Sin and Salvation – Part I
By Romeo Pelle
Sin and Salvation
Before even start talking about salvation, we need to talk about what humans need to be saved from, namely: “SIN.”
The Nature of Sin
Sin is any evil action or evil motive/attitude that is in opposition to God. In other words, sin is failure to let God be God and placing something or someone in God’s rightful place of supremacy.
Our understanding of what sin greatly influences our view of God’s nature. If God is a very high, pure, and exacting being who expects all humans to be as He is, then the slightest deviation from His high standards is sin and the human condition is very serious. If, on the other hand, God is Himself rather imperfect, or if He is an indulgent, grandfatherly type of being and He is unaware of much that is going on, then the human condition is not that serious. This is why our definition of sin reflects our understanding of God.
Also, if intended to reflect the image and nature of God, a human is to be judged not by comparison to other human, but by conformity to the divine standard! Any failure to meet that standard is sin. If human beings are free beings, not simply determined by forces of nature, then they are responsible for their actions, and their shortcomings will be graded more severely than if some determining forces control or severely limit their capability of choosing and doing.
In the same breath, our definition of salvation will be strongly influenced by our understanding of sin. For instance, if human beings are basically good, with their intellectual and moral capabilities essentially intact (from creation, by God’s design), then any problems with respect to their standing before God will be just a matter of ignorance, and can be resolved by education and good models. On the other hand, if humans are corrupt and rebellious, and thus either unwilling or unable to do what is right, a more radical transformation of the person is needed. The more severe our conception of sin, the more supernatural the salvation needed!
Sin, like death, is not an easy topic for discussion nowadays, as no-one likes to think of him or herself as a bad or evil person. However, the Bible clearly teaches us that this is what we are by nature. Sociologists, philosophers, and humanistic psychologists tell us about the goodness of human race and blame the evils of this society and the surrounding environment. In Freudian atheistic thought, guilt is understood as an irrational feeling that one must reason away and get rid of. Without a transcendent, theistic reference point, there is no one other than oneself and other humans to whom one is responsible and accountable, and accordingly, if our actions harm no humans, there is no reason to feel guilty.
Deeper yet, most people are unable to grasp the concept of SIN as an inner force, an inherent condition, or as a “law of sin.” The Bible states “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:1-2). ILLUSTRATION: Bottles/cans of beer vs. Beer Factory; Sins vs. Sin. People think more in terms of sins, as individual wrong acts, rather than as an internal evil deviation that drives people to sin.
Scriptures use different terms to describe sin:
- Hamartano (Greek) – “Missing the mark” – “a decision to fail, a voluntary and culpable mistake.” The sin is always against God, since it is failure to hit the mark He has set, His standard, of perfect love of God and perfect obedience to Him. We miss His mark and sin against God when we fail to love our brother. Sinning against one’s own body is mistreatment of God’s temple (1 Cor. 3:16-17) and therefore a sin against God.
- Asebeia – Irreligion, contrasts devotion or godliness
- Adikia (Greek) – Absence of righteousness.
- Anomia (Greek) – Lawbreaking.
- Parabasys (Greek) – Transgression.
- Apeitheia (Greek) – Rebellion.
- Apostasia (Greek) – Falling away from the faith.
- Awah (Hebrew) - Perversion, “to bend or twist.”
As we can see, sin is variously characterized in the Bible as unbelief, rebellion, perversity, missing the mark. A common element that runs through all of these varied ways of sin is the idea that the sinner has failed to fulfill God’s law. Yet sin is not merely wrong acts and thoughts, but sinfulness as well, an inherent disposition, an inclination to wrong acts and thoughts. We are not simply sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners!
Definition of Sin:
Sin is any lack of conformity, active (sins of commission) or passive (sins of omission), to the moral law of God. This may be a matter of act, of thought, or of inner disposition or state. Sin is failure to live up to what God expects of us in act, thought, or being.
Results of Sin – the impact of sin has several dimensions. There are effects on the sinner’s relationship with God and fellow humans, as well as oneself.
1. Results Affecting the Relationship with God:
- Divine disfavor – Rom. 1:18, “The wrath of God…” God is “allergic to sin.”
- Guilt – having violated God’s laws or will and thus being liable to punishment.
- Punishment – can be remedial/corrective, deterrent, or retributive
- Death – physical, spiritual, and eternal death.
2. Effects on the Sinner
- Enslavement – sin becomes a habit or an addiction; one sin leads to another. David: adultery + murder.
- Denial & declining/shifting the responsibility of sin. Adam: “The woman You put here to be with me…”
- Self-deceit: David denounced the injustice of the man in Prophet Nathan’s parable without seeing his own
- Self-centeredness: we call attention to ourselves, and to our good qualities, minimizing our shortcomings.
- Restlessness: complete satisfaction never occurs, our wants keep expanding.
3. Effects on the Relationship to Other Humans
- Competition: sin makes one increasingly self-centered and self-seeking, leading to conflict with others.
- Inability to empathize: self-centeredness keeps us from stepping into other peoples’ shoes.
- Rejection of authority: social ramification of sin.
- Inability to love: selfishness, competition, conflicts, bitterness, hatred destroys our ability to love others.
The Depth of Sin
After Fall “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time” (Gen.6:5). Scriptures attest that “There is no one who does not sin” (1 Kings 8:46; Rom. 3:9, 23). Paul underlines, “Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin” (Gal. 3:22). An incontestable proof of the universality of sin is that all persons are subject to the penalty for sin, namely DEATH.
Jesus spoke of the inward disposition of evil: it is not enough to abstain from committing adultery; if a man lusts after a woman, he has already committed adultery (Matt.5:27-28). Further, He stated, “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” Our actions are what they are because we are what we are!
Theologians talk in terms of “Total Depravity” when speaking about the extent of sin in humans. This means that sin is a matter of the entire person. It doesn’t mean that the unregenerated person is totally insensitive in matters of conscience, of right and wrong. It means that the thoughts, emotions, desire are certainly marked by sin. It is also evident that the will is also affected, as Romans describes the fallen men as “slaves to sin” (6:17). Total depravity means that sinners are completely unable to extricate themselves from their sinful condition (like one trying to pull himself up by his own shoe strings!). The sinner cannot change his life by a process of self-determination, will power, and reformation. He is “spiritual dead.” (will continue …)
