Sin Defined

Most people assume that the bible has a lot of things to say about why the Human race is so messed up, and they’re right. But it’s also true that folks think it sounds odd and antiquated to the 21st century.The Bible uses words like sin, iniquity, or transgression which sound really old fashioned, ancient and backwards, so people in the 21st century blow it off. It’s sad because the authors of the bible give us detailed descriptive truths to diagnose the human condition

2 Guiding scriptures today.

PRAY!!!!

Isa 59.2 “but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”

Rom 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—”

Sin = Moral Failure

Transgression = How we break trust with others

Iniquity = crooked behavior

What is sin?

Khata (Hebrew)

Hamartia (Greek)

“To miss the mark.” To Fail”

To err, be mistaken, to do or go wrong, to wander from, or violate God’s laws.

So what is the mark or goal?

In the very beginning of the bible, we are told that we are made in the image of God. A being who represents the creator and is worthy of respect. In this way of thinking,

Sin is a failure to love God and one another.

If we look at the 10 commandments half of them point to a failure of loving God and the other half point to failure loving each other

Its sad but the truth is, that we are driven by selfish desires and motivations that we think will elevate our selves at the expense of others. We don't care what happens to others, as long as “I get my way.”

Paul tells us in Romans 6:6 that we are slaves to sin.

What Laws?

To sin is the violation, or breaking of the law, which is the 10 commandments

Sin creates a divide between God and you

Is 59:2 “but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”

The 10 commandments is our moral compass for a life pleasing to God

There are other sins mentioned in the bible:

Showing partiality: To show favoritism based on external appearance, motivated by hope or personal gain

James 2:9 “But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.” Transgressors = broken trust w others

A proud heart:

Prov 21:4 “Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin.”

Acting against faith:

Rom 14:23 “But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”

Jesus showed us an even deeper understanding.

He showed us:

Matt 5:27-28 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Now Satan can put thoughts in our mind, the thought in itself isn’t sin it’s when we camp there with it and fantasize and wish it could happen, that's the sin

What Jesus shows us is we can break the law with our:

Actions

Words

Thoughts

Wrong Motivations

Rom 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Sin always begins in the mind!

James 1:15 “Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”

James 4:1 “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Do they not come from desires for pleasure? That war within you

It always begins with a thought, It’s when we yield to the temptation that we that we become a slave to it.

The 2 types of sin:

The Sins Of Commission = Sins we willingly do, even though we KNOW is wrong

Gal 5:19-20 “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,”

Heb 10:26 “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,”

A sin of commission involves the willful act of doing something that violates God’s commands in Scripture, such as lying or stealing.

A sin of commission is a sin we take action to commit, whether in thought, word, or deed. A sin of commission can be intentional or unintentional. Foreknowledge is not the issue. If you visit another country in which traffic drives in the left lane, and you drive in the right lane, you are still breaking the law whether you know it or not.

The Sins Of Omission = Knowing what to do, then not doing it

James 4:17 “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

1 John 3:17 “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?

Rom 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord

As you can see, can see in Rom 6:23 there is a terrible price to pay if we allow sin to rule over us.

But hallelujah, God in His grace sent a savior!

John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

1 John 2:2 “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Jesus made a way for us, conquering sin and giving us the free, wonderful gift of salvation and life!

Grace is greater than sin.

Rom 5:15 “But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.”

Trespass (paratoma)= Sin

The Repentance Recipe:

Remorse

Psa 38:3-4 “There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.”

2. Return

Acts 2:38 “And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Psa 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

Hos 14:1 “Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.”

3. Restoration

Rom 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Psa 51:12 “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”

4. Run the race

Heb 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”

2 Tim 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

The Bottom Line...

James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Lots and lots of people misquote this verse, they will say “You gotta resist the devil and he will flee, but they forget the 1st thing they gotta do…Submit to God!

Submitting is the key!

Submitting means:

That you listen to Him

Submitting means:

You Obey Him

Submitting means:

You Follow Him

Remember this..Jesus said, The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

We are promised Life! not just that, but ABUNDANT life!

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

IN CLOSING..

If you don't have Jesus as your personal savior, then you are indeed separated from God, you are separated due to sin, the sin that we described in detail today.

PRAY!