by Sewell Hall<\/p>\n
“What happened to sin?” This question, occasionally asked these days, can be answered with another question: “Whatever happened to God?” When people lose sight of God, sin cannot be far behind.<\/p>\n
Worldly people usually have in mind some vague definition of sin. In their view murder is sin because it hurts other people. If you asked the average person to name a sinner, he might well name Saddam Hussein; look how many people he has hurt! On the other hand a psychology professor I knew insisted that sexual relations between two unmarried consenting adults are no more than a handshake if no one gets hurt.<\/p>\n
Some take another step to call things sinful if they hurt the one who does them. These days some people think of smoking as sinful because it harms the body. At the same time, drunkenness is winked at as long as one does not harm himself or drive under the influence.<\/p>\n
Things may be thought sinful once they become socially unacceptable; speaking against homosexuality is just about the most heinous sin some people can imagine. Illegal things are considered sinful if one is caught and, if not, one becomes clever. And, of course, anything that makes you feel bad about yourself is probably a sin for you.<\/p>\n
Notice that all of these involve horizontal relationships. Sin is defined in purely human terms. The only authority acknowledged is human authority. The guilt or innocence of any action is judged by its visible and foreseeable effect on people here and now. God is not in the picture.<\/p>\n
As godliness is defined, however, everything is judged in reference to God. The word sin, as used in the Bible, is “missing the mark.” Crime is missing the mark set by men: sin is missing the mark set by God (I John 3:4). Murder is sin, not because it is illegal or because it hurts someone but because God has forbidden it. The mark God has set may be missed by going beyond it (I John 5:17; II John 9) of by coming short of it (James 4:17; Romans 3:23).<\/p>\n
The act by which “sin entered into the world<\/em>” (Romans 5:12) was an act that few people in our godless age would call sin. In fact, I am asked sometimes, “What do you think that Adam and Eve really did?” Well, what they really did was eat a piece of fruit (Genesis 3:6), and it was a sin because God had forbidden it. Whether men see anything wrong in their actions is beside the point.<\/p>\n When God told Abraham to offer his son on an altar (Genesis 22:2), he would have sinned if he had failed to obey. His faith was demonstrated in his willingness to do what God said, regardless of his own human sense of right and wrong.<\/p>\n Fornication, idolatry, adultery, homosexuality, covetousness, drunkenness, and extortion were socially acceptable in Corinth, but the Holy Spirit through Paul insisted that those practicing such things would not “inherit the kingdom of God<\/em>” (I Corinthians 6:9-10). “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience<\/em>” (Ephesians 5:6).<\/p>\n Even worship can be sin if it is not what God desires (Matthew 7:21-23), and a failure to worship is also sin (James 4:17).<\/p>\n Once God is brought into the picture it becomes clear that sin is man’s greatest problem. “For the wrath of God is revealed form heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men…<\/em>” (Romans 1:18). What man on his own can escape the wrath of God? Since sin is an offense against God, only God can forgive it. And forgiving sin is not easy even for God. It cost Him the life of His Son.<\/p>\n The just penalty attached to sin by a just God is death; consequently, justice demands that the penalty be paid if sins are to be forgiven. If the sinner paid it he would be forever separated from God. But “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life<\/em>” (John 3:16). He allowed His Son to be “cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of My people, to whom the stroke was due<\/em>” (Isaiah 53:8).<\/p>\n Whenever we are tempted to sin, even in ways that the world considers innocent, we should ask with Joseph, “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?<\/em>” (Genesis 39:9). And when even the world pronounces us guilty, we still must confess to God along with David, “Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight<\/em>” (Psalms 51:4).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Sewell Hall “What happened to sin?” This question, occasionally asked these days, can be answered with another question: “Whatever happened to God?” When people lose sight of God, sin cannot be far behind. The World’s View of Sin Worldly people usually have in mind some vague definition of sin. In their view murder is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[179],"class_list":["post-54794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-sin"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":52134,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/couldnt-god-have-made-it-impossible-for-people-to-hurt-each-other\/","url_meta":{"origin":54794,"position":0},"title":"Couldn’t God have made it impossible for people to hurt each other?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: For the question of why God allows evil: Couldn't God have made it impossible to physically harm others? People are still able to go against God, but He could make it impossible for them to shoot, hurt, or do any other bad thing. Like how it's impossible for us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":48654,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-man-inherently-evil\/","url_meta":{"origin":54794,"position":1},"title":"Is man inherently evil?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I recently had some questions on man's sinful nature. I have been through a worldview curriculum that taught this. They used the books Frankenstein\u00a0(whose world view is that man is basically good),\u00a0Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde\u00a0(whose world view is that man is inherently evil and cannot change himself),\u00a0Know What\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43313,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-tell-my-friends-wife-that-he-has-been-unfaithful-after-he-has-repented-of-his-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":54794,"position":2},"title":"Should I tell my friend’s wife that he has been unfaithful after he has repented of his sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello sir, I hope that God is blessing you in what you do. I am writing you on the matter of infidelity. I am aware of a man who has been unfaithful to his significant other. This is not the first time that he has been so. The previous\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":48266,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-a-sin-to-hurt-the-earth\/","url_meta":{"origin":54794,"position":3},"title":"Is it a sin to hurt the earth?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello Mr. Hamilton, Is it a sin to hurt the earth? Are Christians supposed to take care of the earth and the environment? Answer: The difficulty in answering your question is that you are using terms that mean different things to different people. For example, it is wrong to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31326,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-a-sin-to-celebrate-the-new-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":54794,"position":4},"title":"Is it a sin to celebrate the New Year?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it wrong to celebrate January 1st as being New Year's day? I recently saw a video stating that January 1st isn't New Year's day and the video goes as far as to imply that the whole global community celebrating January 1st as New Year's is sinning. If this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20819,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-all-sins-equal-is-no-sin-greater-or-worse-than-another-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":54794,"position":5},"title":"Are all sins equal? Is no sin greater or worse than another sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have heard sin is sin and no sin is greater, heavier, or worse than the other.\u00a0 Is this scriptural, if so where is this found, or is this old hearsay? Answer: If you are looking at it from the ultimate result of unrepented sin, all sins lead to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54794\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}God and Sin<\/h2>\n