What is sin?

[dseusy]

Sounds pretty obvious, I suppose, but what is sin exactly?

[Paidion]

It seems to me that there is a wide variety of opinions as to what sin actually is. Some limit sin to sexual immorality. Others limit it to activities such as smoking, drinking, attending R-rated movies, or gambling. Some are blind to the sins by which we wound other people.

Some think that it is impossible for a Christian to go for a single day, or even an hour without sinning. One the other hand, I encountered one woman who claimed she had never sinned for more than 40 years.

As a young person, I had some problems with anger. I was helped by keeping in mind the verse which states "The anger of man does not work the righteousness of God". Yet, anger per se cannot be sin, for God gets angry ---- and we also have the verse, "Be angry and sin not."

There are a number of different Greek words which have been translated as "sin", and they do not all have the same meaning.

You may want to share the specifics of your own concept of sin. Please don't be content with the definition "anything which separates us from God." For there is a great deal of difference in opinion as to what things do in fact separate us from God.

Here are the eight words for "sin" in the New Testament. The number in brackets at the beginning of each word gives the number of occurrences in the New Testament. The literal meaning of the Greek word is given in capital letters.

The scriptures quoted are from the King James, from Revised Standard, and from other translations. The translated word for the given Greek word is underlined.

[1] ἀγνοημα agnoāma — NO KNOWLEDGE, error due to not knowing

Heb 9:7 but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood which he offers for himself and for the errors of the people.

1Es 9:20 They pledged themselves to put away their wives, and to give rams in expiation of their error.

[151] ἁμαρτια hamartia — MISSING THE MARK and thus used in early Greek for “mistake”. In New Testament times, its use was broadened to include any wrongdoing.

Mt 1:21 she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

Ac 2:38 And Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forsaking of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Ac 22:16 And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.
[Ananias spoke these words to Paul after Paul had given his testimony. First Paul’s sight was restored to him. Then Ananias told him that God had chosen him to know His will, and to be a witness to all people.]

Mr 1:4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forsaking of sins.

Ro 6:4-6
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.

1Pe 2:24 He himself endured our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

1Jo 1:8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Heb 10:26,27 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

[13] ἀνομια anomia — LAWLESSNESS

Ro 6:19 For just as you once yielded your members to uncleaness and to greater and greater iniquity, so now yield your members to righteousness for sanctification.

2Co 6:14 Do not be mismated with unbelievers. For what partnership have righteousness and iniquity? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

2Th 2:7 For the secret of lawlessness is already at work; only there is the restraining one just now until it is out of the way.

Tit 2:14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.

Heb 1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, thy God, has anointed thee with the oil of gladness beyond thy comrades."

Heb 10:17 then he adds, "I will remember their sins and their misdeeds no more."

1Jo 3:4 Every one who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

[1] παρανομια paranomia — BEYOND THE LAW, breach of the law

2 Pet 2:15,16 Forsaking the right way they have gone astray; they have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own transgression; a dumb ass spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

[6] ασεβια asebia — NO REVERERANCE, irreverance

Ro 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth.

Titus 2:11,12 For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men, training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world...

[3] παρακοη parakoā — BEYOND HEARING, unwillingness to listen

Ro 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous.
[Then as through the unwillingness to listen of the one man, the many were constituted sinners, so also through the listening of the one man, the many will be constituted righteous].

2Co 10:6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
[in readiness having to correct every unwillingness to listen, whenever is fulfilled in you a willingness to listen.]

[7] παραβασις parabasis — STEPPING BEYOND, transgression

Ro 2:23 You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?

Ro 4:15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

Heb 9:15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant.

[20] παραπτωμα paraptōma — FALLING BESIDE, a false step, a blunder

Matt 6:14,15 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

[Douglas]

The simple answer I have is that sin is any action taken against the will of God.
Doug.

[dseusy]

Paidion,

I like your detailed and from the Word answer. Thank you.

Sin has always been a little fuzzy to me, as far as my own concept goes... but I found in 1 John 3:4 the simple, clear answer.

[SamIam]

Paidon,

What translation is this?

Mr 1:4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forsaking of sins.

Why did the translator choose "forsaking" rather that the what is typically rendered "forgiveness?"

[dseusy]

SamIam,

That's interesting.

In Mark 1:4 the ancient Greek word is "Aphesis" which is a release from bondage or remission from the penalty, not a forsaking, renouncing, or remitting/laying aside/desisting the sin itself (Def. 2 vs. def. 1 at merriam-webster.com, which is release or relief rather than desist or cease). If we could cease sin, we wouldn't need Jesus to die for it.

[benstenson]

If we could cease sin, we wouldn't need Jesus to die for it.

God commands all men everywhere to repent. That means all men everywhere can repent (stop sinning).
The ability to stop sinning does not remove the need for atonement.

Jesus didn't die for us because we were cripples and helpless victims who couldn't obey Him. He died for us because we could have obeyed Him but refused to. It is not that we could not obey God, but that we would not.

If the issue had been a lack of ability, then the Lord would not have had to suffer. No one has to suffer for disabled people, because they are powerless to change themselves.

[Paidion]

Mr 1:4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forsaking of sins.

Why did the translator choose "forsaking" rather that the what is typically rendered "forgiveness?"

Probably because one of the two major meanings of "ἀφεσις" is "leaving".

We need to consider three facts here:

1. Read the story of John the baptizer, and his ministry. Not once did he mention "forgiveness". For example, look at this account in Matthew 3:1-10

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord;make his paths straight.’”
Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ESV

What did John preach? Did he preach forgiveness of sins? There's absolutely no indication that he did. He preached repentance, and he told his listeners to "bear fruit in keeping with repentance." That sounds a whole lot more like "forsaking of sins" than "forgiveness of sins."

2. One of the commonest uses of the verbal form of "ἀφεσις", that is "ἀφιημι", is in its meaing "to leave". Here are 4 examples from Matthew:

Matthew 4:20 they immediately left <ἀφιημι> their nets and followed him.
Matthew 4:22 and immediately they left <ἀφιημι> the boat and their father, and followed him.
Matthew 19:27 then Peter answered and said to him, "see, we have left <ἀφιημι> all and followed you. therefore what shall we have?"
Matthew 19:29 "and everyone who has left <ἀφιημι> houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.

There are many other examples in Matthew's gospel. Here are eight other clear references with the same use of "ἀφιημι": Matthew 4:11, 5:24, 8:15, 13:30, 18:12, 22:22, 26:44, 26:56. There are also dozens of instances of the same in other books of the New Testament, but I am too lazy to look them all up.

It is true that the word sometimes means "forgive", possibly because when you truly forgive someone, you leave or forsake your any ill feelings you might have toward him. When you forgive a debt, you leave or forsake any requirement of your debtor to repay you. But this is probably a derived meaning of the word which came later than the original. In the New Testament, there are far fewer instances of the word meaning "to forgive" than there are of its meaning "to leave". So, if we leave our sin behind us, we forsake it. Jesus died for the forsaking of sin, not the forgiveness of sin. Jesus wants to do away with sin altogether, not just forgive it. Consider these passages which give the reasons for Jesus' death:

I Peter 2:24 He himself endured our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

II Corinthians 5:15 And he died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

Romans 14:9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Titus 2:14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.

Heb 9:26 ...he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.

3. Some may say that though the verb "ἀφιημι" may often mean "to leave", but the nounal form ""ἀφεσις" always means "forgiveness" in the New Testament. But does it?
Consider the following passage in which Jesus quotes Isaiah 61:1

Luke 4:18 "The spirit of the LORD is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim ἀφεσις to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send away the oppressed in ἀφεσις.

Jesus applied these words to Himself. Did Jesus proclaim forgiveness to the captives? No, they didn't need forgiveness; they needed freedom. In other words they need to leave their prison. Most translations render the word as "freedom" or "deliverance" or some other synonymous term. Did Jesus send away the oppressed in forgiveness? Is being oppressed a sin for which forgiveness is necessary? No! The oppressed also need deliverance or freedom from their oppression. They need to forsake their oppression, leave it behind.

In summary, Jesus died to save us from sin, that is to deliver us from sin, or free us from sin. But this will happen only if we coöperate with God's gift of grace. We must be willing to leave our sin behind ----forsake it. So John the baptizer's message was for his hearers to repent (have a change of heart and mind), forsake their sin, leave it behind, and to prove it by bearing fruit in keeping with repentance.

[Homer]

Hi Paidion,

You wrote:

In summary, Jesus died to save us from sin, that is to deliver us from sin, or free us from sin. But this will happen only if we coöperate with God's gift of grace. We must be willing to leave our sin behind ----forsake it. So John the baptizer's message was for his hearers to repent (have a change of heart and mind), forsake their sin, leave it behind, and to prove it by bearing fruit in keeping with repentance.

As proof of your position, you cite the preaching of John the Immerser, which would appear to contradict your hypothesis. How did John expect them to forsake their sins prior to Jesus' sacrificial death if the cross was necessary? Does Jesus death only marginally free us from sinning?

And how do you explain the following?

Luke 1:5-6

5. There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

Job 1:1
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.

It would appear that, in your system, Jesus' death didn't accomplish much. Or do you know of cases where people are noticeably better than Job, Zecharia, and Elizabeth?

[dseusy]

Benstenson,

All men can repent (stop sinning), but not by our ability. We receive a free gift that spiritually removes us from the under the law (law causes sin to be imputed- apart from law, sin is dead: Romans 5:13, 7:8) which, in effect, stops sin (the sin of our flesh continues but is no longer imputed on our born-of-God spirits).
We will always “have” sin…

“If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:8
The ancient Greek word for “have” (echo) is present tense… it will be written tomorrow as well.

When I stated “cease sin”, I didn’t mean some sins… I meant all sin (cease completely). The context of my statement is also pre-atonement (meaning before we trust Christ and are credited righteousness). Post “new creation” or post-atonement, we are hidden in Christ, where there is no sin (1 John).

Your first statement, “The ability to stop sinning does not remove the need for atonement” seems to contradict your second statement, “If the issue had been a lack of ability, then the Lord would not have had to suffer.”

To me, it looks like this, “We are able to stop sinning, but we still need Jesus to suffer.”
And the second, “The issue is not a lack of ability- We are able to stop sinning, so the Lord did not need to suffer.”

Am I misunderstanding you?

Paul considered his legalistic righteousness as rubbish. He stated in Philippians 3 that he was faultless according to legality (the letter of the law), but he still traded this for Christ’s righteousness… that freely imparted on our behalf.

How does this sound?
“We are able to stop sinning because Jesus suffered… He lived a sinless life, died for our sins, and fulfilled the law. He did it all and we stop by receiving it, not by accomplishing it for ourselves.”