Q16 – What is Sin?

by | Apr 17, 2019 | QnA

Q16: What is sin?  

A: Sin is rejecting or ignoring God in the world he created, rebelling against him by living without reference to him, not being or doing what he requires in his law—resulting in our death and the disintegration of all creation. 

Scripture Reference  
1 John 3:4 “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.” 

The Vertical Truth in Faith – What does this truth mean in my relationship with God? 

Sin is mentioned over 400 times in the bible, which reveals it as one of the most important topics that God shares with us. In fact, you would have a hard time explaining Jesus to someone without talking about sin – that’s how important it is. Here’s an easy way to think about our relationship with God in relation to sin: 

  1. Our relationship with God is founded upon the fact that we are sinners. This is the first part of understanding who we are, and who we are to God. 
  2. Jesus never sinned. He holds out his hand to us and says follow me. When we give him our heart, and place our hand in his, we become like him in the eyes of God. 
  3. What’s beautiful about the Gospel, is that when God looks at us, as we hold on to Jesus, He sees him. We are now grouped with Jesus, freed from the penalty of sin, which is everlasting separation from God (aka: Hell).  
  • Romans 3:22-24 “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 
  • Luke 9:23-24 “Then Jesus said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” 

The Horizontal Truth in Love – What does this truth mean in my relationship with humanity? 

A quick search on Google Trends will reveal that for the majority of the world, death is a topic everyone is looking into. The topics of sin and repentance rank among the lowest searched. This is good, on the one hand, for us who desire to see people in a relationship with Christ, because it gives us an opportunity to explain what sin and repentance mean. It’s also bad because it means that people have no basis of understanding these topics. It’s time to let your light shine! Your relationship with your friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors is the most important part of your life as you live it for Christ. They need to know who you are in relation to God, and then they need to understand their standing before Him. You are the key in the transformation of people’s ideas about sin, death, repentance, forgiveness, and life…because they aren’t looking into it for themselves.  

  • 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 “As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says, ‘In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” 

Practical Truth in Action – How can I put this truth into action? 

For yourself:  

Take time to reflect and remember who you are in Christ. You are no longer viewed behind a veil of sin and shame. You are a new creation, a child of the Most High God. You will be His forever, and no one can take that from you. 

For others:  

As you live your life from day to day, take notice of the people God is placing all around you. He has them in your life for a reason, and that reason is to be the light of Christ who defeated death and offers that same victory to anyone who will come to him. You can offer it, too, but you have to make the first move. 

  • John 6:37 “All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” 
  • 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.”