Hi Hammster,
Thank you for clarifying that; sorry for the miscommunication. No hard feelings. In the future I'll highlight or embolden something if I would really like that particular question or topic to be addressed.
After reading your post, I’m afraid I would have to disagree. The reason you are now no longer condemned for your unbelief is because you have been forgiven of all your sins because of Jesus Christ. Before you were saved, you were most certainly under condemnation for your unbelief (John 3:36). You said, “it’s not any individual sin that condemns us”. On the contrary, I believe the Bible indicates that it is every individual sin that condemns us. To say that because sin is singular in Romans 6:23, we will not be condemned for the individual sins we commit, seems to be a doubtful leap in logic.
To begin with, the Bible often uses “sin” and “sins” interchangeably. One example would be Jeroboam:
Other examples:
Not only are these words often used interchangeably throughout the Bible, but Romans 3:23 says that the reason that all have fallen short of the glory of God is because of our sinful actions: “all have sinned”. Furthermore, Col. 3:5-6 says, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry (these are all actions and individual sins). Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.” God’s wrath is coming because of the individual sins we commit. The Bible says that we are individually responsible for these sins. Ezekiel 18:20 says, “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.” In light of that, the Bible also says that we will be judged for what we have done:
God will judge us according to what we have done, and ultimately as to whether or not we accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (Mark 16:16).
In the end---and I say this with the greatest respect---the assertion that God does not condemn us for our individual sins does not appear to add up to the rest of the Bible. If we are not condemned for our individual sins, then there is no condemnation for our individual sins. If there is no condemnation for our individual sins and we are only condemned for our sin (singular), then we have no need to be forgiven of our individual sins. Why would you need to be forgiven of something for which you are not condemned? But if that is the case, then why did Jesus die for our sins (plural, 1 Cor. 15:3, 1 John 2:2), tell us that we need to repent of our sins (plural, Rev. 16:11, 9:21, Mark 6:12, Is. 59:20), and be forgiven of our sins (plural, Matt. 26:28, Lk. 1:77, 24:47, Acts 2:38, Col. 1:14)?
Another post to come
Thank you for clarifying that; sorry for the miscommunication. No hard feelings. In the future I'll highlight or embolden something if I would really like that particular question or topic to be addressed.
After reading your post, I’m afraid I would have to disagree. The reason you are now no longer condemned for your unbelief is because you have been forgiven of all your sins because of Jesus Christ. Before you were saved, you were most certainly under condemnation for your unbelief (John 3:36). You said, “it’s not any individual sin that condemns us”. On the contrary, I believe the Bible indicates that it is every individual sin that condemns us. To say that because sin is singular in Romans 6:23, we will not be condemned for the individual sins we commit, seems to be a doubtful leap in logic.
To begin with, the Bible often uses “sin” and “sins” interchangeably. One example would be Jeroboam:
- 1 Kings 13:34 – “This was the sin (singular) of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth.”
- 1 Kings 14:16 – “And he will give Israel up because of the sins (plural) Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.”
- 1 Kings 15:34 – “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the ways of Jeroboam and committing the same sin (singular) Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.”
- 1 Kings 16:2 – “I lifted you up from the dust and appointed you ruler over my people Israel, but you followed the ways of Jeroboam and caused my people Israel to sin (singular) and to arouse my anger by their sins (plural).”
- 1 Kings 16:26 – “He followed completely the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat, committing the same sin (singular) Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit, so that they aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, by their worthless idols.”
- 1 Kings 22:52 – “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, because he followed the ways of his father and mother and of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin (singular).”
- 2 Kings 3:3 – “Nevertheless he clung to the sins (plural) of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.”
- 2 Kings 10:29 – “However, he did not turn away from the sins (plural) of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit—the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.”
Other examples:
- Genesis 18:20 – “Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin (singular) so grievous…” This is certainly referring to the actions that Sodom and Gomorrah were committing.
- Exodus 10:16-17 – “Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned (referring to the action) against the Lord your God and against you. Now forgive my sin (singular, but again referring to the action) once more and pray to the Lord your God to take this deadly plague away from me.”
- In many passages the word is translated differently in different translations, such as Number 5:7; some passages translate the word in this passage as “sin”, another “sins”. Another example would be Leviticus 26:41, where the word is translated “sin”, “sins” or “iniquity”.
Not only are these words often used interchangeably throughout the Bible, but Romans 3:23 says that the reason that all have fallen short of the glory of God is because of our sinful actions: “all have sinned”. Furthermore, Col. 3:5-6 says, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry (these are all actions and individual sins). Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.” God’s wrath is coming because of the individual sins we commit. The Bible says that we are individually responsible for these sins. Ezekiel 18:20 says, “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.” In light of that, the Bible also says that we will be judged for what we have done:
- 2 Cor. 5:10 – “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”
- John 5:29 – “And come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.”
- Revelation 20:11-15 – “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
- Ezekiel 24:14 – “I am the Lord. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent; according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord God.”
God will judge us according to what we have done, and ultimately as to whether or not we accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (Mark 16:16).
In the end---and I say this with the greatest respect---the assertion that God does not condemn us for our individual sins does not appear to add up to the rest of the Bible. If we are not condemned for our individual sins, then there is no condemnation for our individual sins. If there is no condemnation for our individual sins and we are only condemned for our sin (singular), then we have no need to be forgiven of our individual sins. Why would you need to be forgiven of something for which you are not condemned? But if that is the case, then why did Jesus die for our sins (plural, 1 Cor. 15:3, 1 John 2:2), tell us that we need to repent of our sins (plural, Rev. 16:11, 9:21, Mark 6:12, Is. 59:20), and be forgiven of our sins (plural, Matt. 26:28, Lk. 1:77, 24:47, Acts 2:38, Col. 1:14)?
Another post to come
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