What is Sin?

Sin is disobedience to God.  It is doing what God forbids or not doing what God commands.  Sin is doing nothing when God commands us to obey.  The Bible says, “Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (James 4:17).  It is also substituting something else for what God tells us to do.  It could be doing less than God commands, i.e., subtracting from his commands.  It could be doing more than God commands, i.e., adding to his commands (Revelation 22:18-19).  Sin is doing our will instead of God’s will.  It is pride that puts ourselves above God and makes a god of ourselves.   

Who is a sinner?  Anyone that disobeys the laws of God, The Bible says that all accountable persons have sinned.    

 None is righteous, no, not one;
11     no one understands;
    no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
    no one does good,
    not even one. (Romans 3:10-12) 

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (3:23)  

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. (Ecclesiastes 7:20) 

 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8) 

If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1:10) 

Are you a sinner?  Do these verses apply to you?  If you have ever disobeyed God, then unfortunately you – like all of us – are a sinner.  Have you ever put yourself, another person, or something ahead of God?  If so, then you are a sinner.  And we haven’t even yet considered the commands forbidding adultery, murder, stealing, lying, coveting, or the positive command to honor our parents.  If you have ever disobeyed God in any of these, then you are a sinner.   

One command that we have all disobeyed is, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:36-38).    Ask yourself: “Have I totally and completely loved God with all my heart, soul and mind?”  Any honest person will surely admit that they have not.  That makes us all self-condemned sinners. 

So what does that mean about our relationship with God?  It means that because of our sins that we are separated from God.  God says, “Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you” (Isaiah 59:1-2).  Sinners are called enemies of God because they love what God hates and they hate what God loves (Romans 5:8-10; James 4:4).  Sin carries a price tag and that price tag is death (Romans 6:23).  Jesus said that if we die in our sins we cannot go to heaven (John 8:21-24).  The Apostle Paul names some sins of the flesh and says that those who practice these things cannot inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:17-19).  Jesus says,  

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)   

The good news is that God has made a way, through Jesus, for our sins to be forgiven!