I. WHAT SIN IS, A DEFINITION

A BIBLICAL CONCEPT OF SIN: There are eight (8) basic words for sin in the Old Testament and a dozen (12) in the New Testament.

A. Old Testament Words for Sin

1. "Chata", used 522 times. Its basic meaning is to miss the mark, but missing means to hit another mark or hitting the wrong mark. It does not only have a passive idea of missing, but also am active one of hitting. It is used of moral evil, idolatry, and ceremonial sins. Equivalent to the Greek "hamartano" (Exodus 20:20; Judges 20:16; Proverbs 8:36; 19:2).

2. "Ra", used 444 times. Its basic meaning of breaking up or ruin, often means calamities and is translated as the word "wicked" many times. Equivalent to the Greek "kakos" or "poneros" (Genesis 3:5; 38:7; Judges 11:27).

3. "Pasha". Its basic meaning is to rebel, usually translated "transgression." (I Kings 12:19; II Kings 3:5; Proverbs 28:21; Isaiah 1:2).

4. "Awon". Includes the ideas of iniquity and guilt (I Samuel 3:13). Used with the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53:6) and with defiant sin (Numbers 15:30-31).

5. "Shagag" means to err or go astray as a sheep or a drunkard (Isaiah 28:7), implying their responsibility for knowing what the Law commanded.

6. "Asham". It designates the guilt and sin offerings, thus including both intentional and unintentional guilt (Leviticus 4:2; Numbers 15:22).

7. "Rasha" is used frequently in the Psalms, Ezekiel and Wisdom literature. It means wicked or the opposite of righteous (Exodus 2:13; Psalm 9:16; Proverbs 15:9; Ezekiel 18:23).

8. "Taah" means to wonder away, to go astray by deliberate choice even though the person may not realize the extent of his sin (Numbers 15:22; Psalm 58:3; 119:21; Isaiah 53:6; Ezekiel 44:10,15).

B. New Testament Words for Sin

1. "Kakos". The adverb is sometimes used of physical disease, but the adjective usually indicates moral badness (Matthew 21:41; 24:48; Mark 7:21; Acts 9:13; Romans 12:17; 13:3-4,10; 16:19; I Timothy 6:10).

2. "Poneros" is a basic term for evil and almost always indicates moral evil (Matthew 7:11; 12:39; Acts 17:5; Romans 12:9; I Thessalonians 5:22; Hebrews 3:12; II John 11). It is also used of Satan (Matthew 13:19,38; I John 2:13-14; 5:18) and of demons who are called evil spirits (Luke 11:26; Acts 19:12).

3. "Asebes" means godless. Used of sin (Romans 1:18; I Timothy 1:9; I Peter 4:18), godless apostles, and the unsaved as being ungodly (Romans 4:5; 5:6).

4. "Enochos" means guilty and usually denotes someone whose crime is worthy of death (Matthew 5:21-22; Mark 14:64; I Corinthians 11:27; James 2:10).

5. "Hamartia", used 227 times. The metaphor behind the word is missing the mark and includes the idea of hitting the wrong mark.

6. "Adikia" refers to any unrighteous conduct in the broadest sense. Used of unsaved people (Romans 1:18), of money (Luke 16:9), of parts of the human body (Romans 6:13; James 3:6), and of actions (II Thessalonians 2:10).

7. "Anomos" means lawless, breaking the law, and often interpreted "iniquity" (Matthew 13:41; 24:12; I Timothy 1:9). Used to refer to the Antichrist (II Thessalonians 2:8).

8. "Parabates" means transgressor, usually relating to specific violations of the law (Romans 2:23; 5:14; Galatians 3:19; Hebrews 9:15).

9. "Agnoein" refers to ignorant worship of other than the true God (Acts 13:27; Romans 2:4), but such ignorance makes one guilty and in need of atonement (Hebrews 9:7).

10. "Planao" means to be led astray by deception (I Peter 2:25) or to lead someone else away by deception or seduction (Matthew 24:5-6) or to be self deceived (I John 1:8). Satan leads the whole world astray (Revelation 12:9; 20:3,8).

11. "Paraptoma" is a deliberate falling away (Romans 5:15-20; Matthew 6:14; 18:35; II Corinthians 5:19; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:1; James 5:16).

12. "Hypocrisis" incorporates three ideas: 1) to interpret falsely as an oracle might do; 2) to pretend as an actor does; 3) to follow an interpretation known to be false (Galatians 2:11-21; I Timothy 4:2). Hypocrites first deceive themselves into making wrong right; then deceive others. This is the terrible nature of sin.

C. Missing the Mark

Sin is missing the mark of the character of God, but also a hitting of a secondary mark. Sin is not an act of omission as much as an act of willful and deliberate commission. Romans 1:18-32 clearly states that all men "knew God" but "glorified him not as God"; but instead knowingly suppressed the truth in unrighteousness, changed the glory of God into an image, changed the truth of God into a lie; who chose to not "retain God in their knowledge" with the consequence that God gave them over to a reprobate mind. Sin is lodged within the moral character and nature of man, issuing forth in unrighteous conduct.

D. Intentional/Unintentional Sin

Sin begins as intentional and when the conscious is dulled it becomes unintentional, meaning preformed without thought as though it where the "natural" thing to do. Sin is always traced back to Adam's and the individual's deliberate choice, thus guilt is always accredited to the individual.

E. Chief Characteristic of Sin

The chief characteristic of sin is that it is directed against God. Any doctrine of sin that does not reflect this is not a true Biblical doctrine. The cliche' that categorizes sins as against self, against others, or against God fails to emphasize the truth that ALL sin is ultimately against God.

II. SOURCES OF SIN

A. Satan is called the ruler of this world or age. He is the deceiver and the father of lies. Satan is a real person.

B. The world of which Satan is the god of. Satan has perverted the world system which now stands in opposition to the Kingdom of God. This world system is a source of sin when anyone conforms to it (John 15:18-19).

C. "The heart (of man) is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?", Jeremiah 17:9. Jesus even referred to His disciples as being evil (Luke 11:13).

III. WHERE DID SIN COME FROM

Ezekiel 28:11-19 Lucifer brings sin into the universe.
Romans 5:12-19 Adam brought sin and death to the human race.
Genesis 3:1-7 Sin entered the human race through DECEPTION and DISOBEDIENCE, motivated by UNBELIEF.

IV. THE REALITY OF SIN

A. SCRIPTURE DECLARES that ALL HAVE SINNED AND COME SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD (Romans 3:23). Scripture has concluded that ALL are under sin (Galatians 3:22).

B. NATURE PROCLAIMS THE FACT OF SIN as the whole creation groans and travails in pain (Romans 8:22).

C. LAW PROCLAIMS THE FACT OF SIN for by the law comes knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20; 7:7).

D. EXPERIENCE PROVES THE FACT OF SIN. The experiences of Abraham, Moses, David, Peter and other persons of scripture as well as our own personal experience. Modern psychology attempts to dissuade people of the concept of sin and the accompanying guilt, without success; they also do not have an answer for the inherent evil displayed by the very man they have claimed to be inherently good!

E. MAN CONFESSES THE FACT OF SIN.

1. The "righteous" saints have owned up to it. Isaiah said, "Woe is me for I am undone." Peter stated, "I am a sinful man." Paul said, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief."

2. Sinners have owned up to it. Pharaoh declared, "I have sinned this time," (Exodus 9:27). Balaam said, "I have sinned," (Numbers 22:34). Judas said, "I have sinned," (Matthew 27:4).

3. It should be noted that it is NOT the confession of sin that saves, but the confession of Jesus Christ!

V. THE UNIVERSALITY OF SIN

Jesus said, "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments" (Matthew 19:17). Only God is good. Sin alienates people from God, and all are sinners. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

VI. DOCTRINE OF ORIGINAL SIN

A. The Bible speaks very strongly that all aspects of man's being are corrupt. Ephesians 2:3 says that we "were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." By our individual acts we deserve the wrath of God, yet Ephesians speaks of something innate in our very nature. Psalm 51:5 cries "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me."

B. Every facet of man's nature is affected by this sin nature.

1) His intellect is blinded (II Corinthians 4:4). His mind is reprobate (Romans 1:28). His understanding is darkened, separated from the life of God (Ephesians 4:18).

2) His emotions are degraded and defiled (Romans 1:21,24,26; Titus 1:15).

3) His will is enslaved to sin and therefore stands in opposition to God (Romans 6:20; 7:20).

1. The "Realistic Theory" was developed by Tertullian, Augustine, and Anselm. This stressed the actual imputation of original sin upon the human race through natural regeneration (Traducianism). Johnathan Edwards of New England adopted the Realistic Theory; through his natural connection with Adam man inherits moral depravity, and this is imputed to him as guilt and makes him worthy of condemnation.

2. The "Covenant Theory" or "Federal Theory" or "Representative Theory" was first introduced by the Reformers. This theory emphasized the fact that Adam was not only the natural head of the human race, but also its federal representative (the moral and legal representative of all his descendants); and that consequently his first sin is imputed as guilt to all his descendants. And because all are guilty in Adam, they are also born in a polluted condition.

3. The Arminians took practically the same position as Semi-Pelagianism, that the guilt of Adam's sin proper is not passed on, but has polluted mankind as a disease or weakness. They believed that the Holy Spirit gives to all men sufficient grace to counteract the effect of the inherited depravity and to enable them to co-operate with the Spirit of God in regeneration. If some are not born again, it must be due to the failure of the human will to co-operate with the divine.

VII. DOCTRINAL HISTORY

A. Divergences of the Eastern & Western churches:

1) The GREEKS believed that the will of man was subordinate to intellect. Whatever a man thinks he is also able to will.

2) The ROMANS assign an independent position to the will.

C. In the West, Ambrose (d. 397) drew from Tertullian, who believed that in Adam's disobedience the entire race of mankind had become disobedient, who initiated a doctrine of ORIGINAL SIN. Ambrose placed the responsibility for evil deeds, sin, upon man's free will; but Ambrose was dominated with the idea that sin is an attribute which belongs to us from our conception through the fall of Adam, and we, being from the outset sinful, must sin even when for the time we desire not to sin: For in Adam all die. Ambrose stated that, "We are conceived, therefore, in the sin of our parents and in their faults we are born." Ambrose taught the propagation of Adam's sin; but there is not the idea of the imputation of Adam's guilt to the race sprung from him. Ambrose recognized a physical, but not a moral, original sin.

D. Pelagianism was rejected at the Council of Ephesus in 431. Pelagius, a British monk, said God has commanded man to do that which is good, he must therefore have the ability to do it. This is to say that MAN IS FREE. He believed that freedom of the will "consists in the possibility of committing sin or of abstaining from sin." It follows therefore, that there is no such thing as a moral development of the individual. Good and evil are located in the separate acts of men. The separate works decide whether a man is good or evil. It thus becomes possible for one to live a holy life without the help of God. A "natural goodness" means that man has no innate sinfulness. Thus they believed in man's inherent goodness!

Pelagius' doctrine of sin is that sin consists ONLY in the separate acts of the will. There is no such thing as a sinful character or sinful nature. Otherwise, sin would not be sin because it could not be avoided; and God could not charge sin to our account as guilt and punish it. Since sin cannot have been created by God, it is not a thing, but an act. Sin is a fault not of nature, but of the will. This peculiar nature of man, the justice of God, and the reality of sin forbid a concept of "original sin." An "original sin" does not allow a deliverance from it since it would be a part of our nature! It was held that Adam's death was not a punishment for sin, but only conformity to a law of nature. Sin becomes only an act of disobedience with only temporary significance which lasts only until conversion.

Pelagius explains the UNIVERSALITY OF SIN as being attributed to the "long practice of sinning and the long habit of vices." The FINAL CONCLUSION is that there really are no "sinners,' but only separate wicked acts; nothing more is needed on man's part than the effort to perform separate good deeds. It becomes affirmed that "our victory is not from the assistance of God, but from our free will." Grace is seen as nothing more than the endowment of man with reason and free will (the possibility of doing good or evil). When ignorance and the habit of sinning gained the upper hand among men, God gave the law and when the law proved too weak to break the power of evil habit, God gave the TEACHINGS and EXAMPLE of Christ. They see the assistance of God only as instruction. Christ is "a Christian in whom are to be found those three things which ought to be in all Christians: knowledge, faith and obedience - knowledge, by which God is known; faith, by which (our) acceptance is believed; obedience, by which the compliance of servitude is rendered to the one believed."

Pelagius was condemned as a heretic.

E. Semi-Pelagianism attempted a compromise between Pelagius and Augustine. They rejected the concept of "Original Sin" as conceived by Augustine. They maintain that the guilt of Adam's sin is not passed on to his descendants, but the pollution is passed on from father to son. This pollution is not sin in the proper sense of the word but is only a disease or a weakness. Semi-Pelagianism was also condemned with the Decrees of Orange in 530 or 531.

F. AUGUSTINE (354-439) defended against Pelagianism, asserting that the human race is a "mass of sin", that not even new born children are free from original sin, and that "lust comes from a perverse will". The law convicts man of sin, but does nothing toward releasing men from their sinful state; thus we need God's grace. It is the grace of God that gives us a will to do good. Augustine also believed that the capacity for fallen man to strive after salvation remained in the mercy and good pleasure of the will of God (Predestination).

Augustine sees evil not as a substance, for God has created all things that exist to be pure and good, but as a lack of existence. Evil has its basis, not in God, but in free will: "the perversity of a will turned away from God," "The evil will (sensuous desire and appetites) is the source of all evil." Thus grace becomes regarded as a creative act of God transforming the evil will through the inbreathing of a good will. Grace is seen not as an establishment of a personal communion with God, but as a creative act which infuses into man a new substance, the moral will.

G. In general the church leaders remained true to the most practical part of Augustinianism for the next two or three centuries. The Augustinian doctrine of salvation by grace was victorious, but the doctrine of the irresistible grace of predestination was supplanted by that of the sacramental grace of baptism. The doctrine of a double predestination was abandoned in 529.

Roman Catholics reject the idea of man's spiritual impotence and his utter dependence on the grace of God for renewal. They believe that man co-operates with God in the spiritual renewal of the soul. In the days of the Reformation the view of the Reformers regarding man's regeneration were opposed with greater violence and force than any other doctrine.

Augustine learned to lay hold upon the grace of God because it overcame his unwillingness to lead a Christian life. Thus he held an emphasis upon God's will upon our lives, to destroy or overcome our evil will which is inherited through Adam's sin.

H. The Reformers:

The Reformers saw mankind, as a result of the fall, totally depraved, incapable of doing any spiritual good, and therefore unable to make the least advance toward his recovery. This made it necessary that the Reformers should be strict predestinarians.

1. Luther learned to lay hold upon the assurance of faith, thus to Luther the original sin is unbelief. Original sin has corrupted the very nature of man which weakens the memory, the understanding and the will of man. Luther emphasizes the spiritual, moral side of sin. This is the old man, "which absolutely does not love God, nor fervently hunger and thirst (for him), but thinks to find full satisfaction for mind and spirit in created things." Luther sees sin as the despising of God, disobeying God's will; but above all, UNBELIEF. "The chief righteousness is faith; again, the chief wickedness is unbelief."

Luther saw the consequence of natural depravity being the bondage of the will. A non-Christian is free ONLY to do the will of the devil, not even to repent. Thus Luther sees a double predestination. He proved that free will was inconceivable, and that grace was the sole agency in conversion. (History of Doctrines II, Pages 229, 242, 243)

2. Calvin saw original sin as disobedience. Original sin is defined as "the hereditary depravity and corruption of our nature...which first makes us subject to the wrath of God, then also produces in us works which the Scriptures call works of the flesh." He sees the cause of sin "not in the substance of the flesh, nor in that of the soul; but because it has been thus ordained by God." In Calvin's double predestination he sees Adam's fall as being predestined by God, yet Adam fell by his own fault. (History of Doctrines II, Pages 398, 406) It is also generally held that Adam's sin has been imputed to man who also participates in the guilt of that sin. Man does not have the power to save himself, thus the need of our Savior Jesus Christ.

VIII. CONSEQUENCES OF SIN

A. The NATURAL penalty of sin is 3D: disease, disappointment and death.

B. The ETERNAL penalty of sin is death. Death never means "annihilation"!

1. SPIRITUAL DEATH (I Timothy 5:6) is being dead while you are living.

2. ETERNAL DEATH (II Thessalonians 1:7,8,9) is to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. Also see Revelation 19:20; 20:14-15.

The penalty of sin is death! Spiritual death is passed from Adam to all men! Spiritual death is the separation of man from the Life (Zoe) of God in this present life. If this condition continues unchanged throughout man's natural life, then eternal death or the second death follows.

The unbeliever who dies without the forgiveness of his sins must suffer eternal torment in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15).

Some say the words "everlasting" and "eternal" mean "a long life, an age, age lasting". In other words, they say that unbelievers will endure hell for only an age and after "purification" they shall enjoy eternal bliss with the saints of God. If hell and punishment are not forever, then there is also no such thing as eternal salvation or life, for the same word is used; as in Hebrews 9:14 God is eternal unchangeable, so is salvation, so is punishment.

IX. THREE BASIC IMPUTATIONS

A. THE IMPUTATION OF ADAM'S SIN TO THE RACE (Romans 5:12-21).

B. THE IMPUTATION OF MAN'S SIN TO CHRIST (II Corinthians 5:19; I Peter 2:24).

C. THE IMPUTATION OF CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS TO BELIEVERS (II Corinthians 5:21).

X. THE DOCTRINE OF SIN TODAY...

List some of the current conceptions of sin...

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