What is sin? Who is a sinner? Is that sinful? I have been inclined to esteem myself as basically good. Me the bad guy? No way! The bad guy is someone else. This makes easier for me to be the innocent guy who clearly sees the fault residing in somebody else. They are the ones to blame, but not me. Of course, this is far from anything true.
The Apostle Paul tells us: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”(Rom. 3:23).1 Sin is likened to missing the mark. Like an archer launching an arrow and missing the bullseye, we all stand guilty of sin, which keeps us from sharing in the moral beauty and perfection of God. So, I am just as guilty before God as the rest of the progeny of Adam and Eve.
But what target are we missing? The target is a right relationship with God. To live opposed to God and the ways of God is truly off the mark. The New Dictionary of Theology indicates that “Scripture employs a variety of words to speak of sin, with meanings ranging from ‘the missing of a mark or goal’ or ‘the breach of relationship’ to ‘ungodliness’, ‘perversion’ or ‘rebellion’. Yet the common theme of every biblical expression of the nature of sin is the central idea that sin is a state of our being that separates us from the holy God; biblically, sin is ultimately sin against God.”2
Sin estranges us from the presence of God. The prophet Isaiah says, “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, | or his ear dull, 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 does not hear” (Isa. 59:1-2). As a way of illuminating the Christians at Ephesus to the extravagance of being saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ for good works, the Apostle Paul describes the dismal predicament of the former life apart from the Lord: “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Eph. 2:1-3).
None of us really live blameless lives. We may have never been caught in our wrongdoing but we are far from pure innocence. God has set things up in the universe so that morals can be known through natural law. All possess moral faculties to understand and discover right and wrong, good and evil, truth and error. This is the law of God written upon our hearts (Rm. 1:18-20; 2:12-16). Moreover, God enters into this world and gives to us commandments to follow so that our joy may be complete. These commands presented to us through special revelation from God are then codified in the Scriptures (Deut. 4:12-14; 30:11-14; Psa. 19:7-11; Matt. 5:17-20). We are capable of knowing right and wrong. Our problem is failing to do what is right and to not do what is wrong.
It is from the original sin of Adam that springs forth the actual sin that we do.
Original Sin
Original sin is a predicament we find ourselves as the progeny of Adam and Eve. Paul writes, “Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12). The sin of Adam and Eve brought into this world suffering and death (Gen. 3:1-24). The whole cosmos was affected by the fall, “for the creation was subjected to futility” and “has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now” (Rm. 8:20, 22).
Adam sinned and died but the effect of the fall passed on to the rest of his descendants because he is the head of all humanity. Concerning this doctrine of original sin, Hank Hanegraaff writes, “While the notion of generational curses and spirits is foreign to the text of Scripture, there is a sense in which all people are cursed as a result of an ancestor’s sin: Adam’s rebellion brought death to us all and tainted every aspect of our being (Genesis 3; 1 Corinthians 15:21–22; cf. Ephesians 2:3).”3 Likewise, J.I. Packer states: “The assertion of original sin means not that sin belongs to human nature as God made it (God made mankind upright, Eccles. 7:29), nor that sin is involved in the processes of reproduction and birth (the uncleanness connected with menstruation, semen, and childbirth in Leviticus 12 and 15 was typical and ceremonial only, not moral and real), but that (a) sinfulness marks everyone from birth, and is there in the form of a motivationally twisted heart, prior to any actual sins; (b) this inner sinfulness is the root and source of all actual sins; (c) it derives to us in a real though mysterious way from Adam, our first representative before God. The assertion of original sin makes the point that we are not sinners because we sin, but rather we sin because we are sinners, born with a nature enslaved to sin.”4 Adam’s fall affects us all.
Adam represented all of humanity in the Garden of Eden, and his fall resulted in the corruption of all humanity. Sin entered into the world through Adam, his sin infects us all, the guilt of his fall eventually catches up with us, and death signifies the bitter reality of this corruption.5 This sinful corruption affects our every thought, word, and deed. From original sin thus comes forth our actual sins.
Actual Sin
Actual sin refers to the specific offenses we commit against God and others. Put it another way: “Sin is failing to do the things we should and doing those things that we should not,” it is “anything that fails to meet God’s standard of perfection,” “a barrier between us and other people,” and “the deprivation of good.”6
The Apostle Paul wrote extensively about the actual sins we commit. In the Epistle to the Galatians, he describes “the works of the flesh” as “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.” He then concludes, “I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:18-21). 1 Corinthians includes this admonition: “Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9-10).7
Paul wanted to explain to the Christians at Rome what it meant for the righteous to live by faith (Rom. 1:16-17). In order to do so, he had to explain why it is impossible for anyone to stand righteous before God based upon their own merits whether Jew or Gentile. Pagans were condemned because they took the truth about God as revealed in nature and exchanged it for a lie, they worshipped the creature instead of the creator, they perverted the natural use of their own bodies (they specifically perverted the use of the complimentary male and female organs for sexual reproduction), and they acted according to their evil intentions, knowing their deeds are rightly condemned, but doing them anyway and approving those who the same (Rom. 1:18-32). Moralist were likewise condemned, especially those who received the special revelation of God codified in the Law of Moses, since they too failed to keep its commandments (Rom. 2:1-29). Both Jew and Gentil fail to do what they know to be the right thing to do (Rom. 3:1-19). None are righteous according to their own merits.
We are totally depraved. This never means that we commit every possible sin that could be committed when the opportunity presents itself; rather, we inevitably commit offenses against God and others.
Redemption
Our hope is that God saves sinners. The Father sent the Son to save humanity from their sin. The Son entered into this world through the womb of the virgin Mary. Jesus Christ lived a blameless life and obeyed will of the Father in going to the cross. He died and rose again on the third day. It is through His death that we receive atonement for our sins and through His resurrection that we find us new life and the hope of having victory over death.
From Adam came our condemnation, but from Christ comes our redemption. Paul tells us: “For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ” and “As one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Rom. 5:17-19). Elsewhere Paul states: “As by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:21-22). The sons and daughters of Adam and Eve are fallen, dead in their sins, and estranged from God. However, Christ saves the sinner, raises up from death, and reconnects them to God.
This is what makes the celebration of Advent so spectacular. The bad news is really bad. We are dead in sin. However, the good news is exceptionally good. God saves sinners! Christ is the one who redeems us from our sin, and we are made righteous by the blood of the Lamb. We are saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ. Dead in sin, we are given new life. We are seated with God in heavenly places. Yes, we are God’s workmanship created for good works (Eph. 2:1-10).
Christians celebrate Advent because the grace of God has come to us through Jesus Christ. They also look forward to the next Advent, when the Son appears again to set things right. They will then be raised immortal, imperishable, incorruptible.
— WGN
- All Scripture cited from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016) unless noted.
- J. E. Colwell, New Dictionary of Theology, ed. Sinclair B. Ferguson and J.I. Packer (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 641. Bruce Milne offers this summation of the words employed in the Scriptures related to the subject of sin: “The commonest OT term is Hattāt (e.g. Ex. 32:30) and its cognate term hēt (Ps. 51:9). It occurs several hundred times in the OT and expresses the thought of missing the mark, or erring. peša‘ (Pr. 28:13) has the sense of active rebellion, a trespass or transgression of God’s will. šāgâh (Lv. 4:13) expresses the thought of going astray. ‘āwôn (1 Ki. 17:18) is related to a verbal form meaning ‘to twist’ and refers to the guilt which sin produced. The major word for sin in the Greek NT, harmartia (Mt. 1:21), also has the force of missing the mark; it covers the thoughts of failure, faut and concrete wrongdoing. Adikia (1 Cor. 6:8) renders the ideas of unrighteousness or injustice. Parabasis (Rom. 4:15) refers to breach of the law. Anomia (1 Jn. 3:4) similarly expresses lawlessness. Asebeia (Tit. 2:12) reflects the strong sense of godlessness, while ptaiō is more the moral stumble (Jas. 2:10)” (Bruce Milne, Know the Truth: A Handbook of Christian Belief [Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1982, 1998]. 130).
- Hank Hanegraaff, The Complete Bible Answer Book: Collector’s Edition Revised and Updated (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016), 7-8. Access at https://www.equip.org/about/our-beliefs/
- J. I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1993), 83.
- For discussion on the fairness of Adam’s guilt being transmitted to his progeny, see Clay Jones, “Original Sin: Its Importance and Fairness,” Christian Research Journal, 34, 6 [2011]: https://www.equip.org/article/original-sin-its-importance-and-fairness/
- Hanegraaff, The Complete Bible Answer Book, 14. Access at https://www.equip.org/bible_answers/what-is-sin/
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