What is sin?

Q: What is sin?

A: Sin is rejecting or ignoring God in the world he created, rebelling against him by living without reference to him, not being or doing what he requires in his law—resulting in our death and the disintegration of all creation.

INTRODUCTION

Recognizing sin verses understanding sin.

Tim Keller on how society attempts to understand sin and why it doesn’t work:

“If the terrible acts humans commit are a result of biology, they're part of our evolutionary makeup, where aggression is bound up with the idea of the survival of the fittest. Or the reasons are found in psychology: We do these terrible things because of repressed emotions. Or in sociology, we do them because of economic deprivation. But when you get a close-up view of the horrors of evil, all those theories fall apart. If those theories are true, then we really can't help doing what we do and therefore we're not really evil. But anyone who witnesses a parent killing their child knows that makes no sense. These acts can't be so easily explained away, no matter how hard we try.” Tim Keller, What is Wrong With the World

God’s word helps us both recognize sin and understand it with clarity. This is important because (1) without a better understanding of sin we can’t really be honest about the depth of the problem within us or around us and (2) without a right understanding of the depths of our sin we can’t see the beauty of the gospel.

Let’s pray and open up God’s word together.

THE ANATOMY OF SIN

Sin is rejecting or ignoring God in the world he created, rebelling against him by living without reference to him, not being or doing what he requires in his law…

Psalm 51 gives us deep insight into the heart of a person who has sinned and needs to understand what is going on internally and spiritually.

Sin’s Definition

David describes sin as: Transgression (overstepping a boundary), Iniquity (lawlessness), “evil”, and “bloodguilty.”

David recognizes that sin at its greatest root is a spiritual problem of our rebellion against God’s authority:

Psalm 51:4 ESV

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

All sin comes from not putting supreme value on the glory of God—this is the very essence of sin.

John Piper

Sin’s Source

Psalm 51:5 ESV

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

We have to understand the larger story of human rebellion to get a right understanding of sin. We can’t just see sin as a bad outward choice motivated by errors in judgment. Sin is a POWER at work in us and at the core of what we are.

As the salt flavors every drop in the Atlantic, so does sin affect every atom of our nature. It is so sadly there, so abundantly there, that if you cannot detect it, you are deceived.

Charles Spurgeon

Our culture wants the capacity to denounce injustices (like the Holocaust) but doesn’t have to moral framework to understand how seemingly normal people can do such terrible things. We create monsters out of men. The Bible on the other hand is brutally honest. The same David who killed the giant and wrote the Psalms of love for God’s word can steal a woman and murder a faithful soldier to cover it up.

THE IMPACT OF SIN

…resulting in our death and the disintegration of all creation.

Uncleanliness & impurity (v. 2, 7, 10)

Distance & guilt (v. 11)

Psalm 51:11 “11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.”

Death and disintegration

Psalm 51:8 “8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.”

THE SOLUTION FOR SINNERS

(1) God moves toward sinners.

(2) Sinners see God’s grace and mercy and humble themselves before him.

(3) God invites sinners into love, restoration, and joy.

Note two levels this works on: (1) those who are lost, (2) in Christian sanctification.