What is Sin?

What is sin? It is very possible that you along with most others would define sin as something we do that separates us from God; followed by a list of bad and evil do nots. I would agree with this for part of the answer but not the whole. This definition only shows the action side, the performing part of sin.

Sin is not only a verb, but a noun as well. Having this dual tone in how it is used throughout scripture can be confusing. If we were honest with ourselves, many of us would admit to having some sort of confusion around sin. Dual toned or dual meaning words can be confusing especially if they are new words to you.

Paint for example. It is both a noun and a verb. Paint comes in bottles, cans or tubes. Paint comes in many colors and is used in many ways. When someone uses paint to cover over something we say that we are painting. We paint with paint. We must choose the right fight to fight. The only thing to fear is fear itself. We must fish for fish. We glue paper together with glue. And so on. 

The same is true of sin; we sin because we are in sin. It may be an awkward thought at first but soon it will begin to sink in. If I were to fall into a giant bucket of paint, I would be completely covered head to foot after I climbed out. Anything I touched, everywhere I walked would be painting. I would paint the hallway floors as I walked through, I would paint the car door as I went to get in, I would paint the toilet when I sat down to use it. As long as I was covered in paint, everything I do would be painting. The same is true with sin.

The reason the word sin is used for when we break laws or do things we know we aren’t supposed to or for any other reason is because that is our state of being, that is who we are, what we are covered in. We are sinful, that is full of sin. That’s not just to say we are what we do, but to say we are literally filled with sin- like a tube is filled with paint. And just like everything you do with paint is paint, everything you do with sin is sin.

So, what is sin? What is the proverbial paint inside of me?

Paul tells us sin came into the world because of one man’s disobedience (transgression). So, we know that

1. Sin first entered the world because of something Adam did.

What else are we told about sin?

• The consequence of sin is death.

Adam was told if he ate from the tree he would die. What is death? Death is the absence of life. At what point in the garden was Adam separated from life? When God kicked Adam out of the garden and hid His face from him. Adam was cut off from the very source of life. He became absent of life meaning he became full of death. And death is the consequence for sin.

• Death is the absence of life such as sin is the absence of God.

What do we know of the nature of God?

• God is Spirit.

And not just a Spirit but an eternal one. Adam was separated from God, leaving him with an eternal sized hole in his being. The Spirit of God is described as a breath, as an external force that influences the soul. Adam was now void of this Holy influence. Adam being a triune being (such as God) was now missing a very essential part of his existence a spiritual influence.

• We were created to be influenced/dependent upon the Spirit

Now that Adam was separated/void of the Spirit an existential need was missing and needed to be filled. Thus, the eternal sized hole of death (absent of life) was “given life”-autonomy- by the curse of thorns and death spoken out over the world by God.

• Sin is a spiritual influence of death upon our souls

In an expounded manner, sin is an eternally sized hole of death that has mastery/influence over our soul because of our separation to God.

The Christian is told several times to abide. To abide in the Spirit, abide in God, abide with Jesus. We must strive to abide in the Spirit because our natural nature of existence is abiding in sin. Picture your soul trapped in an abyss not able to get out on its own merit or strength. Its imprisoned, made a slave by this bottomless pit of a master who desires your destruction.  

From within this abyss everything you do whether good or bad is sin. This is why Isaiah said even our good deeds are as worthless as dirty rags. It’s because no matter how good of a thing we try to do apart from God, is useless. God is the one thing. Without Him there is nothing. Everything done apart from Him is us missing the mark. Adam missed the mark when he ate from the tree. Everything done since then has also missed the mark because God is the mark, and we have been separated from Him.

In summary, we live in a state, a spiritual condition of sin. Everything we do whether good or bad within this state of sin is sin. We are stuck in an ever, downward-spiraling cycle of sin. But thanks be to God for making a way for us through Jesus!