I recently taught in one of our Foundation classes about Sin and Salvation. In preparation for the lecture I read books and articles and listened to some podcasts. I came to a realization that the world we are living in right now has watered down the definition of sin. We call sin a mistake. It is like a wrong answer in a test, or a misplaced item in work or an overlooked data in a project, not an abomination to God. The opposite of right, it is basically doing something wrong. SIN may be all of these words, but as I study the word SIN more and its effect in the bible, I was shocked by how far our definitions are from the real meaning of the sin. Sin is more than a mistake.

SIN means to miss the mark. Think of an archer missing the goal.

Ok, so that doesn’t sound bad at all. But it is only the beginning. Sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4), an intentional drive to miss the standard. It is a deliberative decision to rebel against the Creator God. Sin is ANY failure to conform to the moral will of God in act, attitude or nature. (W.Grudem, Systematic Theology, emphasis mine). Sin may be overt (doing something you shouldn’t do) or covert (not doing something you should have done), and it is still sin whether it is done (or not done) intentionally or unintentionally. Sin is sin regardless of the gravity of it and all have sinned. Sin always leads to death, therefore all our sins’ wages is death.

That appalled me. Think about it, sin is failure to hit God’s moral standard in our: thoughts, emotions, attitude, words, actions and even our very nature. I used to think that sin is just doing something bad, but with this meaning it went miles over that definition. It means I may be doing something right outside (go to church, serve God, give to the poor) and say something right for everyone to hear (say the right Christianese words, share the gospel) yet still sin if in my attitude I have that feeling of self righteousness that I am doing good, or that God SHOULD bless me because of the good deeds I have done. It means that a good deed may be beneficial to the whole world (and thus let us continue to do it) but may be the cause of people missing the salvation of God (feeling that I can achieve God’s favor through my good deeds). It is the reason why sometimes when we do something good we EXPECT someone to return the favor (because in our very nature, we are doing it more for ourselves then others), and even if we whole heartedly did it in love and care, our sinful nature jumps in and offers to us pride because of how mature one has been.

Am I saying that good deeds are nothing? Not at all, what I am saying is the awareness that I am a sinner and I can’t do anything to show that I am good in the place of a Holy God. It is meant to see the depravity of every man, the total ‘deadness’ we all have apart from the grace of God. Sin is shown as sin because God is shown as Holy and perfect. It is a stage like the darkness of the night for the brightness of the Goodness of God to shine.

It made me say what Paul said from Romans 7:13 – 25 (emphasis mine)

Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.  I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

The light of the Gospel of what Christ did for our sins becomes brighter in our lives when we realize the utter darkness of our soul.