CHAPTER SIX

SIN

Human history and man's conscience bear testimony to the reality of sin. The Scripture indicates that sin
entered the world through Satan and then into humans with the fall of Adam and Eve. The Bible reveals
the essence of sin to be self-centeredness and its consequence to be death. However, it also reveals God's
redemptive plan in Christ Jesus to make an end of sin for eternity. The corrupt state of all humankind as
shown in Romans 3:10-20 indicates that all the world is guilty before God, and none can be justified by
the works of the law (v. 19-20). We are in rebellion against God and need forgiveness, righteousness, and
reconciliation. The purpose of this lesson is to introduce the concept of sin and evil to new converts so
that they understand the need for salvation in Jesus Christ. Here, we shall discuss what sin is, the origin of
sin, the nature of sin, the universality of sin, the consequence of sin and the response of Jesus to sin.

The meaning and nature of Sin

Sin is any deviation from God's perfect standards of righteousness. It includes actions, words, and
thoughts. According to Kevin J. Conner, six major Scriptures define sin, and all are seen in the original
sin of Satan and Adam. These are:

• The thought of foolishness: "The thought of foolishness is sin" (Proverbs 24:9a KIV. When Satan
and Adam entertained the thought of being "as gods" it was indeed foolishness and this covetous thought
itself was a sin.

• Transgression of law: “Sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4 KJV).. Transgress means
“to go beyond the limit," “to violate,” “to pass across, "to go across a forbidden boundary line”, giving us
a broad foundation for understanding chis. Sin, then, can be defined as “going beyond the limit of what
the law allows”. Adam also transgressed God’s love.

• Unrighteousness is sin: “All unrighteousness is sin” (1 John 5:17). Unrighteousness or injustice

means failure to adhere to moral principles. Adam committed an injustice to God and man by selling
himself out to Satan.

• Not doing good is sin: "Therefore to him, that knoweth to do good, and doth it not, to him it is
sin” (James 4:17 KJ). Satan knew good and did it not. Adam knew good - both God's law and what would
please Him, and did it not.

• Unbelief is sin: “...for whatever is not from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23b). Adam and Eve knew
the good and perfect will of God, yet sinned. They did not believe the Word of God, but instead believed
the word of the serpent. They fell from faith in the Word of God to unbelief.

• Doing good may be sin: “…the ploughing of the wicked is sin” (Proverbs 21:4 NKJV). Ploughing
was an honourable activity in Oriental culture. It was a good deed. However, the Scripture declares that
anyone that is not rightly related to God cannot do anything good and acceptable in the sight of God. A
sinner can do nothing but sin. Even charitable and religious deeds though beneficial to others, may still be
a sin. Adam’s self-righteousness attempt to cover himself with fig leaves proved inadequate. As Isaiah
said, “... all our righteousness are as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf' (Isaiah 64:6. Another
illustration of this is the righteousness of the Pharisees (Matthew 23:13-33; Philippians 3:4-9).

The Origin of Sin

The age-old question of where and how sin began has been explored and debated by some of the greatest
minds of history, yet no one can give a completely definitive or satisfying answer. Some, quoting Isaiah
45:7, seek to make God the author of sin: "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create
evil: I the Lord do all these things" (KJV). However, the K]V's word evil, from the original Hebrew rah,
is better translated as "calamity." The context of this passage concerns God's sovereignty over natural
disasters.

Nonetheless, the Apostle James, in dealing with the birth of sin, gives us some vital insight into the origin
of all evil: "When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil,
nor does he tempt anyone" (James 1:13). This text shows that God did not and could not tempt angels or
man to sin. This would violate His moral attributes. God did not create or decree sin. He does not approve
of it nor incite His creatures to sin. To charge God with such is an attack on His holiness and moral
attributes. God is sovereign over all things, but He is not the author of sin. He hates sin (Proverbs 8:13).
Moral evil originated with the creature, not the Creator.

God gave His first man and woman (Adam and Eve) authority over all the earth and told them to keep it
under their dominion. To keep them safe from Satan and his evil spirits, God planted two special trees in
the Garden of Eden, where they lived. God called them "The Tree of Life and The Tree of the Knowledge
of Good and Evil' (Genesis 2:9, 17). The Tree of Life represented the life and Authority of God Himself -
so in eating its fruits, Adam and Eve would be filled more and more with God's strength and love and
glory. On the other hand, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represented Satan's life and
authority and if Adam and Eve did not eat its fruit, they were safe from the evil spirits which filled the
earth. The dominion of the whole creation would always be theirs if they obeyed their loving Creator God
(Hebrews 2:8). However, Satan deceived Eve. He told her the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
was not bad - rather it would make them like gods. She believed the lie and ate the fruit of the tree. Adam,
although he knew it was a lie, also ate of the tree (Genesis 3:6, 1 Timothy 2:14). Through that one act of
sin, man lost the glory and image of God and the dominion over the creation. Satan then took the throne
vacated by Adam and Eve and exercised his dominion over the earth and death filled the world (Romans
5:12).

The first man, Adam, sinned, and his transgression spiralled mankind into sin, but this was not sin's
origin. Ezekiel 28:13-15 speaks figuratively of Satan, who was originally created without flaw, as all
things created by God were. Verse 15 gives us a hint as to the origin of sin: "You were blameless in your
ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you." Isaiah 14:12-14 further indicates
that Satan (Lucifer) sinned in his pride and his coveting of God's throne. When he rebelled against God,
Satan was ejected from heaven (Ezekiel 28:15-17, 1Timothy 3:6). This brings us to the question, how did
evil manifest itself in a perfect creature? It may be good to mention that evil is not a created thing it is not
a creature and has no independent being. Also, evil has no standard as goodness does; it is a lack, a
deficiency, a falling short of the standard of God's perfect goodness. All sin, no matter how trivial it may
seem, falls short of moral perfection. God is always consistent with His perfect nature (Deuteronomy
32:4). All sin, therefore, must come from the creature, and the desire for evil comes from within the
creature (James 1:14-15). Sin was "found" in Lucifer because of a choice that the angel made to seek
something other than what God had chosen for him. Lucifer's sin was threefold, what may be called the
triunity of sin, consisting of pride, covetousness or lust, and self-will exercised against God. Any time we
seek “other” than God's choice, we sin.

To say sin originated within God's creatures does not mean God was surprised or caught unaware by it.
Although God did not bring about sin, He certainly allowed it or it would not exist, since God is
sovereign over all things. He could indeed have prevented sin, but that would have meant stripping His
creation of its free will (Psalm 33:10-11, Daniel 4:17). All HIS ways are good. In Him is ‘no darkness at
all’ (1 John 1:5), and He is right now working all things for His good pleasure (Isaiah 46:9-10, Romans
8:28). Scripture assures that evil is temporary. Once the culmination of God's redemptive plan is
complete, Jesus Christ will have destroyed the devil's work forever (1 John 3:8).

The Universality of Sin

The Bible writers are quite clear that sin is universal. King Solomon during his great prayer at the
dedication of the temple in Jerusalem says, “…for there is no one who does not sin” (1 Kings 8:46).
“Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins”, adds the Preacher
(Ecclesiastes 7:20). Several of the Psalms comment sadly on the universality of human sin. Psalm 14,
which describes the godless ‘fool’, gives a very negative description of human wickedness:

“The fool says in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who
does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any
who seek God. All have turned away, all have become corrupt; no one does good, not even one” (Psalm
14:1-3).

The psalmists are of the view that if God were to rise in judgment against humanity, none could escape
his condemnation: "If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?" (Psalm 130:3. Hence
the prayer, "Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you"
(Psalm 143:2).

The prophets are as insistent as the psalmist on the fact that all people are sinners, and no statements are
more definite than the two which are to be found in the second half of the book of Isaiah: "We all, like
sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity
of us all” (Isaiah 53:6), and “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are
like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6a).

Likewise, the New Testament writers share this view. For instance, Paul opens his letter to the Romans
with a closely reasoned argument, which extends over the first three chapters. He writes about the corrupt
behaviour of the pagan world and then adds that his own people, the people of Israel, are no better. They
have been entrusted with God's holy law - and even teach it to others. Yet they break it just as much as
anyone else. Paul goes further to illustrate his theme, and concludes, "There is no difference between Jew
and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:22b-23). John, another New
Testament writer explicitly declares: 'If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and
the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). From the above passages the conclusion is self-evident: every person is
a sinner, and every person commits sin - all people are included, and no individual is excluded.

The Consequences of Sin

We have looked at the meaning, nature and universality of sin. We might prefer to leave this unpleasant
subject and pass on immediately to the good news of Christ's salvation, but that makes our discussion
incomplete. We need to grasp what the results of sin are before we can fully appreciate what God has
done for us and what he offers to us in Christ. Let us look at the consequences of sin by considering its
effects on God, on ourselves and on other people.

Alienation from God: Sin offends God and its result is that it separates or cuts us off from God. Our
highest destiny is to know God, to be in a personal relationship with Him. Our chief claim to nobility as
human beings is that we were made in the image of God and are therefore capable of knowing Him, but
this God whom we are meant to know and relate with is a righteous Being, infinite in his moral
perfection. The Bible attest to this fact: “God is light; in Him, there is no darkness at all. If we claim to
have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth” (1 John 1:5-6). As
it is, we are dimly aware of how pure and brilliant the glory of almighty God must be. It must be clear
that we could not approach such a God while still in our sins.

Sin brings inevitable separation, and this separation is ‘death’, spiritual death, the cutting off of a person
from God, the only source of true life. Thus, all sins are offences against God, leading to death: “for the
wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Death does not mean only the physical death of our bodies but the
death of everything and all about us. Sin brings diseases, divorce, home breakage, separations, etc and all
these sum up to death. Do not expect immediately to die (lose your life) when you sin but something so
much important in your life will die (although there are sins that bring immediate loss of life). A good
example of death is when you go against the command and commit adultery. You will not die but the
consequences will directly come upon you and something will have to die. It can be your family
breakage, separation, divorce, loss of property, diseases, etc. Another example of death is when we
worship other gods. The Holy Spirit is clean and sinless, and He does not dwell where there is evil or with
other gods. When worshipping other gods, He will move and leave you open to satanic attacks.

All sorts of satanic attacks will come and overpower you and this is the start of your death. Death of your
businesses, body, soul and even your entire life. God is life and so without Him, you are a dead man
walking. Sins separate us from God. This is how Isaiah puts it; “But your iniquities have separated you
from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). Our sins
blot out God's face from us as effectively as the clouds cover the sun.

Self-bondage: Sin not only alienates; it puts man under slavery, separates us from God and brings us into
captivity. Sin holds man under its authority just as a child is under his parents or an army is under its
commander. We need to consider the ‘inwardness’ of sin. It is more than the wrong thing we do; it is
deep-seated inner sickness. The sins we commit are merely the external and visible indications of this
internal and invisible illness, the symptoms of moral disease. Sin is viewed as a living, active, forceful
and dynamic power that has a man under its sway. Jesus affirms our enslavement to sin: “Very truly I tell
you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin”. (John 8:34). To those still, not born-again, sin has complete rule
over them, and they cannot in any way overcome it. Even after a person is converted, sin still struggles
with him/her mightily to retain its former dominion. The unconverted are powerless to fight sin’s
dominion to such an extent that sin dwells in them without resistance from the Spirit of God (The Holy
Spirit).

Jesus did not attribute the evils of human society to these. According to him, the problem of sin lies with
our ‘heart’. Here are His words: “For it is from within, out of a person's heart, that evil thought come --
sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, Slander, arrogance and
folly” (Mark 7:21-22). Jeremiah reiterates the same idea: “The heart is deceitful above all things and
beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Paul's label for it is 'the sinful nature, and he sets
out a catalogue of what it produces:

“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft;
hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness,
orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom
of God” (Galatians 5:19-21).

Now, we know this only too well. We have a high ideal, but weak will. We want to live a good life, but we
are chained in the prison of our self-centeredness. However much we may boast of being free, the reality
is that we are slaves. We need to come to and admit with sorrow and repentance.
Damnation: Apart from body death, there is the ultimate death. The fist death is death brought by the
original sin; Adam's sin, but there is the second death: “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the
murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars- they will be
consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulphur. This is the second death”. (Revelation 21:8). We will all be
resurrected after the first death like Jesus resurrected from the death but there are those who will die
again. This is the second death when God judges them, and they are damned forever; thrown in the lake
of fire to burn forever.

Conflict with Others: Our list of the terrible consequences of sin is still not complete. There is one more
to consider: The effect it has on our relationship with others. All the sins we commit are assertions of the
self against either God or other people. The Ten commandments give a clear picture of this. It sets out our
duty to God and others. It is important to notice that the first commandment concerns our duty to God and
not our duty to other people. We are to love God first, and then we are to love our neighbour as ourselves.
So, God's order is that we put him first, others next and self last. But the reverse is the case. We sin when
we put ourselves first, our neighbours next, and God somewhere. This basic self-centredness affects all
our behaviour to the extent that we do not find it easy to adjust to other people. We tend either to despise
them or to envy them, either to feel superior or to consider ourselves inferior. We rarely think of ourselves
with the 'sober judgment' which Paul urge upon his readers. Sometimes we are full of inappropriate self-
pity, at other times of self-esteem, self-will or self-love.

Jesus' Response to Sin

Writing about sin like this has only one purpose. It is to convince us of our need for Jesus Christ and to
help us understand and accept what He offers. The source of sin is Satan's lies, but its solution is in Jesus
Christ. This is what the Bible says:

• “She will give birth to a Son , and you are to give Him the name Jesus because He will save His
people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
• “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a
ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
• “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Saviour of the world” (1
John 4:14).

Here are trustworthy sayings that deserve full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners. God set Jesus forth to be an atonement by his blood (Romans 3:24). There is "no condemnation"
to those who are "in Christ" (Romans 8:1). We are saved from wrath through Jesus Christ and His shed
blood (Romans 5:8).

We have seen that sin has four consequences; 'salvation' is about our liberation from them all. Through
Jesus Christ the Saviour we can be brought out of exile and put right with God; we can be born again,
receive a new nature and be set free from our moral bondage; and we can have the old discords replaced
by a harmony of love.

Paul describes Jesus' response to sin as a 'ministry of reconciliation' and his gospel as a 'message of
reconciliation.' God is the author he says, and Christ is the one through whom He brings it about: "that
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And He has
committed to us the message of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:19). This indicates that we were, because
of our sins, in conflict with God and through the intermediary role of Jesus we are brought together in
oneness with Him. God in one act of grace (unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their
regeneration or sanctification. Favor. Mercy. Pardon) unilaterally reconciled the entire world to Himself.
This reconciliation took place solely through Jesus Christ. For God was in Christ reconciling the world
unto Himself. God did not simply ignore our sins or like a benevolent grandfather say that our sins are all
right because we are His grandchildren.

Sin seems to have left us in a hopeless situation, separated from God and unable to help ourselves. But
God has provided a solution through Christ Jesus. Jesus has come to reconcile us to God. We owe God an
enormous debt of gratitude for providing us with the permanent, continuing solution for the problem of
sin. We can express our confidence in Jesus and our gratitude to God by accepting the solution. We shall
now turn to the next chapter to reflect on the new birth.

Discussion Questions
1. If you are to define what sin is, what would you say?
2. How did sin originate?
3. What are the consequences of sin on the life of the individual?
4. Why does the Bible underscore the universality of sin?
5. How does salvation set us free from the consequences of sin?