Defining sin, repentance, reconciliation and justification

mcarans said:

This article gives definitions for the following words: sin, repentance, reconciliation and justification.

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There are various words translated "sin"
αμαρτια is to miss the mark, where the mark is God's standard for righteousness.
σκανδαλιζω is to cause to stumble.
αμαρτανω is to trespass (though it could also mean to miss the mark). Trespass is the idea of there being a boundary you intentionally cross, like Adam directly and consciously violating God's explicit command.

Reconciliation is to restore favor with

Repentance (μετανοια) is literally a change (meta) of mind (noia).

justification is to be cleared of guilt (legal guilt) - also the word "Justify" (δικαιοω) is simply the verb form of "Righteous" (δικαιος) or "Righteousness" (δικαιοσυνη)

Rom 4:5-8 to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."

A lot of the operational definitions of such words you can simply get from their usage in scripture.

mcarans said:

This article gives definitions for the following words: sin, repentance, reconciliation and justification.

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My first thought was in line with @bcbsr but I was thinking Hebrew. In Hebrew, there are three words that WE tend to treat equally that in Hebrew are very unique and context effecting. Here they are, with the word each is generally translated as in parenthesis and then the definition:

Chata'ah - (sin) it means missing the mark but that definition alone misses the mark. As a visual, think of an archer who draws back his bow to shoot at a target. This is important, his INTENT is to hit the target each and every time he draws back. But, being in a fallen state, he simply misses from time to time. Thus this is actually unintentional sin or sin done in ignorance.

Avon - (transgression or iniquity) same archer and same target with the same intent to always hit the target. However, this time the archer gets caught up in an emotion that, temporarily, causes him to aim at another target. Once he comes to his sense, he repents and comes back to the true target (God's righteousness).

Pesha - (rebellion) here is an archer who knows the target God desires for him to aim at, and he deliberately finds something else to aim at. This is willful sin, rebellion, an act AGAINST God.

Knowing these three definitions is important because when you see a brother or sister in error, you can then attempt to determine if they are trying to hit the proper target and just missing (perhaps they lack information you have?) or are they deliberately taking a stand against God? Knowing which allows you to be able to deal with it properly.

Ken Rank said:

Avon - (transgression or iniquity) same archer and same target with the same intent to always hit the target. However, this time the archer gets caught up in an emotion that, temporarily, causes him to aim at another target. Once he comes to his sense, he repents and comes back to the true target (God's righteousness).

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That is good Ken, except avon also has a generational component to it. It literally means to be bent, and that is from the sins (chataah) and intentional transgressions (pesha) of previous generations.

Dave-W said:

That is good Ken, except avon also has a generational component to it. It literally means to be bent, and that is from the sins (chataah) and intentional transgressions (pesha) of previous generations.

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Agreed... for the sake of the OP, I was just trying to keep it simple. LOL

mcarans said:

This article gives definitions for the following words: sin, repentance, reconciliation and justification.

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Looks like a worthless and unreliable article to me.

GOD'S WORD DEFINES SIN AND RIGHTEOUSNESS AND WHAT THE MARK IS.

GOD'S 10 COMMANDMENTS ARE THE MARK.

Sin is indeed missing the mark but you need to also determine what mark is being missed. The scriptures go on to clearly define this. For exasmple. God's 10 commandment are the KNOWLEDGE of GOOD and EVIL; SIN AND RIGHTEOUSNESS *ROMANS 3:20; ROMANS 7:7; JAMES 2:10-11; 1 JOHN 3:4; PSALMS 119:172.

So the MARK that is being defined by God's WORD here is the 10 Commandments because they are the KNOWLEDGE of GOOD and EVIL; SIN AND RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Let's look at the scripture and link the OLD and NEW TESTAMENT scriptures...

SIN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT BREAKING THE 10 COMMANDMENTS (Summarized)

God said in Genesis 4:7 to Cain when he was angry because he did not worship God in his appointed way that by doing this it was sin. Jesus say the same in Matthew 15:3-9 that if we follow and teachings of men that break the commandments of God we are not following God. Mankind was destroyed by a flood because of sin (Genesis 6:5-7).

Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed because of sin (Genesis 18:20). Jacob knew about sin when he complained to Laben when he left with his daughters (Genesis 31:36).

When Potiphar’s wife came to Joseph with the aim of committing adultery, Joseph knew it was sin and protested saying how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? (Genesis 39:9).

God said that if Israel was not to make a covenant with the other nations and serve their god's it would be sin (Exodus 23:33). When Moses was delayed on the Mount with God the children of ISRAEL made an Idol and worshipped it breaking God's 1st and 2nd commandment (Exodus 20:3-5). Moses said to them after he returned, you have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; perhaps I shall make an atonement for your sin (Exodus 32:30; Deuteronomy 9:16-18). Moses said to Aaron that by making an idol for the people to worship that it was a great sin (Exodus 32:21; 30). God would punish the children of Israel for their sin of Idol worship (Exodus 32:34).

God said to Moses in reference to breaking the 10 Commandments; Whosoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book (Exodus 32:33).

God said that if Israel was not to make a covenant with the other nations and serve their god's it would be sin (Exodus 23:33). Joshua says stealing is sin (Joshua 7:11). Achan knew when he was caught stealing that he sinned (Joshua 7:20).

When God's people forsake God to worship other God's, they also confess that they had sinned in breaking God's commandments (Judges 10:10;15). Samuel made atonement for God's people when they wanted to return to God confessing that they had sinned after they worshipped other Gods breaking God's 1st and 2nd commandments (1 Samuel 7:5; 12:10; Exodus 20:2-5).

King Saul wanted to kill David, but Jonathon spoke good of David saying to him no to sin against David by killing him (1 Samuel 19:4). David cut the skirt of King Saul in the cave and said to him that he could have killed him if he wanted to but did not sin against him by sparing his life (1 Samuel 24:11). King Saul replied that in wanting to kill David he had sinned (1 Samuel 26:21).

When David became king he desired Bathsheba who was another man’s wife and organized for her husband Uriah the Hitite to be sent to the front line of battle to be killed. God sent Nathan to David and David confessed in doing this that he had sinned in breaking God's 6th and 7th Commandment (Exodus 20:13:14). David confessed that he had sinned to breaking God's LAW (1 Samuel 12:13).

Now we can also go through all the evil Kings of Israel that sinned against God by following and worshipping other Gods which is also defined as sin in God's WORD but there would be too many scriptures (2 Kings 17:7). God testified that they served other Gods and idols sending them prophets to warn them of their sins (2 Kings 17:12-13; 16-17). We are also told that King Manasseh also broke God's 6th commandment and killed more innocent people then most others testifying that by doing this he had sinned (2 Kings 16:17). God continued to send prophets to warn his people of the consequences of sin (Nehemiah 9:30). God's people continued in their sins forsaking God's LAW (10 commandments) and in doing so God left them and Israel were overthrown and led into captivity to the other nations because they departed from God serving other God's and idols. Nehemiah knew this and prayed to God confessing their sins (Nehemiah 1:6-9). God's people continued to sin against God by worshipping other Gods despite the warning of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 44:18-23). In despite of God's Word teaching that God's people had forsaken the 10 commandments and sinned against God, going into captivity, God promised he would bring them back when they returned to him and heal them from their sins of breaking his commandments (Ezekiel 37:22-23).

Hosea testified by the Word of the Lord that God's people by making idols and worshipping other god's, lying, stealing, killing, committing adultery would receive the judgments of God because they had sinned by departing from the 10 Commandments (Hosea 4:1-19).

The word of the Lord came to Zephaniah saying that all those who continue in sin by worshipping other God's and breaking his commandments will be destroyed off the land because they have sinned against God (Zephaniah 1:2-17).

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Yep God’s WORD is very clear that sin is defined as breaking ANY of the 10 Commandments just as James, Paul and John all teach in the NEW TESTAMENT (James 2:10-11; Romans 7:7; 1 John 3:4; Romans 3:20). All the above scriptures show by example, quoting individual commandments from the 10 Commandments that SIN is indeed also defined as breaking any of God's 10 Commandments.

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NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES

JAMES 2:8-12
[8], If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well:
[9], But if ye have respect to persons, YOU COMMIT SIN, AND ARE CONVINCED OF THE LAW AS TRANSGRESSORS.
[10], For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
[11] For he that said, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, said also, DO NOT KILL. Now if thou commit NO ADULTERY, yet if thou KILL, YOU ARE BECOME A TRANSGRESSOR OF GOD'S LAW

Yep, James is pretty clear if we brake ANY of God's Law (10 commandments) then we are a TRANSGRESSOR of God's LAW and commit SIN. James quotes two of the 10 Commandments saying that if we break them we commit sin v9 that are summed up in the 2nd great commandments of LOVE to God and LOVE to our neighbour in v11. Maybe you missed that one?

ROMANS 7:7 [7], What shall we say then? is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I HAD NOT KNOWN SIN, BUT BY THE LAW: for I had not known lust, EXCEPT THE LAW HAD SAID YOU SHALL NOT COVET.

Well here we have Paul in agreement with James and John also telling us that he did not know what sin was without God's 10 Commandments. SIN is breaking God's commandments and Paul uses the 10th commandment as an example of breaking any of God's LAW (10 commandments) = SIN (Exodus 20:17)

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1 JOHN 3:4 [4] Whosoever commits SIN transgresses also the law: for SIN is the transgression of the law.

John is saying the same thing as James and Paul and states that if we TRANSGRESS God's LAW then we commit SIN because SIN IS THE TRANSGRESSION OF GOD'S LAW. So it is very clear that SIN is breaking ANY of God's LAW (10 commandments). We will look at the chapter context John uses v15 of MURDER as an example of sin which is God's 6th Command of the 10.

Sin is indeed defined in God's WORD as breaking any of the 10 Commandments in both the OLD and NEW TESTAMENT scriptures.

mcarans said:

If the 10 Commandments are the KNOWLEDGE of GOOD and EVIL, then does that mean that Adam and Eve did not obtain knowledge of good and evil when eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because they were not given the 10 Commandments?

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Adam and Eve were in perfect harmony with God before they sinned. They did not know good and evil until after the had eaten the forbidden fruit and broke God's commandment to them not to eat it.

GENESIS 3:5, For God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

GENESIS 3:22-25, [22] And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever [23], Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. [24], So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way of the tree of life.