What Is Sin?
Written by Guy M. Richard |
Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Sin is, fundamentally a rejection of God as God. It is idolatry at its very core or, as so many ministers and theologians have said down through the ages, it is “cosmic rebellion” against God. When we think or act as though there is no God, we are sinning—which is why it is possible for a good deed to be a sin. If we do good deeds in order to give glory to ourselves, then we are falling short of the glory of God and are, therefore, sinning. If we do good deeds out of a desire to be recognized or appreciated or simply to feel good about ourselves, then we are falling short of the glory of God and are, therefore, sinning. Sin is a complete anti-God state of thinking, speaking, desiring, intending, and doing.
It doesn’t take much in the way of discernment to see that something is drastically wrong with the world in which we live. The mere fact that people would even think of walking into an elementary school and casually and violently extinguishing the lives of the most precious and, yet, most vulnerable among us ought to be enough to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that something is not right in the universe. Who of us hasn’t watched with horror and profound grief as images from these kinds of ghastly events have been displayed on our televisions or our phones and ipads? Who of us, in these moments of unbelievable tragedy, hasn’t longed for a world that is utterly free of this kind of evil and injustice?
But we don’t need to confine ourselves to only looking at school shootings. Many other things in the world show us that something is wrong. We put locks—and, sometimes, alarms—on our houses, our cars, our offices, our schools, and our stores for a reason. We hire police officers and security guards, because we think that we need them. We take to the streets to protest injustice, because even the very authorities that we look to for protection oftentimes fail us. We buy and carry guns, because we want to protect what we have and don’t trust others to do it for us. Something is wrong with the world in which we live, and that much should be overwhelmingly obvious to us all.
But it doesn’t take much self-reflection to realize that whatever is wrong with the world is also within each of us. No one has ever had to teach anyone to lie or to steal or to be selfish. Those things seem to come naturally for every human being. We all know that the testimony of the apostle Paul in Romans 7:14-25 applies to us as well. We recognize that there is a battle going on inside of us between the things that we should do and the things that we actually find ourselves doing. We are all aware that we fall short in our thoughts, words, and deeds. We don’t always think the right things; we don’t always say the right things; and we certainly don’t always do the right things. And this isn’t just a problem “out there” in the world at large. It’s a problem “in here” within each of our hearts as well. Something within every man, woman, and child is not right. It doesn’t take a lot of soul-searching to see that. But I’m not so sure that every man, woman, and child would be able to put their finger on exactly what it is that isn’t right either within themselves or within the world.
The Bible teaches that the problem with the world and with every person living in it is something called sin. According to the Bible, sin has separated us from God and from one another. It has set us at enmity with God, with ourselves, and with everyone else around us. Sin has infected our hearts, our minds, and our wills such that every aspect of our human psychology is affected. We can’t think sinlessly. We can’t desire sinlessly. And we can’t speak and act sinlessly. The Bible says that even our best deeds are tainted with sin (see Isa. 64:6).
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The Least Resolution for 2024
Fifty years later, perhaps it is time for us to revisit this document. Are we living in times where some, on behalf of all, have determined what society should look like? Do we see a mounting pressure to conform with what ‘they say’ is acceptable human thought and belief? Indeed, we should not be so naïve as to assume that the absence of marching military on our streets means we face no ideological threat. The pressure is growing for everyone quietly to conform. More than that, the pressure is growing to affirm openly and celebrate what we know to be false.
January does not just bring a new page on the calendar but a whole new calendar. And with the new year, we tend to generate renewed commitments. Maybe you have already determined what 2024 will mean for you. Perhaps your mind has already pondered daily step counts, gym visits, dietary changes, or other healthy habits. Or maybe you are thinking about Bible reading, daily prayer routines, or other spiritual goals. May your resolutions last and bear good fruit! But perhaps the resolution we need for 2024 is more foundational than healthy habits and more straightforward than spiritual practices.
As I write this, I am in Budapest, where I have just visited a museum of the political terror of the twentieth century. As you can imagine, it is a sobering experience to see the vast walls of victims, the displays focused on the political prisoners, a room commemorating the persecution of the religious leaders, the torture chambers, the prison cells, and the gallows. But perhaps the lingering memory for me will be the final room. With red walls and hundreds of pictures, it felt like yet another presentation of victims. But it was not. It was a room of “victimizers” – ordinary people who were merely doing their job, simply following orders, just playing along, and thereby facilitating the evil machine. We can remember the victims, and we must. Yet we must also face the uncomfortable reality that most cogs in the cruel machine of death were ordinary people.
Fifty years ago, in February 1974, Alexander Solzhenitsyn was arrested in the Soviet Union and exiled to the West. There, he was welcomed as a hero. On the day of his arrest, he released a document entitled “Live Not by Lies.” He knew the power of an ideology that sought to reshape society. He also knew the power of individuals who simply refuse to lie (and the even greater power of a crowd joining together in this conviction). He knew that the ideological system would totter and collapse when it ran up against the brick wall of reality, exemplified by many individuals refusing to play along with the evil fantasy.
Fifty years later, perhaps it is time for us to revisit this document. Are we living in times where some, on behalf of all, have determined what society should look like? Do we see a mounting pressure to conform with what ‘they say’ is acceptable human thought and belief? Indeed, we should not be so naïve as to assume that the absence of marching military on our streets means we face no ideological threat.
The pressure is growing for everyone quietly to conform. More than that, the pressure is growing to affirm openly and celebrate what we know to be false. Surely, it would be better to speak the truth now instead of growing our tendency to fit in and play it safe as the stakes mount.
Truth and Lies – Choosing not to lie was not an original idea for Solzhenitsyn. Paul urged the Colossians not to lie to one another. Not only had they put off their old self, but they had put on the new self to reflect their creator’s image (Colossians 3:9-10). He told the Ephesian believers to speak the truth to one another since they were no longer defined by the lie (Ephesians 4:25).
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses the anger underneath murder, the lust underneath adultery, and the daily consistency of speech beneath more flamboyant oaths (Matthew 5:21-37). There is plenty of Old Testament support for the expectation that God’s people should be consistent speakers of truth (Exodus 20:16; Leviticus 19:11; Proverbs 14:5).
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“The Bible Is All You Need”
God has raised up so many incredible Christians whose writings are an inspiration and a help to millions. To cut ourselves off from all these riches is not an indication of great spirituality but quite the opposite: it is an indication of immaturity and spiritual pride. This idea that we need no one else, and that we can get along as lone wolf Christians (“Just me and my Bible”) is not a mark of godliness but of foolishness and arrogance.
Lots of people can and do say lots of really foolish and unhelpful things. Sadly that is often quite true of Christians as well. And it happens far too often. Indeed, many articles can be found on this website seeking to counter some of the more ridiculous and unhelpful things that various Christians have said.
And because we keep hearing some of these foolish statements over and over, I find the need to keep refuting them from time to time. I have written before about the topic my title refers to. But it keeps cropping up so I have to keep speaking to it. As I said in one such article:
“Jesus-Only Christianity” or “Bible-Only Christianity” sounds so spiritual, but the truth is none of us are lone wolf Christians and all of us depend upon and need others, even when it comes to understanding the Scriptures. The whole body of Christ, both past and present, is needed for our walk with God and following Christ according to his word. It is only pride and self-righteousness which says I can do all this alone and I don’t need or want the rest of Christ’s body, teaching and instruction.
Too often we just have Pharisee-ism and pride lurking behind these sorts of ‘Bible-only’ believers. As I said in another piece concerning one person pushing this silliness:
Yes but…! That is like saying you never go to church to hear a pastor teach the Bible, because you have the Holy Spirit and that is all you need. But we are NOT infallible and we can get things wrong, even when we think we are relying fully on the HS. And God himself gave us pastors and teachers to help expound and comment on the Bible. So to reject those means is to reject what God has designed for us.
The most recent case of this involved a post I had put up on the social media about some of the wonderful and very helpful commentary sets that Martyn Lloyd-Jones has penned. They started off as an expository sermon series and then were put into book form. I mentioned his 14 volumes on Romans, his 8 volumes on Ephesians, and his 2 volumes on the Sermon on the Mount. All terrific and edifying stuff. They will most definitely bless your mind and spirit.
Yet sure enough, I had a fellow come along saying, “Just read your Bible—it is all you need.” My response to him was this: “If that were the case, I would need not listen to you or any other Christian or any preacher or any sermon or any teaching—all of which runs completely contrary to the Word of God which clearly says God gave the body of Christ pastors and teachers. So I will heed the commands of Scripture here thanks.”
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A New Testament Passage That’s Older than the New Testament
This ancient creed, however, shows us what the very first Christians believed about Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and post-resurrection appearances. The Christian creed in 1 Corinthians 15:3–7 obliterates the “Jesus as legend” challenge. From the inception of the church, the earliest believers confessed Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and post-resurrection appearances. There was no time for legendary development.
The Christian church is older than its New Testament books. This shouldn’t surprise us since the New Testament was written by people who were a part of the first-century church. The events recorded in the Gospels are older than the text of the Gospels. Again, nothing unusual here.
What if I told you, though, that in the New Testament there are passages that are older than the New Testament? Obviously, Old Testament passages quoted in the New Testament precede it, but that’s not what I’m referring to.
Within the New Testament books are early Christian creeds that predate the books themselves. These creeds show us what the earliest Christians believed and which doctrines existed from the inception of the church.
Let’s look at one of these creeds and see why scholars are convinced it predates the book it’s quoted in.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. (1 Corinthians 15:3–7)
There are many reasons to believe this passage isn’t something Paul was writing for the first time to the Corinthian church.
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