Sin

SIN

In considering the question of sin, we are faced with two startling facts.  The first fact is that man makes so little of sin.  To some it is an illusion—a religious mirage—the invention of some fanatic.  It is denied, joked about and laughed at by man.  Many who believe sin to be a fact, continue in it with little thought of its penalty. 

The second fact is that God makes so much of sin.  God said, The soul that sins, it [is the one that] shall die.  Ezekial 18:20a; For the wages of which sin pays is death, but the [bountiful] free gift of God is eternal life through (in union with) Jesus Christ out Lord.  Romans 6:23.  All sins are an abomination unto God  These six things the Lord hates, indeed, seven are an abomination to Him:  A proud look [the spirit that makes one overestimate himself and underestimate others], a lying tongue; and hands that shed innocent blood,  A heart that manufactures wicked thoughts and plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who breathes out lies [even under oath], and he who sows discord among his brethren. Proverbs. 6:16-19  He hates those who work iniquity.  Boasters can have no standing in Your sight; You abhor all evildoers.  Psalm 5:5  Moses said, “…for all who do such things, all who do unrighteously, are an abomination to the Lord your God.  Deut. 25:16  Sin is an evil force.  Its presence cannot be escaped in this life, but it can be overcome by the power of God. 

THE ORIGIN OF SIN: 

Is one of the mysteries of the Bible.  The secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but the things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.  Deut. 29:29  Its origin is one of the “secret things” that will remain wrapped in obscurity.  Sin is first noted in the heart of Satan.  He was created a perfect being.  [The story of Satan’s creation, his splendor, etc. and his being tossed out of heaven! Ezekial 28:11-19]  Satan fell from perfection when he exerted his will above the will of God.  Five times he said “I will”  in Isaiah 14:12-17

It was his will over God’s will – this is sin!  Some believe that Satan, when first created, was the ruler of this earth.  Genesis 1:1-2.  Some believe in the “gap” theory (WE MUST REMEMBER THAT THIS IS A THEORY) Those who believe the “gap” theory say that something happened that caused a catastrophe, and the earth became “without form and void”.  [they believe that in this “gap” is when Satan began his “I will” rather than God’s will]  The question would be—was the earth created without form and void or did something happen?  It was not created thus.  It is believed that some of the angels, along with Satan, sinned by leaving their first estate.  This does not prove that Satan was the originator of sin, but it does reveal sin in the heart of Satan before God created man. 

WHAT IS SIN:

It is impossible to deny the existence of sin when the whole world is in conflict between good and evil.  If sin were not a fact, there would be no crime; we would not need jails or prisons.  We would need no locks on our doors, or vaults for our valuables.  To some, sin is being indiscreet, or it is a weakness of the flesh.  To others, it is the absence from good.  To the so-call scholar, sin is ignorance, and to the evolutionist, it is the nature of the beast.  The latest theory is that sin is a disease to be treated by science, because man is not a sinner—he is only sick.  To others, sin is a form of selfishness, but God declares that:

*  Sin is transgression of the law.  Everyone who commits (practices) sin is guilty of lawlessness; for [that is what] sin is, lawlessness (the breaking, violation of God’s law by transgression or neglect—being unrestrained and unregulated by His Commands and His will. I John 3:4

* Sin is coming short of the glory of God. Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory which God bestows and receives.  Romans 3:23

* Sin is rebellion against God.  Hear, o heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: I have nourished and brought up sons and have made them great and exalted, but they have rebelled against Me and broken away from Me. Isaiah 1:2

* Sin is unbelief; it makes God a liar.  I John 5:10 He who believes in the Son of God [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] has the testimony [possesses this divine attestation] within himself.  He who does not believe God [in this way] has made Him out to be and represented Him as a liar, because he has not believed (put his faith in, adhered to, and relied on) the evidence (the testimony) that God has borne regarding His Son.

* Sin is going your own way, planning your life according to your own flesh, without seeking the will of God.  All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way: and the Lord has made to light upon Him the guilt and iniquity of us all.  Isaiah 53: 6

* All unrighteousness is sin.  I John 5:17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin which does not [involve] death [that may be repented of and forgiven].

Sin is a folly to deceive you, a force to destroy you and a fact to condemn you.  Sin is a volitional act of disobedience against the revealed will of God. 

HOW SIN ENTERED INTO THE WORLD:

Romans 5:12 Therefore, as sin came into the world through one man, and death as the result of sin, so death spread to all men. [no one being able to stop it or to escape its power] because all men sinned.

The fall of man is found in Genesis 3:1-24  When Adam sinned, his seed became corrupt. I Peter 1:23 Since by your obedience to the Truth through the [Holy] Spirit you have purified your hearts for the sincere affection of the brethren, [see that you] love one another fervently from a pure heart. Therefore, we are sinner, because we are born in sin. Psalm 51:5 Behold I was brought forth in [a state of] iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me [and I too am sinful]. You do not have to teach children to be bad, but you do have to teach them to be good.  You do not have to teach them to lie, but you do have to teach them to tell the truth. 

Romans 5:18 Well then, as one man’s trepass [one man’s false step and falling away led] to condemnation for all men. So one Man’s act of righteousness [leads] to acquittal and right standing with God and life for all men.

According to the Word of God, all men are judged sinners; all are condemned already John 3:18 He who believes in Him [who clings to, trusts in, relies on Him] is not judged [he who trust in Him never comes up for judgment; for him there is no rejection, no condemnation—he incurs no damnation]; but he who does not believe (leave to, rely on, trust in Him) is judged already [he has already been convicted and has already received his sentence] because he has not believed in and trusted in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  [He is condemned for refusing to let his trust rest in Christ’s name.]

Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned.  Sin entered the world through our first parents in the Garden of Eden and “all have sinned” because all are sinners.

(OR is it because we have inherited a sin nature?)

Man sins by choice because he is a sinner by nature.  Therefore, the dominion sin has over you is according to the delight you have in it. 

THE RESULTS OF SIN:

Ephesians 2:1 And you [He made alive], when you were dead (slain) by [your] trespasses and sins. Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death. As a result of man’s sin, there are three deaths.  Keep in mind that death does not annihilate; it only separates. In the Garden of Eden, it separated man from God spiritually; this is spiritual death.  In natural death, it separates the spirit and the soul from the body; this is physical death.  In final death, it separates man from the mercy of God forever; this is eternal death. 

* The wages of sin is spiritual death.  Just as sin separated man from God spiritually and drove him from the presence of God out of the Garden, so sin will separate you from God. Isaiah 59: 1-2 Behold, The Lord’s hand is not shortened at all, that it cannot save, nor His ear dull with deafness, that it cannot hear.  But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.

The only way to God is to receive the Lord Jesus Christ and to confess your sins to Him and choose to forsake your sins.  Isa. 55:7; Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have love, pity, and mercy for him, and to our God, for He will multiply to him His abundant pardon. I John 1:12 For as many as receive Him, to them He gives the right to become the children of God.

* The wages of sin is physical death.  Physical death is a result of sin.  Death had no claim on man until man sinned.  Now all die because all are sinners (except the saints).  Death is universal, and since we have a universal effect, we must have a universal cause, and that cause is universal sin.  All men die—the good and the bad—the young and the old—and men will continue to die until death is destroyed by the Lord Jesus Christ.  The last enemy to be subdued and abolished is death.  I Cor. 15:26 and is swallowed up in victory.  I Cor. 15:54-57 And when this perishable puts on the imperishable and this that was capable of dying puts on freedom from death, then shall be fulfilled the Scripture that says, Death is swallowed up (utterly vanquished forever) in and unto victory.  O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?  Now sin is the sting of death, and sin exercises its power [upon the soul] through [the abuse of] the Law.

*  The wages of sin is eternal death.  The soul that sins, it [is the one that] shall die…….and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon the wicked only.  Ezekiel 18:20

--this is eternal separation from the love of God.  Rev. 20:14 Then death and Hades (the state of death or disembodied existence) were thrown into the lake of fire.  This is the second death, the lake of fire. Once the soul passes beyond the portal of hell he is lost and lost forever.  He will continue to exist, but without hope.  He is damned and damed to all eternity.  Eternal death is eternal separation from God.  Luke 16:19-31 [the story of the rich man, Lazarus, the destitute man begging covered with sores…only wanted what fell from the rich man’s table…taken to Abraham’s bosom…rich man died…in Hades he saw Lazarus with Abraham and asked for water…remember…great chasm – cannot pass back and forth…send to tell my brothers…”if they do not hear and listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded and convinced and believe [even] if someone should rise from the dead. 

GOD’S REMEDY FOR SIN:

Man, not willing to accept God’s remedy for his ruin, strives to bring about his own salvation by human means. 

1) He strives for self-righteousness, when he needs to be made the righteousness of God. II Cor. 5:21  For our sake He made Christ [virtually to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].  Isaiah 64:6

2) He strives to reform when he needs to be regenerated.  Titus 3:5 He saved us not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but because of His own pity and mercy, by [the] cleansing [bath] of the new birth (regeneration) and renewing of the Holy Spirit. 

3)  He strives to turn over a new leaf, when he needs a new life.  John 10:10  The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). 

4) He strives to be justified by the law, when he needs to be justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Gal. 2:16 Yet we know that a man is justified or reckoned righteous and in right standing with God no by works of the Law, but [only] through faith and [absolute] reliance on and adherence to and trust in Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).  [Therefore] even we [ourselves] have believed on Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law [for we cannot be justified by any observance of the ritual of the Law given by Moses], because by keeping legal rituals and by works no human being can ever be justified (declared righteous and put in right standing with God.)

5) He strives to clean up the old man, when he needs to be made a new man in Christ.  Ephesians 4:24 And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God’s image [Godlike] in true righteousness and holiness.

6) He strives to be saved by good works, when he needs salvation by the grace of God.  Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith.  And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God; Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands], lest any man should boast.  [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in t or take glory to himself.]

The only remedy for the ruin of man is the Son of God, being made sin for us on the cross.  The only way to receive this remedy is by faith in Him as personal Savior.  John 20:30-31 There are also many other signs and miracles which Jesus performed in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book.  But these are written (recorded) in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ (the Anointed One), the Son of God, and that through believing and cleaving to and trusting and relying upon Him you may have life through (in) His name [through Who He is].