“What happened to sin?" This question, occasionally asked these
days, can be answered with another question: "Whatever happened
to God?” When people lose sight of God, sin cannot be far
behind.
The World's View Of Sin: --
Worldly people usually have in mind some vague definition of
sin. In their view murder is sin because it hurts other people.
If you asked the average person to name a sinner, he might well
name Saddam Hussein; look how many people he has hurt! On the
other hand a psychology professor I knew insisted that sexual
relations between two unmarried consenting adults is no more
than a handshake if no one gets hurt.
Some take another step to call things sin if they hurt the one
who does them. These days some people think of smoking as sinful
because it harms the body. At the same time, drunkenness is
winked at as long as one does not harm himself or drive under
the influence.
Things may be thought sinful once they become socially
unacceptable; speaking against homosexuality is just about the
most heinous sin some people can imagine. Illegal things are
considered sinful if one is caught and, if not, they become
clever. And, of course, anything that makes you feel bad about
yourself is probably a sin for you.
Notice that all of these involve horizontal relationships. Sin
is defined in purely human terms. The only authority
acknowledged is human authority. The guilt or innocence of any
action is judged by its visible and foreseeable effect on people
here and now. God is not in the picture.
The Godly View: --
As godliness is defined, however, everything is judged in
reference to God. The word sin, as used in the Bible, is
"missing the mark." Crime is missing the mark set by men: sin is
missing the mark set by God
(1 Jn. 3:4).
Murder is sin, not because it is illegal or because it hurts
someone but because God has forbidden it. The mark God has set
may be missed by going beyond it
(1 Jn. 5:17; 2 Jn. 9)
of by coming short of it
(Jas. 4:17; Rom. 3:23).
The
act by which "sin entered into the world"
(Rom. 5:12)
was
an act that few people in our godless age would call sin. In
fact, I am asked sometimes, "What do you think that Adam and Eve
really did?" Well, what they really did was eat a piece of fruit
(Gen. 3:6),
and it was sin because God had forbidden it. Whether men see
anything wrong in their action is beside the point.
When God told Abraham to offer his son on an altar
(Gen. 22:2),
he would have sinned if he had failed to obey. His faith was
demonstrated in his willingness to do what God said, regardless
of his own human sense of right and wrong.
Fornication, idolatry, adultery, homosexuality, covetousness,
drunkenness, and extortion were socially acceptable in Corinth,
but the Holy Spirit through Paul insisted that those practicing
such things would not "inherit the kingdom of God"
(1 Cor. 6:9,10).
"Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these
things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience"
(Eph. 5:6).
Even worship can be sin if it is not what God desires
(Matt. 7:21-23),
and a failure to worship is also sin
(Jas. 4:17).
God And Sin: --
Once God is brought into the picture it becomes clear that sin
is man's greatest problem. "For the wrath of God is revealed
form heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
men..."
(Rom. 1:18).
What man on his own can escape the wrath of God? Since sin is an
offense against God, only God can forgive it. And forgiving sin
is not easy even for God. It cost Him the life of His Son.
The
just penalty attached to sin by a just God is death;
consequently, justice demands that the penalty be paid if sins
are to be forgiven. If the sinner paid it he would be forever
separated from God. But "God so loved the world that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not
perish but have everlasting life" (Jn.
3:16).
He allowed His Son to be "cut off out of the land of the living
for the transgression of My people, to whom the stroke was due"
(Isa. 53:8).
Whenever we are tempted to sin, even in ways that the world
considers innocent, we should ask with Joseph, "How then can I
do this great wickedness and sin against God?"
(Gen. 39:9).
And when even the world pronounces us guilty, we still must
confess to God along with David, "Against You, You only, have I
sinned, and done this evil in Your sight..."
(Psa. 51:4).
Other Articles by Sewell Hall
Love Finds a
Way
Dangerous
Preaching
Confusion and Transgression
Rearing Unselfish
Children
Five Smoot Stones of
Parenting
Why Do Churches of Christ
Differ So Widely?
Is Only One Church Right?