Sin in Scripture

What is considered sin in scripture? In 1 John 3:4, it clearly explains “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. Although believers in the Old Testament acknowledged God’s sovereignty and swore to uphold all the commands given to them, they eventually fell to their own greed and arrogance. While they praised God with their mouths, their hearts were turned far from Him as shown through their blatant disobedience. As mentioned in Romans 2:5-11, God will judge individuals according to their own deeds. Therefore, each person is responsible for their own choices and actions. To avoid God’s wrath, a believer is to understand God’s commands which make known right from wrong, and then align their heart and mind to obey and do what is right.

Furthermore, believers  today must also understand the consequence of sinning. In James 1:14-15, it mentions that evil desire leads to sin which gives birth to death. While we may have evil, earthly thoughts within our mind, we still have an opportunity to change these thoughts before they lead to a sinful action. For example, if a brother was angry at his little sister for taking his toy, he could have the desire to yell hateful things at her. If he carries that desire into an action then it would be considered a sin, however, if he resolves his anger against her and does not yell at her then he has successfully avoided sinning. Yet, for us to avoid disobeying God, we must first know His commands so we may be in obedience with the Word and be acknowledged by God. 

Within the Bible’s history, there are three types of sin: original, inherited, and individual sin. To understand them more in depth to ensure we are not committing these sins then please read on….

Original Sin

The Original SIn is referring to the first sin of mankind which is found within Genesis at the time of Adam and Eve. After their creation, Adam and Eve were given two duties: to tend to the garden and to not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:15-17). However, in Genesis 3, there is the Fall of Man as Eve is deceived by the serpent and eats from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil resulting in the death of not only her spirit but also Adam’s spirit as he had also disobeyed.Cast out of the garden, they no longer belonged to God because they chose to follow Satan’s lies rather than God’s commands. As Adam is considered the “First Man”, all those who came after him were then subject to death just as he was: “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—” (Romans 5:12). 

As previously stated, those who are under sin are under the burden of death and decay, therefore, even those who die young and have not committed a sinful act are still under sin because of Adam’s original sin. While it seems unfair for all of humankind to be subject to death based on one man’s mistake, we should not be so quick to blame God as it is the devil who deceived Adam and Eve, and all the world is under his domain (1 John 5:19). Before we become discouraged, we must remember Jesus Christ’s sacrifice because he bore our sins so that we would no longer have to be bound by death but instead have a way to atone for sin and reconnect back to God, to life. 

Inherited Sin

You may have heard of the phrase, “the sins of the Father”. This quote originates from the Bible, for in Numbers 14:18, it mentions how God does not leave the guilty unpunished and “he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation”. Initially, we may cry, “Injustice!” as from first glance, it makes no sense in our eyes. However, this form of punishment was instilled with the intention of deterring humankind from sinning against God as they were expected to have compassion in their heart to not sin to protect their children and children’s children. Yet, if we read through the history of the Bible, we soon see God’s people are constantly continuing the cycle of disobedience as they choose their own desires over God’s grace and truth. As a result of their endless pursuit of meaningless earthly things, God decides to get rid of “inherited sin” and by Deuteronomy 24:16, “Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.” From that point forward, people would be responsible for their own actions.

Individual Sin

Aforementioned, individual sin refers to an individual person’s disobedience toward God and that they will be held responsible for their own words and actions. As mentioned in Romans 2:6, “God “will repay each person according to what they have done” therefore, it is important to grow in awareness of our spiritual condition so as not to be led astray by temptation. Examples of individual sin are contained within Colossians 3:5 as it lists them as “whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” As we live in a world that is under the Devil’s control, we are surrounded by temptation, yet we need not fall into despair as we know Jesus atoned us of our sins through bearing the cross. In John 15:3, Jesus told his disciples they were “clean” because of the words he had spoken to them, furthermore, in John 5:24 if a believer hears the word and believes in Jesus will not be condemned. If we perceive the grace of God who willingly gave His only son to be sacrificed for His people today, then we will show our love and gratitude to God through our obedience to His commands. For as much as He has been faithful to us, we must also be faithful in keeping our promise with Him (Hebrews 8:10-12).