What is Sin?
There are many words used to describe a sinful act but basically sin is an act which is directly against God.
Romans 8:7,8
"7 Because the carnal mind (human sexual mind) is enmity (has hatred,rejects) against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. "
Sin was present in the universe way before the failure of Adam and Eve, this is why the events in the Garden of Eden took place, Satan had already turned away from God. See Genesis 3:6.
"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."
Desire or lust was not the total reason for Eve or later Adam taking the fruit, it was the way that Satan deliberately put doubt in the instructions and authority of God,
Genesis 2:17;
"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
Genesis 3:3-5.
" But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."
Adam and Eve wanted to be like God! They wanted to put themselves in the place of God. By accepting the words of Satan they put him before God. This act of disobedience of God, Sin, came from their heart and mind, and so the action immediately separated Adam and Eve from God from that point in time.
From that point in time Mankind has also "hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God."
Genesis 3:8.
"And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden."
Consider John 3:20,21.
"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved."
What was the result?
Apart from the separation from God we find a number of physical effects:-
Cursed is the ground. The earth is cursed. Nature will be against Man.
Physical death is the penalty.Gen 3:17-19.
"And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
Romans 5:12-21.
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God,
and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."
Though Adam and Eve did not physically die for many years, the Bible records that Adam was 930 years old when he physically died, however, on the day they rejected God what did "die" was the spiritual relationship with God, that happened immediately when they disobeyed God, because God cannot have fellowship with those who have rejected Him.
Adam and Eve had been made in the image of God, body, soul and spirit, it was the spirit part which died immediately, there could be no more direct contact with God.
From that time they lost the blessings of God, their future life and ultimately the life of Mankind would become very hard work. Genesis 3:17-19.
"And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
The serpent was cursed, and the snakes relationship with Man was to be always hated.
Gen 3:14,15.
"And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
How has this affected the people of the world?
If you examine any group of people, nations or tribes, there always seems to be a set of rules developed over the years as to what is wrong and not acceptable, or what is right and acceptable with that group of people or nation, why does this happen?
Paul points out an interesting point, if God had never given Mankind the Law then we would not have known what was wrong and against God, without the Law we could not sin.
Rom 7:7-13.
"What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful."
God has set His standard, the Law, if He had not said "do not steal, it is wrong to steal" then we would not know we should not steal. Paul used the example of "You shall not covet," to want what someone else has. Paul said that he could not covet or lust after other peoples property unless he was told not to do it. However, in practice we each have a conscience not to hurt others. Therefore by God issuing the Law we became sinners.
This does of course raise the question, "If I did not know of the Laws of God, how can He judge me?"
The answer is given by Paul in Romans 2:11-16
"For there is no respect of persons with God.
For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel."
God gave each person a conscience, we each have the ability to know what is right and wrong, God can therefore judge each of us, whether we know His Law or not.
A list of Sins.
Paul, in his letter to the Galatians gave a list of sins, the scripture states that the person who practices these sins shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
The Sins listed in the Bible. |
| Galatians 5:19, 21b. |
"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. " |
| Mark 7:20-23; | "And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
All these evil things come from within, and defile the man." |
| Rom. 1:29-32; | "Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." |
| 1 Tim. 1:8-10; | "But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;
Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for man slayers,
For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for men stealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;" |
| 2 Tim. 3:2-5. | "Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightiest charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.
Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:" |
| Galatians 5:20b-21a. | "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." |
| Col 3:5-7. | "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them." |
| Matthew 4:10. | "Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." |
| Deuteronomy 18:10-12. | "There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. " |
| Titus 1:15. | "Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. " |
| Proverbs 14:30. | "A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones. " |
Meaning of Sin actions listed.
Adultery: a sexual relationship between two people who were married but not married to each other.
Fornication: This is normally a sexual relationship between two single, unmarried people.
Uncleanness: Bad actions and thoughts, which come from the persons heart and mind.
Lasciviousness: showing or producing sexual desire.
Drunkenness: Loss of control of normal behaviour due to excessive intake of alcoholic drink, the person has an appetite for alcohol that knows no shame.
Revelings: A wild party with excess alcohol and sexual behaviour, an orgy.
Idolatry: This is making an object or activity into something more important than God. We are to worship God, love people, but many worship the things they own or are involved in, like sport.
If a Christian gives more time to his family, car, house, boat, work, even something like a computer, game etc. than he does to working and serving Christ, then that Christian could be making the interest into an "idol," giving it more importance that worship of God.
Witchcraft: people who practiced witchcraft and magic in the New Testament times would often use powerful drugs to bring about their evil acts. The Greek word Pharmakeia, which means "the use of drugs." is now used to describe our modern chemists or pharmacies.
Any witchcraft, sorcery, any use of the occult, supernatural or Satan worship is forbidden in the Bible.
Hatred or "enmity": an attitude of mind, which involves others. This attitude leads to variance, which is strife, the outworking of enmity.
Emulations: means jealousies or rivalries.
Anyone can suffer from jealousy, Christian or non-Christian. It is sad that anyone would want to hurt someone because the other person has power, position or a material object which they want. It is possible that a person may even make claims about a person which are not true to get what they want.
Wrath: An outburst of anger, which also has the idea of self gain, a person suffering this problem can cause many problems in a local Christian church.
Seditions and heresies: These are similar, "sedition" suggests causing a split or division in the group while "heresies," which means "make a choice," indicates a split due to the teaching of wrong doctrine.
Envyings: suggests bitterness, desire, ill will, jealousy, discontent for what another has.
Murder: Killing a person.
Unfortunately any of these sins can be done by a church member or sadly, the church leader or leaders.
The nature of Mankind is to Sin.
Each persons old nature is capable of any of these sins, producing such terrible and horrible effects, then how can a true believer manage to live a life of obedience to the Lord?
The answer is that the true believer is not under law, but under grace offered by God, Romans 6:14-16.
"For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?,"
There is no excuse for sin, these facts are an encouragement to live in obedience to the Lord.
This old nature of a believer is not controllable by the believer, the old nature must be taken over by the Spirit of God, to be crucified.
Gal. 5:24.
" And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. "
In Romans 6:1ff.
"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God."
Paul explains that the Believer is identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, Christ not only died for each of us, but the Believer died with Christ when they accepted Him as their Saviour. Christ died for each of us to remove the punishment of our sin, but when the Believer died with Christ they became able to break the power of their old nature, Galatians 2:19-20;
"For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
Galatians 6:14.
"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. "
We must note that Christ did not instruct a Believer to physically crucify themselves, that is not possible, no one can die by crucifying themselves, Christ tells us that the flesh has already been crucified, all we have to do is believe and accept this truth.
Consider Colossians 3:5ff;
"Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them."
Romans 7:4ff.
" Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter."
The answer is not to fight the flesh, but to surrender our control and will to the Holy Spirit so that we want to obey Our Lord in love. See Heb 10:14-17;
"For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,
This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. "
2 Corinthians 3:18.
"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."
However, though the Holy Spirit has all the power we need, we do not always use that power. This caused Paul to write in Rom 7:14-19:-
"14 For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15 For that which I do, I approve not. For what I would do, that do I not; but what I hate, that I do.
16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing; for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good, I find not.
19 For the good that I would do, I do not; but the evil which I would not do, that I do."
Basically Paul is saying "For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." Paul is admitting that we are unable to have a victory against our old nature except through the power of God, The answer to all the problems is with God,
Rom 6:22,23:
"22 But now, being made free from sin and having become servants of God, ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end, everlasting life.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
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