If there’s anything that people know about the Bible, it’s that it talks about sin. That might be the only thing they know and they may not have a correct concept about what sin is or about God’s attitude towards sin; but they know it talks about sin. To many people, this is their big issue with Christianity; both because they don’t want anyone else to tell them what they can do (including God) and because they see that Christians still sin.
Anyone who is a Christian has probably heard people who aren’t talking about what hypocrites Christians are. The fallacy in their statement isn’t in thinking that Christians sin, but in thinking that Christians should be perfect. What makes Christians who they are isn’t their personal holiness and perfection, but rather their understanding that they aren’t perfect and therefore need a Savior. Christianity isn’t about being perfect, but rather about being on a journey of becoming perfected by God Himself, through His Son, Jesus Christ.
When most people think of what the Bible says about sin, they instantly default to The Ten Commandments (Exodus, chapter 20). It is this limited idea of what constitutes sin, which has led many people to think that all the Bible has to say about the subject, is a long list of things that we shouldn’t do. Yet if we look at all the commandments of the Bible, or even just the 613 commandments contained in Old Testament Law, there are more of them that talk about things that believers should do, than there are that tell believers not to do things.
So, Just What is Sin?
Surprisingly, the Bible doesn’t give us a definition of the word “sin” in a manner that can easily be quoted, although the word exists 446 times in the whole of the Bible. The Hebrew word most commonly translated as sin is khata, which means “to fail” or “to miss the goal.” It is the idea of not doing what God desires us to do. The verse which most closely captures this idea is:
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. – Romans 3:23
If we go back to the beginning of the Bible, we find God’s expectation of who we are to be. That’s actually contained within a verse which might not be seen as telling us what He expects or who we are, as it talks about our creation, rather than His expectations.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. – Genesis 1:26-27
There’s a lot that can be said about being made in God’s image. The entire Bible gives us hints about what that image is; not His physical image, because God is Spirit and has no physical image. But rather, about his character and characteristics. It is in those areas that we are made in His image.
With that being the case, we cannot look at being created in His image, without seeing one very important thing that Jesus said about God the Father’s image. That is, that God is perfect and that we should be perfect too (Matthew 5:48); something which seems virtually impossible for us to accomplish.
Yet this verse ties in so well with Romans 3:23, which I quoted above. God is perfect, so anything we do which is imperfect, according to God’s definition of perfect, would have to be considered to be sin. Yet as Romans says, we are all imperfect; we all fail; and we have all sinned by falling short of the glory of God. If this is all we see, it would be easy to be discouraged, thinking that there is no way for us to meet God’s expectations.
Some might question just what God considers to be falling short of His glory or what God considered to be sin. We find much said about that in the Bible, both in the Old Testament and in the New. The books of the Law, the first five books of the Bible, give us a considerable list of commandments; many more than just the 10 which are included in the Ten Commandments. Yet in reality, the New Testament has even more commandments, as it contains over 1,000. Interestingly enough, many of the things that are commanded of us in the New Testament talk about the inward sin of the heart, whereas the commandments of the Old Testament only talk about our actions. Jesus gave an excellent example of this, as part of his Sermon on the Mount.
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘you shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you what whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” – Matthew 5:27-28
As anyone can easily see, Jesus raised the bar here, giving us a much higher standard to hold ourselves to, than what was given to Moses in the Old Testament. Yet we tend to think of those commandments as Old Testament things, while the New Testament talks about grace, mercy and love.
The truth is, the New Testament has much to say about our actions and attitudes. It’s just that most people skip over those verses and concentrate on the ones they like. They want to read the verses which talk about God’s love for us, not our responsibility towards Him. But Jesus said that if we truly love Him, we are to keep (obey) His commandments (John 14:15).
Why is God Picky About Sin?
There are many things which are referred to as sin within the pages of the Bible. There are even more complaints that people have about those things being considered sin. It seems that everyone has their own favorite sin, which they think shouldn’t be included in the list. From tithing to fornication, believers and unbelievers alike try to justify why their sin shouldn’t be called sin. Some go so far as to change the meaning of things that are written in the Bible, trying to say that God is actually calling something good, when the Bible says it is bad. God has an answer for them:
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness. Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! – Isaiah 5:20
God is holy, and as we’ve already seen, that’s the standard He uses when He looks at us as well. As our creator and God, He has a right to make that determination, as well as deciding what He calls sin and what He doesn’t call sin.
In reality, what God is doing is really not all that different from what we do in our relationships. All relationships have rules of some sort, sometimes called “boundaries,” even if those rules are not fully defined. Parents create rules for what they expect of their children. Schools create rules for the students to obey. All jobs have some sorts of rules associated with them. Society in general has a long list of rules, both formal ones which we call “laws” and informal social rules. We even have rules in our interpersonal relationships, with the rules in a marriage often being the most stringent.
While we might have problems with any or all of those rules, we accept them as a condition of being in that relationship. Those who don’t accept the rules, find themselves kicked out of the relationship. That can mean losing the right to go to school, losing a job, getting a divorce or even going to jail.
The big difference between God’s rules or commandments and the ones we find in other parts of our lives, is that each and every commandment that God has given us is ultimately for our benefit, not His. There is not one single commandment in the Bible, which God created for His own benefit. Even things like commanding that we worship Him or give our tithes to the church aren’t for His benefit, but for our own. The rules at work aren’t for your benefit; but for the employer’s. Those in a marriage might ultimately provide a benefit, in that they provide for peace in the marriage; but it is usually clear that whoever created a particular rule did so for their own benefit, not for the benefit of the marriage.
Not All “Sin” is Sin
There is a category of actions talked about in the Old Testament Law which many believers today think of as being sin. These are things which the Bible says make us “unclean.” Just as there are many different commandments that define things as sin, there are also a large number of different things that can make someone unclean. But just exactly what does this mean?
First of all, being unclean doesn’t mean that one is in sin. If that were the case, then there are things which are beyond our control, which would put us in sin, such as “discharges” from our bodies. While the Bible doesn’t clearly define a discharge, we can safely say that bleeding from an injury qualifies as a discharge; it is bodily fluid leaving the body when it shouldn’t be. The same could even be said for a runny nose, when someone has a cold.
The term “unclean” is a technical term in Old Testament Law. The full term would be “ceremonially unclean,” although the Bible usually uses the simpler term “unclean.” For something to be ceremonially clean means that it has been dedicated to God. Some things, like the Tabernacle that Moses built or the priests, are dedicated to God through a specific ceremony mentioned in the Bible. This isn’t necessarily the case for everything, most especially for us as individual believers.
Things which are ceremonial clean are used in temple worship and things which are ceremonially unclean are not to be brought into the Temple. The admonition against this is strong enough that the Law says contact with items which are unclean will make clean items unclean, needing to be ceremonially cleansed before being used in the Temple again.
Another way of defining the word “unclean” is “common.” According to Old Testament Law, there are only two categories of things, “clean” and “unclean.” Anything which is not clean is automatically unclean. The dishes we eat our food from are unclean, simply because they are common; they haven’t been dedicated to God. Using them is not wrong, although it would be wrong to use them for temple worship activities, without first dedicating them to God.
Once something has been dedicated to God, it belongs to Him. We can’t dedicate a plate to God for use in temple worship and then take it back home to eat dinner on. Were we to do so, it would be akin to giving something to God and then taking it back again. There’s a word for that; it’s called stealing.
When it comes to us, our own dedication to God is a very personal thing. In Christianity today, joining into a relationship with God is taken to mean praying the prayer of salvation. Once that has happened, we can be said to be dedicated to God. How serious that dedication is depends a lot on the individual. It’s not uncommon for people to expect more from God in that relationship, than what they give of themselves to their relationship with God.
So, what are we to do about things that are called “unclean?” Since that refers to temple worship, we could say that it doesn’t apply to us today. The Temple which Solomon built no longer exists, nor does temple worship. We worship in a different manner, largely because of the work of Jesus Christ.
On the other hand, we should not be so cavalier as to say that we don’t need to concern ourselves with things that are dedicated to God. If someone were to buy something for the church and then want to take it back home and use it for a family gathering, it would probably be inappropriate. Doing so would indicate that the gift was not truly given to God, but rather, the item was loaned to God, until the person might need it. Where is the commitment to God in that?
Commandments that No Longer Apply
In addition to those things which are referred to as making us unclean, there are commandments in the Old Testament which no longer apply to us in the literal sense that they originally did. This is not to say that the Old Testament Law no longer applies, as Jesus Himself said that it will not pass away until heaven and earth pass away (Matthew 5:18).
Nevertheless, there is one major difference between the Old and New Testaments, in regard to the Law. In the Old Testament Law, God spends a lot of time talking about the sacrificial system, especially in the book of Leviticus. There were regularly scheduled ceremonial offerings that the priests had to offer, sin offerings that individuals had to make for their sins, and freewill offerings that people gave to God as an act of worship. All this is spelled out in great detail in the book of Leviticus.
By that will we have been sanctified (spiritually cleansed and set apart) through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But this Man (Jesus),3 after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God… 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. – Hebrews 10:10-12, 14
Based on this, we can say that the commandments in the Old Testament which deal with sacrifices no longer have to be followed. Jesus became the last sacrifice for all sin. As long as we accept that sacrifice, no further sacrifice is required. In other words, we do not need to do everything the Old Testament teaches about sacrifices for our sins.
On the other hand, this does not mean that we can just decide on our own to throw away other commandments written in the Law. There are a few other cases where New Testament teachings negate specific items included in the Law. But unless there are verses in the New Testament which negate those, disobeying them is still considered to be sin.
What Impact Does Our Sin Have On Us?
If God has defined some things as sin and told us not to do them, it only follows that there would be some impact in our lives, if we go ahead and do what God has told us not to. Once again, this is an area that many people have a problem with. Those who don’t accept the idea that God should be able to define what is sin and what isn’t, don’t accept that He can put a price on that sin. Those aren’t the only people who have a problem with it though; many believers think that all they have to do is ask for forgiveness and any consequence to their sin should also disappear, allowing them to go right back into their sin.
Nevertheless, the Bible makes it clear that there are consequences to our sin and that some of those consequences can be rather serious. To start with, sin separates us from God. As long as we remain in that sin, we are separated from Him.
But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear. – Isaiah 59:2
For anyone who has a prayer life, praying to God regularly or even asking Him for things occasionally, this is extremely troubling. Knowing that God is not listening to our prayers, obviously means that He is not going to answer them either. Every day, people ask why their prayers aren’t answered and, in many cases, it is because they have sin in their lives, which they have not dealt with.
While God is bigger than our sin, big enough to overlook it, that would be tantamount as to Him saying that our sin doesn’t matter. But God has chosen to say that our sin does matter. While that sin may not mean that we are no longer Christians, it does mean something to God; and therefore should mean something to us.
The other major part of consequence for our sin is a direct, physical consequence. Some types of sin can cause illness in our bodies, such as how alcoholism can destroy the liver and adultery can lead to divorce. While not all consequences are this obvious, those consequences exist nonetheless.
In the Second book of the Prophet Samuel, King David committed adultery with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:3-4). She became pregnant through this; so, David tried to cover it up, arranging for her husband to come back from war to be with her. That didn’t work out, so David arranged for him to be killed in battle, essentially conspiring to commit murder.
David “comforted” the widow and brought her into his home to be one of his wives. Bathsheba gave birth to a son. But God was displeased with David (2 Samuel 11:27) and sent Nathan the Prophet to see him (2 Samuel 12:1-14).
So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child who is born to you shall surely die.” – 2 Samuel 12:13-14
There’s a lot in those two verses. First, we see David confessing his sin. Then we see God’s reaction to David’s confession, as spoken by the Prophet Nathan. God forgave David, removing his sin from him. We tend to think of that as purely a New Testament concept; but here it is, spelled out for us in the Old Testament. Finally, we see that even though David’s sin was forgiven and removed from him, there are still consequences for that sin. The son of his adultery died because of his sin.
While not all consequences will be this severe or obvious, they still exist. We may never realize that something bad which happens in our life is caused by an earlier sin; but that doesn’t mean it isn’t connected. If there are consequences, they will happen, no matter what. Our forgiveness doesn’t take that away.
The Bible’s Answer for Sin
God doesn’t stop with telling us that we are all sinners and therefore deserve death. God provides an answer to that sin. He never wanted to leave us in our sin or to use sin as a way to keep us from Him. Rather, His ultimate goal has always been to bring us closer to Him.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23
God has provided us a way out of our own sin. That is through accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Jesus came to this earth a bit over 2,000 years ago, born of a virgin teenage girl, named Mary. He grew up as a Jewish boy, the apparent son of Mary and her husband, Joseph, a carpenter. But at the age of 30, Jesus put up His carpentry tools and began his true career, that of being our Lord and Savior. He spent three-and-a-half-years teaching, healing and doing miracles. Then He paid the price for our sin, by dying on the cross.
When we accept the work of Jesus on the cross, admitting that we are sinners and putting our faith in Him as our personal, we receive His righteousness, wiping away our sin and bringing us into God’s family as adopted children.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. – Ephesians 2:8-9
This is God’s answer to sin. He knew before He created us that we were incapable of living a sin-free life. He didn’t give us the commandments of the Bible as a road map to heaven; but rather to show us our need for a Savior. It is all to point the way towards Jesus, so that we might receive His righteousness and have our relationship with Father God restored.
But wait, Doesn’t Sin Send People to Hell?
One of the more challenging concepts in the Bible is the question about whether sin sends people to hell. According to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, it does. Since all the other Christian denominations ultimately grew out of the Roman Catholic faith, that idea still permeates the church at large, even while we say that it doesn’t.
If we take the whole of the Bible, especially the teachings of the New Testament, whether we go to heaven or hell after death really doesn’t have anything to do with whether or not we have sinned. The Bible makes it clear that we all have sinned, as I quoted at the beginning of this study. Based on that, we should all go to hell.
Fortunately for us, that isn’t the criteria. Paul, speaking as a Jewish scholar, makes that rather clear in his letter to the Galatians.
We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, 16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. – Galatians 2:15-16
Justification is the key to salvation and it is through salvation that we are able to go to heaven once we die. While sin is important to God, it is not the criteria for salvation. Rather, as I mentioned earlier, it affects our ability to be in relationship with Him.
In a very real way, we can say that the only sin there is for the unbeliever is to not accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. No other sin will cause them to go to hell, no matter how evil they might be. Even the worst of sinners or criminals can make a death-bed confession of Christ and be saved. Once they do, all the sin they committed throughout their life is washed away.
On the other hand, all those things which are called sin in the Bible should be important to us who consider ourselves to be believers. While they will not keep us from heaven, they will affect our relationship with God. If we truly want to be in relationship with Him, then every sin we commit should cut us to the heart, showing us just how far short we fall from the glory of God.
That doesn’t mean that we should take that and figuratively beat ourselves for our sin. Rather, we should take that and turn to God in repentance.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleans us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9