What is Sin?
by Barry James Moore
Friday, September 7, 2007 [updated July 7, 2009]
I have done Bible study on the issue of sin and Overcoming the Sin Nature and I am convinced that sin, at its root, is based on the lie that Satan told Eve in the Garden of Eden, "You will be like God."
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Satan (the serpent) speaking to Eve in the Garden of Eden:
"For God knows that in the day you eat from [the tree which is in the middle of the garden] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:5 (New American Standard Bible)
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We all set out with that same god-like attitude that "I am number one." If we consider ourselves as number one, setting ourselves up as god within our own domain, then we are, in fact, breaking the commandment, "You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3).
In the song I Can't Even Walk, the writers, Colbert and Joyce Croft, write "I thought that number one would surely be me." This is an attitude that is prevalent in all of humanity, including the church.
Here are partial lyrics of the song I Can't Even Walk:
I thought number one would surely be me.
I thought I could be what I wanted to be.
I thought I could build on life's sinking sand.
I thought I could do a lot on my own.
I thought I could make it all alone.
I thought of myself as a mighty big man.
But, I can't even walk without [Christ] holding my hand.
Click here for the rest of the lyrics and a video in a new window.
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When self takes control, then we act toward others in unloving ways and fail God's Commandment to Love one another. In my page on The Law of Love I write about the Ten Commandments being based on Love. In a sense there is only one Commandment, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." If I follow that one, I will follow them all. I must recognize that it is God, and not me, Who is number one.
Sin is, therefore, when we look to satisfy self and in doing so we fail to Love others. It is when anyone, takes from, uses or harms another person, for selfish gratification of any type. Whether or not I act on the thoughts and desires, sin is when I think that I am god and I allow my selfish desires to override God or any other person.
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"What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy." Acts 10:15 (New American Standard Bible)
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Be sure to watch and listen to the video below, featuring Malcolm Smith. As Malcolm states in the video, "In so many places today, sin is defined in the most trivial fashion, In fact I'll go so far as to say, the way many in the church define sin, is sin in itself. To define sin in these trivial little behaviors, these trivial little physical habits and say that's sin — no, sin is a matter of heart; sin is a matter of a mind that has been alienated from God — a mind that refuses to think the thoughts of God — it's in a will that refuses to be aligned to the purpose of God."
