What is sin?

[Goodboy]

What is sin?

Romans 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

So Romans 5:19 above says that disobedience is what makes something a sin in God’s eyes. With this understanding we can understand two other verses below.


Romans 7:7 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.
Romans 7:8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

So Romans 7:8 above says that sin was dead before we knew the law. Meaning unless we know what we should or should not do, we are not accountable for the wrong we do. Kind of like how you would not punish your young child for touching the stove if you had not told them not to.

You may say, then why is everyone guilty of sin if they do not know what they should and should not do?
Well most people do not know all of what they should and should not do, but they do know enough in order to be a sinner. Look at the verses below.

Romans 2:14 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:
Romans 2:15 Which shew 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

So no one has an excuse and as I have stated sin is really just disobedience from what you know to be right.

Goodboy

 

[Hol]

Thanks Goodboy! My church has an annual Bible reading plan and we are in Romans this week.

This verse jumped out at me yesterday: Romans 2:8a "but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth,..."

Either I'm pursuing self interest or obeying truth.

 

[mattfivefour]

Yes. Good article! Theologically, sin is a falling short, a missing of the mark of the perfection of God. And the root of sin is our selfness, our sense of being a unique individual with our own right. (I've always found it useful to remember that "I" is at the center of the words sin and pride.) This is why our biggest struggle is "dying to self". Self, which is rooted so deeply in our old man (Romans 6,:6) --our flesh, our carnal nature-- does not give up easily! Yes, it has been crucified with Christ; but that truth has to be worked out in our own lives. We must allow God to progressively bring our condition while in these bodies into alignment with our position in Christ. We do this, as we are taught in 2 Corinthians 3:18, by honestly and openly looking at God through His Word; and if we are faithful to do this daily, we WILL grow from "glory to glory" as it says, being transformed more and more into the image of Jesus Christ. And it is this increasing Christ-likeness that provides us the power behind our witness to the lost. Only God can do this for us; thus it is only "though the Spirit" (Romans 8:13) that we can put to death the works of the flesh, which are simply the manifestations of our selfness.