one we might call Biblical society of a couple thousand years ago, is the definition and approach to sin. Technically there is no formal definition of sin though there are about 54 different words one might find in the sin genre. Sometimes there are a couple of Hebrew words linked together. A more famous trio of Hebrew words would be “iniquity” (awon) and “transgression” (pasha) and “sin.” (chata) The terms appear together about eight times and appear to represent a slightly different approach to the ways in which man sins.
Many have heard of “chata hamartia” which means simply to “miss the mark.” It can be intended or not, but it is without question falling far short of God’s expectation of man for a spiritually pure life. (Judges 20:16; Proverbs 19:2; 8:34-36; 1 Samuel 2:25) Another category of man’s sinful failure is “awon.” It intimates a guilt of being outside the expectations of God. That is to say that man has essentially failed God by going his own chosen way. (1 Samuel 20:1-8, 25:24; Job 13:23, 26; Daniel 9:13; Exodus 20:5-6, 34:7; Deuteronomy 5:9) The third category is rebellion. (pasha) This term occurs about 135 times and designates a people in political rebellion to their authorities. God’s people have often lived lives of simple rebellion to His will. This has always come at a cost to the rebellious. In the Holy clash of wills between God and man, man will always fall short. (1 Kings 12:19; 2 Kings 8:20-22; Isaiah 1:2, 58:1; Job 43:37; Genesis 31:36, 50:17) A fourth category would be “rasha,” a recognition of the wickedness of the sinner. (Job 38:11; Isaiah 48:22, 55:7, 57:21; Leviticus 19:17; Genesis 39:9; Deuteronomy 22:24)
God is sinless. (James 1:13) The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are consequently without sin as they compose the whole aspect of God. People are created pure and upright, but have sinned as they seek to innovate their life circumstances around God ordained paths. (Ecclesiastes 7:29) Man is described by Scripture as deviating from God from our youth. (Genesis 8:21; Psalms 58:3) Sins are universal to man’s existence beyond Genesis in both testaments. (1 Kings 8:46; 2 Chronicles 6:36; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23, 7:14; Galatians 3:22; 1 John 1:8)
All sin is against God and all repentance of spiritual sin is to be directed toward Him. The world will laugh at sin to its own demise. Sin enslaves us. (John 8:34) It holds us in a way that would be like a person forcing their will on another. (Romans 7:23) It produces blindness and ultimately death. (Romans 6:23; James 1:15)
Sin is caused by ignorance; (Numbers 15:27-28; Acts 3:17) accidental consequence; (Genesis 20:9) spiritual blindness; (Numbers 22:34) stubbornness; (1 Samuel 15:22-23; Deuteronomy 29:19) or lust; (Colossians 3:5). This is by no means an exhaustive list of sinful causes but it gives us a picture of the many ways that man can find himself away from God. Sin is manifest in many forms, but it always culminates in the same spiritually deadly way – being lost. Get Emergency Cash Loans.
The only cure for the death sin brings is the sacrifice of our loving Savior – Jesus. (John 3:16) Yet the world has found humor, or even apathy, in the devastating elements of sin. God’s Word should be regarded as definitive in what sin is and how we deal with it. Instead of debating what the Bible actually says about sin, the world has chosen to simply discount the subject altogether. To the world sin is a non-starter when considering one’s spiritual eternity, and yet to God that is the entire subject. There are a variety of reasons as to why man has gone this direction. It really hasn’t gotten much more complex since the Garden, perhaps it is simply nuanced. As a result of ignoring the catastrophic elements of sin, man is suffering greatly in our society, and even in the Church. We want long songs, long prayers, and short sermons. Because of sin we want man to talk more and listen to God less. The sound of our own voices can drown out the clarion call of repentance from The perfectly righteous God. Our Savior is a pacifier to a painful life we have created from arrogance and stubbornness. We want to be pain free even if that means dying daily from the disease itself.
In this discussion I am not trying to be overly morbid. I am simply pointing out the problem we all face. (Romans 3:23) In the coming weeks we will look at some other fundamental aspects of Christian faith. We start here, because in order to find healing, we have to first recognize we are wounded. God loves us and Scripture makes that abundantly clear. The Word also makes clear the availability of salvation which comes only through Christ. Godspeed on your journey…