What is sin?

"SIN"...DEFINED??

DEFINE: "Sin".

Romans 14:23b...whatever is not from (spirit-led) faith is sin.

SIN / SIN(S) / SINNERS / SIN NATURE...Defined and Explained

"SIN" :
414 times in 269 verses in the OT Hebrew concordance of the NASB...condition of sin, guilt of sin, punishment for sin, sin-offering

OT: Hebrew 2403 - "chatta'ath"

NT: Greek 266 - "hamartia" : 1)
a) to be without a share in
b) to miss the mark
c) to err, be mistaken
d) to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honour, to do or go wrong
e) to wander from the law of God, violate God's law, sin
2) that which is done wrong, sin, an offence, a violation of the divine law in thought or in act
3) collectively, the complex or aggregate of sins committed either by a single person or by many

My Attempted DEFINITIONS:

1. SIN = "falling short" = ANYTHING contrary to the perfect CHARACTER and ATTRIBUTES of the TRI-UNE GOD...ALL fall short!

Romans 3:23 (NASB)... for all have sinned and fall short of the "glory of God",

(This is the spiritual gap between God's perfect good and Man's imperfections.)

2. SIN(S) = personal "missing the marks" = willful or ignorant, commission or omission, "trespasses" that cause loss of fellowship with / create a barrier between God and Man...
For Believers, these can be FORGIVEN! 1 John 1
For UNbelievers, SALVATION is first required.
For REMEDY for believers, CONFESSION (spiritually agreeing with God)... 1 John 1

3. SIN NATURE = the natural-born innate capacity and inclination to do / not do those things that can in no way commend Man and his "works" to God...Man's exercising God-given "free will" to REJECT God.
This natural tendency is SPIRITUALLY changed by the SALVATION / REDEMPTION EVENT, BUT it still rears its ugly head in the BODY / SOUL combo ("flesh") during the SANCTIFICATION PROCESS.

4. IMPUTED SIN:?...Romans 5:12. 15-17 (NIV)...Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ = IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS!

"original sin" is a false doctrine! ~= the first wilfull disobedience of A&E is NOT in our DNA! SEE:

Original Sin?

2 Corinthians 5:21...= IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS!
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God IN Him.

How believers deal with SIN(S) in their lives after salvation
...>>> the "carnal Christ-follower " must CONFESS (agree with God)...
1 John 1: 5-10...Walking in the Light

1 Peter 3: 15-22 (NIV1984)...substitutionary atonement
For Christ (Jesus the God-Man) died FOR (ALL) sin(s) once FOR ALL,
the righteous (Jesus the God-Man) FOR the unrighteous,(all natural men with IMPUTED SIN)
to bring you to God. (salvation and reconciliation)

A sin of omission or commission?

Marcaunon said:

Hi

Disclaimer 1: If this is in the wrong sub-forum I ask that it please be moved as appropriate, it was not my intention to cause anyone distress.

Disclaimer 2: Regardless of how you view this question the intent is not to cause duress but rather it's intent is merely for me to find some clearer answers to things I was wondering about (1 Pet 3:15)

Disclaimer 3: English is my second language.

So the question is quite simply: What is sin?

But some clarification perhaps is necessary.
It would be nice if the answer made sense in the biblical context, firstly new testament but hopefully in regards to all.

Let me expand a little bit more on this...

Perhaps you would argue that sin is not doing God's will. If this is so then how does one know what God's will or God's command is? Was this the same for all people in history?

Perhaps sin is simply what we earn upon birth as humans? Then why so much bothering in the bible with regards to what actions we take especially in the old testament prophets? Why give the 10 commandments therefore? Does this then mean we are all sinners regardless of what we did or will do, in effect rendering all actions by man irrelevant accept for this original sin?

Perhaps you would argue that sin in the most general terms is simply being immoral? I would be interested in how you argue this from the bible and not purely with philosophy. Also how can we ever really know what is moral then?

Another option I can think of is that sin is in your heart disbelieving or simply rebelling against God. Firstly does this mean God condemns the human for something as simple as a thought crime? Which in reality one might not even know he is committing?

Perhaps I'm way off base and sin is explained completely differently?

There are many following up ideas on this but I feel is a good place for me to start and try to understand my faith/religion better.

Thank you for your time in trying to answer my mad ravings. (I am not a theologian, just a person trying to understand things with more clarity)

Click to expand...

To make it short,
Sin is born where God is not.
God is Love, and we can read in the Bible how love covers a multitude of sins, and love does not harm others but fulfill the law.
The Bible teach us about sin, but sometimes it seems to not cover enough about it. Yet there is also our conscience; we know what is good and evil (romans 2:14-15).
Jesus said we must first take the plank out of our own eyes before doing other’s (matt 7:5). This proves that we are not aware about all the sin by ourself. That is why when the Holy Spirit must be in us, so that the Lord convicts us of the sin (John 16:8).

Seek God.
This is the very first thing.
God will discipline you and teach you.
Men could teach what they have learned from the Holy Spirit but
some men could teach out of their own knowledge...
So... seek God.

Sin can be exciting and at the same time, painful to learn and understand. Where to start?

Ron Gurley said:

"SIN"...DEFINED??

DEFINE: "Sin".

Romans 14:23b...whatever is not from (spirit-led) faith is sin.

SIN / SIN(S) / SINNERS / SIN NATURE...Defined and Explained

"SIN" :
414 times in 269 verses in the OT Hebrew concordance of the NASB...condition of sin, guilt of sin, punishment for sin, sin-offering

OT: Hebrew 2403 - "chatta'ath"

NT: Greek 266 - "hamartia" : 1)
a) to be without a share in
b) to miss the mark
c) to err, be mistaken
d) to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honour, to do or go wrong
e) to wander from the law of God, violate God's law, sin
2) that which is done wrong, sin, an offence, a violation of the divine law in thought or in act
3) collectively, the complex or aggregate of sins committed either by a single person or by many

My Attempted DEFINITIONS:

1. SIN = "falling short" = ANYTHING contrary to the perfect CHARACTER and ATTRIBUTES of the TRI-UNE GOD...ALL fall short!

Romans 3:23 (NASB)... for all have sinned and fall short of the "glory of God",

(This is the spiritual gap between God's perfect good and Man's imperfections.)

2. SIN(S) = personal "missing the marks" = willful or ignorant, commission or omission, "trespasses" that cause loss of fellowship with / create a barrier between God and Man...
For Believers, these can be FORGIVEN! 1 John 1
For UNbelievers, SALVATION is first required.
For REMEDY for believers, CONFESSION (spiritually agreeing with God)... 1 John 1

3. SIN NATURE = the natural-born innate capacity and inclination to do / not do those things that can in no way commend Man and his "works" to God...Man's exercising God-given "free will" to REJECT God.
This natural tendency is SPIRITUALLY changed by the SALVATION / REDEMPTION EVENT, BUT it still rears its ugly head in the BODY / SOUL combo ("flesh") during the SANCTIFICATION PROCESS.

4. IMPUTED SIN:?...Romans 5:12. 15-17 (NIV)...Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ = IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS!

"original sin" is a false doctrine! ~= the first wilfull disobedience of A&E is NOT in our DNA! SEE:

Original Sin?

2 Corinthians 5:21...= IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS!
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God IN Him.

How believers deal with SIN(S) in their lives after salvation
...>>> the "carnal Christ-follower " must CONFESS (agree with God)...
1 John 1: 5-10...Walking in the Light

1 Peter 3: 15-22 (NIV1984)...substitutionary atonement
For Christ (Jesus the God-Man) died FOR (ALL) sin(s) once FOR ALL,
the righteous (Jesus the God-Man) FOR the unrighteous,(all natural men with IMPUTED SIN)
to bring you to God. (salvation and reconciliation)

Click to expand...

And just to springboard off your comment, I read about sin from "Basic Theology" by Charles Ryrie. I think it's ideal to start with defining sin from a reverse-ripple-effect of some stone being tossed in a pond--broad and narrow, out and in. Note, I don't have all of this memorized, and this could be used as a reference. But it would be nice to know it all!

To begin, It would be nice to take in a universality approach to sin. The universality of sin recognizes:

- That only God is good and no human (mathew 19:17)
- And His chosen disciples were seen as evil, even though they were capable of doing good things (luke 11:13).

There should be a recognition that there are biblical concepts of sin (as Ron mentioned a couple) from both the old and new testament.

From Old Testament - (1) Chata, (2) Ra, (3) Pasha, (4) Awon, (5) Shagag, (6) Asham, (7) Rasha, (8) Taah

Now I won't define name them all, but the ones that interest me:

(1) - used for moral evil, idolatry, and ceremonial sins (exodus 20:20, judges 20:16, proverbs 8:36)
-----
-----
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(5) - to go astray like a sheep or drunkard (Isa 28:7)
(6) - guilt before God
(7) - wickedness or the opposite of righteousness (prov 15:9, psalm 9:16)
(8) - to go astray or wander (psalms 58:3, Isaiah 53:6)

From New Testament - (1) Kakos, (2) Poneros, (3) Asebes, (4) Enochos, (5) Hamartia, (6) Adikia, (7) Anomos, (8) Parabates, (9) Agnocin, (10) Planao, (11) Paraptoma, and (12) Hypocrisis

----
(2) - represents moral evil
----
(4) - represents someone guilty of a crime and punishable by death (mark 14:64, james 2:10)
----
(6) - unrighteous conduct of money (luke 16:9), of the body (romans 6:13), unsaved people (romans 1:18), and of actions (2 thes 2:10)
----
(8) - specific violations of law (romans 2:23, hebrews 9:15)
----
(10) - leading astray in the sense that people can deceive others (mathew 24:5-6), and satan can lead the whole world astray (revelation 12:19, 20:3)
----
----

One broad takeaway is that sin is a "positive rebellion against God..." There is also Christ's teaching on sin, and personal sin. And as you can see, sin can be a lot-complicated. I was very interested in reading about it from a basic theology perspective. And of course, this isn't all!

Marcaunon said:

So the question is quite simply: What is sin?

Click to expand...

,
1JOHN.3: =
Sin and the Child of God
4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
.
.
1JOHN.5: = 16 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.
.
.
ROMANS.7: = 7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _

The Law of God or Moses Law is based on love, ie love God and love your neighbor.(MATTHEW.22:37-40) Sin is any deed that hates or harms or offends God, your neighbor/friend or your own self = voluntary sin-in-deeds.

Separately, there is also our inherited or inborn Adam's Original Sin, ie our sin-in-thoughts that often arise involuntarily in our hearts and minds.(MARK.7:21, MATTHEW.23:27, ROMANS.5:12)

Leading scholars have already shown that the doctrine of original sin is wrong .

Quote
Though Augustine was convinced by the arguments of his earlier patristic peers, he made use of the apostle Paul’s letters, especially the one to the Romans, to develop his own ideas on original sin and guilt. Today, however, it is accepted that Augustine, who had never mastered the Greek language, misread Paul in at least one instance by using an inadequate Latin translation of the Greek original.
In Romans 5, Paul addresses the matter of sin. In verse 12 he states, “Therefore . . . sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned” (NRSV). Later in the chapter, Paul juxtaposes the sin of Adam with the righteousness of Christ: “Just 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” (Romans 5:19). In contrast to his contemporary theologians, Augustine drew from his reading of these scriptures that sin was passed biologically from Adam to all his descendants through the sexual act itself, thus equating sexual desire with sin. But why should he have reached this interpretation when marital sexual relations in Jewish society at the time of Christ and Paul were considered honorable and good?

The Original View of Original Sin


Better find a different tree to bark up.

I've given a categorization of sin that covers all contexts. The specific sins like lying, stealing, murder, etc. are manifestations of serving self. Why do people lie? Because they think they can make life easier to live.

NOTHING makes life easier. Because you are depending on inferior means to provide inadequate returns.

To avoid living futile lives, Scripture tells us to serve the effective resource, God, for permanent gains.

"original sin" = A MISNOMER and false doctrine invented by the RCC

Original Sin?

Original Sin?

The FIRST DISOBEDIENCE of A&E was the first sin for which they were DISCIPLINED.
Genesis 3

The doctrine of "original sin" (as described by the RCC) is a FALSE DOCTRINE!

How about CHECKING FACTS?
1. The first disobedience by A&E against God in Eden = They ATE knowing the prohibition!
2. The 'free will" to decide/choose was given to A&E
3. A&E had a innate "sin nature", the "free will" to reject and disobey G0d
4. DISCIPLINE = Genesis 3...NOT "the fall of man"

Both SIN and RIGHTEOUSNESS can be spiritually IMPUTED!

IMPUTED SIN / Righteousness:?...Romans 5:12. 15-17 (NIV)...Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ

OP: "Original Sin?"

Origin andHistory of the Doctrine of Original Sin

THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE DOCTRINE OF ORIGINAL SIN

What is original sin?

What is original sin? | carm

There has been much debate over the nature of the sin of Adam and how it affected mankind. Pelagius taught that Adam's sin influenced the human race only as a bad example and that all people are born in the same state as Adam was before his fall. Augustine taught that men inherit natural corruption from Adam.

13 Reasons why the Original Sin Doctrine is FALSE

THIRTEEN REASONS WHY THE DOCTRINE OF ORIGINAL SIN IS FALSE

The "doctrine of original sin" is false because:
1. It makes sin a misfortune and a calamity rather than a crime.
2. It makes the sinner deserve pity and compassion rather than blame for his sins.
3. It excuses the sinner.
4. It makes God responsible for sin.
5. It dishonors God. It makes him arbitrary, cruel, and unjust.
6. It causes ministers to wink at and excuse sin.
7. It begets complacency and a low standard of religion among Christians.
8. It is a stumbling-block to the unsaved.
9. It makes Jesus a sinner or it must deny his humanity.
10. It contradicts the Bible.
11. It "adds to" and "takes from" the Bible. God warns against this in Deut. 4:2 and Rev. 22:18, 19.
12. It begets false doctrines and false interpretations of the Scriptures.
13. It is ridiculous, absurd, and unreasonable. It contradicts the necessary and irresistible affirmations of every man's consciousness and reason, which is something that no true doctrine of the Word of God could do.

There are many enumerated "sins" defined and warned against in the Bible. But the "list" is incomplete!.

FOR EXAMPLES:...PEDOPHILIA?

James 2:10
For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.

Matthew 15 (NASB)....Jesus on The "Heart" of Natural Man
15 Peter said to Him, “Explain the parable to us.”
16 Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also?
17 Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated?
18 But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.
19 For out of the heart come:
evil thoughts,
murders,
adulteries,
fornications,
thefts,
false witness,
slanders.
(AND THE LIKE!!)
20 These are the things which defile the man;
but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”

SIN NATURE..."THE FLESH?"

https://www.gotquestions.org/sin-nature.html

https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionary-of-bible-themes/6166-flesh-sinful-nature

http://www.godisforus.com/information/worldview/sin/origin.htm

http://www.apttoteach.org/Theology/Humanity/pdf/410_Nature_of_Sin.pdf

Response to Post #85.

The sin of true believers is forgiveable!.

1 JOHN 1 (NASB)…TO BELIEVERS! …God Is Light (NOTE: Dark is absence of Light)

5 This is the message “we” have heard from Him (Jesus) and announce to you, that God is Light,
and in Him there is no darkness at all.

6 If we say that we have FELLOWSHIP with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not PRACTICE the “truth”;

7 BUT if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have FELLOWSHIP with “one another”, (believers)
and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

9 If we CONFESS (AGREE WITH GOD ABOUT) our sins, He is faithful and righteous to FORGIVE us our sins and to CLEANSE us from all unrighteousness.

10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

Forgiveness of Sins is a spiritual gift and a benefit of salvation.

Matthew 26:28
for this is My blood of the (NEW) covenant, which is poured out for many FOR forgiveness of sins.

Luke 1:77
To give to His people the knowledge of salvation (and) By the forgiveness of their sins,

Acts 10:43
Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

Colossians 1:14
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

FORGIVENESS / REMISSION ...Greek 859 - "aphesis'...release from bondage or imprisonment;
forgiveness or pardon, of sins (letting them go as if they had never been committed), remission of the penalty

Doug Chaplin explains how Augustine's mistaken translation of "epi" is the "most disastrous translation of a preposition ever":

Quote
And behind Augustine’s anthropology (understanding of humanity), which is outlined in Scot’s post, is a simple misunderstanding of one word in the Bible, a preposition consisting of just two letters. Scot is writing about the New Perspective on Paul, an interesting issue. But my point here is not about that, but about how a misleading Bible translation has led Christian theology seriously astray for 1600 years.

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) was a great thinker and church leader. As a young man he had left his Christian background and become a Manichaean, a follower of an anti-Christian dualistic religion; eventually he came back to the Christian faith. But he was not a great linguist. He could speak and understand well only his native Latin, not Greek. And so for his understanding of the Bible he had to rely on translations into Latin.

Doug Chaplin has recently explained how in Romans 5:12

Augustine took Paul’s phrase “ἐφ᾽ ᾧ πάντες ἥμαρτον” following the Vulgate “in quo omnes peccaverunt” to be “in whom [Adam] all sinned”.

(The Greek can be transliterated ef’ ho pantes hemarton.) Well, Augustine didn’t actually use the Vulgate, which was being translated during his lifetime, but the sometimes not very accurate Old Latin translations. But his Latin version seems to have been similar to the Vulgate here. Doug continues:

the Augustinian interpretation of Paul’s “ἐφ᾽ ᾧ πάντες ἥμαρτον” as meaning “in whom all sinned” makes it the most disastrous preposition in history. All modern translations agree that its proper meaning is “because.”

More precisely, “the most disastrous preposition” is ἐφ᾽ ef’, a contracted form of epimeaning “on”. The Greek phrase ἐφ᾽ ᾧ ef’ holiterally means “on which”, or possibly “on whom”, but is commonly used to mean “because”, or perhaps “in that”. The problem is that the Latin rendering of ἐφ᾽ ᾧ, in quo, is ambiguous between “in which” and “in whom” (I’m not sure if it can also mean simply “because” or “in that”), and Augustine understood it as meaning “in whom”, i.e. “in Adam”.

So, according to Augustine all sinned “in Adam”, which he understood as meaning that because Adam sinned every other human being, each of his descendants, is counted as a sinner. This is his doctrine of “original sin”, that every human is born a sinner and deserves death because of it. He may have taken up this idea because it agreed with his former Manichaean theology. This teaching is fundamental to most Protestant as well as Roman Catholic teaching today. For example, it underlies the Protestant (not just Calvinist) teaching of total depravity, that the unsaved person can do nothing good, a teaching for which there is little biblical basis apart from Augustine’s misunderstanding which was followed by Calvin.

Augustine was indeed right to oppose the teaching (or alleged teaching) of the British or Irish teacher Pelagius, that humans are intrinsically good and can make themselves acceptable to God by good works. But Augustine’s view of the matter takes things too far in the opposite direction, further than can be justified by the biblical text.

For the far more likely meaning of the Greek text of Romans 5:12 is that all are counted as sinners because each person individually has sinned. On this view there is perhaps some kind of tendency to sin passed down from Adam to others, but there is no actual guilt. This is consistent with the Old Testament teaching of Ezekiel in which

The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child.

Ezekiel 18:20 (TNIV)

Augustine's mistake about original sin - Gentle Wisdom

I find Galatians 4 and 5 rather revealing.......

Gal 4:
25
for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children—[Revelation 18:4]
26
but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.

(ASV) Gala 5:
18 But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these : fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties, 21 envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Why Jerusalem is Mystically Called Sodom and Egypt

Rev. 11:8
And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great City which mystically is called Sodom
and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

Rev 18:
4
And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of Her[Law/Flesh], my people, lest you share in Her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues/stripes. [Galatians 4:25]
5
“For Her sins have reached[fn] to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

yeah.. its everything that is NOT part of God.. the Father. Whats faith? If everything that is not of faith is sin.. whats faith? Romans.. awsome letter.. or book but the our Father

We have a advocate between us and the Father. That if we sin.. we confess He forgives. Should never sin.. should always turn over a new leaf so to speak. If we keep looking at sin..its all we will see and how we always seem to sin. WE are free from sin. He died rose ..its over.. its finished. If GOD can never lie.. whats faith