What is Sin, Anyway?
Sometimes you will hear someone refer to the Seven Deadly Sins, which are alternatively known as the capital vices or cardinal sins.
This is not to indicate that some sins lead to death and others do not. Rather, it is a system of classifying sins in order to identify sins from which others seemingly arise. Generally, the list includes wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.
Personally, I do not find the classification to be all that helpful inasmuch as (1) sins all arise from one basic root (as was previously discussed, our rebellious desire to do with God’s Image what He would not do) and (2) some are only sins because we are not God.
Let’s look at this second aspect, having already elaborated on the first. Some are only sins because we are not God.
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Wrath, as a primary example, is something God can have because He is the Creator and He is God. Wrath is God’s rightful anger and revulsion at sin. It is how God’s purity and holiness cannot accept sin or allow its presence to infiltrate His purity. For God to be pure and to be love, He must hate what is impure and hateful. To do otherwise would be sin for Him. In other words, not to have wrath…for God…would be sin. That said, God’s wrath is at sin, not at His Image present in people.
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Likewise, in the Ten Commandments, God describes Himself as a “jealous God” (Exodus 20:5) and rightfully so. He is protective of His people and desires their holiness, knowing Himself to be the One True God. For God to be nonchalant about something as critical as worship (knowing that worship of false gods harms people who have been made in His Image) would be sin. God must be a jealous God in order to be a good God. Note, however, that God isn’t jealous of other gods. He’s not jealous of…but rather jealous for…protective reasons.
Understanding that sin is the result of human rebellion and doing what God would not do with the Image of God (in which humans are made) can help us in several ways:
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First, it simplifies for us what constitutes sin and can help us to see why something as simple as gossip, for example, can be dangerous and sinful. Anything we do to our fellow man, we do to the Image of God in him or her. Hate, discrimination, rape, adultery, murder, lying, cheating, stealing, deceiving, failure to uphold our promises, abortion, homosexual expression, abuse—all of these things we do to Jesus when we do this to another person.
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This understanding helps us to be less judgmental regarding others’ behaviors because we are more likely to see that all sin is equal in its death-conveying capacity. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Leaving room for God’s judgment is clearly warranted since it is His Image that has been violated. Some sins must be punished –by earthly rulers and courts of law—in order to maintain a civil society (and Paul will address this in Romans 13). But judicial restraint is warranted with the understanding that we didn’t define what sin is to begin with.
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We are also encouraged to see the Image of God in others. This inspires us to better live out the important commandments to love God and love neighbor that Jesus says summarize the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 22:37-40). If I know that lying to one person or the nation or the world is harming the Image of God in one or many, then if I do it, it’s like I’m lying to Jesus’ face. This understanding deters me from sin and reminds me that I should tell the truth at all times.
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And it causes us to see that changing the world begins with the man or woman in the mirror. We look at the reflection of the Image of God we present; we repent of our known sins; and we allow the Holy Spirit to teach us and guide us. Stop and think about this: if each man, woman, and child came to God in full awareness of our sinful nature, repented, and sought to receive God’s forgiveness, God would forgive us and the world would be a better place. Better, but not perfect because we are prisoners of sin until Jesus returns. We cannot purify the world, but we can make it better.
What is sin, anyway?
It’s nothing less than the one deadly problem the world has had since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. For thousands of years, it has been the sole obstacle to our peace with God. It is the root of all brokenness in the world we have inherited. It is the subtle killer of the soul. It leads to both death and decay. It has polluted all mankind and nothing but the Gospel, nothing but the blood of Jesus can ever cleanse it from our souls.
What is sin, anyway?
Sin is a big problem…which is why God sent Jesus to deal with it.
Knowing the high cost of Jesus’ death as payment for our sins, we would be wise to cease diminishing sin and to recover God’s perspective on it.
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