I am not going to go through this entire thread, so, if someone else has already posted a response to the question, “What is sin?”, I apologize. However, here are a few thoughts for consideration:
Biblically defined sin is found in
1 John 3:4 (KJV), Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
Companion verses of doctrine would include passages such as:
Romans 3:31 (KJV), Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
Do away with the Law, then what is left? Grace?
Romans 5:13 + (KJV) (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law….
Without the Law, sin is undefined and neither is it imputed to man. Therefore, if there is no longer any law in affect, then after the resection of Jesus, there is no further need for Him. Does anyone actually believe that? I pray not!
There are a good many other verses (actually 'passages') that apply, and these few verses should be used only as study starters. However, therein lies the heart of the law and the defining of sin.
The problem is that so many preachers/teachers really do not actually know what sin is. That is because they have not studied the law (Torah, God’s instructions in righteousness) that Jesus and all of His apostles/disciples taught. They read a few letters that Paul wrote and think that they have it all. Want to ‘know’ what the other disciples taught? If they were true to their calling, and it seems from their reported deaths they were faithful, they taught what they were commanded to teach by Jesus Himself. See
Matthew 28:19-20, another study starter passage (emphases is on verse 20).
So, what we find so frequently are teachers/preachers who expound on sin without either knowing what sin is (they can recite some examples) but they don't understand the spiritual/scriptural context or precepts within which these examples are to be understood and applied to the life of a disciple of Christ. The applicable verse here is:
1 Timothy 1:7 (KJV), Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.
The expected results of this kind of surface teaching is exactly what we find in many churches of today: Oral laws generated by men to meet what they think are the sound spiritual needs within the fellowship of believers. That is, they take upon themselves the authority to tell the children of God what they think God considers to be a sin, according to their own understanding. Or, we are looking at religious sounding ideas that are generated in order to achieve some personal agenda.
To discover what Jesus thought of religious leaders who engage in such activities read
Matthew 23. Yet, we know that to add to, remove from, or to otherwise alter/modify the word of God is another transgression of the 'Law' that many teachers will acknowledge should not take place, but are not deterred from practicing it themselves! See
Deuteronomy 12:32 (KJV), What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
What we are left with are ‘leaders’ making up rules and defining sin as a list of particular actions (activities) or the failure to conform to some man-made standard of ‘holiness’, thinking that they are doing something that is pleasing to God. It seems that many continue to confuse a saint’s holiness with what he/she does, rather than who they are in Christ. A word study on the term 'holiness' in both the original Greek and Hebrew is in order here, not definitions fond in an organizational manual.
Colossians 2:20 – 3:3 (KJV), Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh….
So while decrying the existence of the Law of God and the grace that makes observance of that Law possible, they are busy making up new laws, ordinances and statutes so as to appear spiritual, holy, and acceptable unto the Lord. This is done even as they chop up God’s law into bits and pieces that are personally acceptable, and calling that ‘good’.
Our God is a covenant God. We are now in covenant number seven of eight projected covenants. It is therefore necessary to study, know, and understand what is required from man in this seventh covenant that God has made with mankind. We all line up for the blessings, rights, and privileges of the covenant, but where is the understanding of what is required from us in order to fulfill our side of the covenant obligations? Covenants are two way conditional agreements. Most professing Christians have no clue as to what our covenant obligations are.
Anyway, Cindy, there are a few thoughts on what sin is, how it should be defined and how it fits into the New Covenant time frame. I hope this helps - and may your studies be fruitful.
Very helpful!
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