Synopsis: Sin

Sinful thoughts and practices originate in man’s corrupt mind (or heart). Sin is not only deliberate
wrongdoing. All kind of wrongdoing is sin; including the failure to do the good that we ought to do. All
coming short of God’s righteous requirements or demands is sin. This includes failure to observe
God’s moral standards. It includes mistakes and errors. It includes deliberately transgressing (i.e.
overstepping the bounds of) God’s standard of righteousness. Sin also includes iniquity, or the wilful
and deliberate practice of sin, or the practice of particularly evil or heinous acts. Again, sin includes
lawlessness or disregard for both the civil law and God’s law; and it includes unrighteousness or a
general disregard for moral order or decency. All forms of sin incur guilt, making men justly liable to
punishment. The penalty of sin is death—spiritual, physical, and eternal death. Excepting Christ alone,
every human being is guilty of sin—in thought, attitude, word, and deed.
Note 1
No-one is Righteous
Sinful thoughts and sinful behaviour—which are common to all humanity—are part of man’s fallen human
nature. Because of the Fall, everyone has inherited from Adam a depraved (totally corrupted) and
morally polluted nature. No one is righteous: not even one person. In saying that everyone is depraved
or morally polluted by the Fall, this is not to imply that everyone is thoroughly sinful or as bad as it is
possible to be. Clearly, this is not the case; nor does God’s Word teach otherwise. Every one of us,
however, has a polluted and sinful nature; and from that nature, and to varying degrees, everyone
commits different sinful acts, they indulge in sinful thoughts, and they engage in sinful speech. Thus,
everyone is unrighteous in God’s eyes, and stands justly condemned by God’s holy and righteous law.
Scripture References
Romans 3:10-18
(10) As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
(11) There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
(12) They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable;
there is none that doeth good, no, not one. {Psalms 14:1-3; 53:1-3; Eccles.
7:20}
(13) Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit;
the poison of asps is under their lips: {Psalm 5:9; Psalm 140:3}
(14) Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: {Psalm 10:7}
(15) Their feet are swift to shed blood:
(16) Destruction and misery are in their ways:
(17) And the way of peace have they not known: {Isaiah 59:7,8}
(18) There is no fear of God before their eyes. {Psalm 36:1}
Bible Truths Explained: Sin
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Mark 7:20-23
(20) And he [Jesus] said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the
man. (21) For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts,
adulteries, fornications, murders, (22) Thefts, covetousness, wickedness,
deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: (23) All
these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
Note 2
Born in Sin
Everyone born into the world in the usual way (i.e. by natural procreation), is born with the guilt and pollution
of original sin, and with an inherently corrupt nature. This is not to imply that there is anything sinful
with natural relations, or with conception or birth. Clearly, these are God-given functions and gifts, to
be used lovingly and honourably. When the Bible says that everyone is born in sin, it means that he or
she has been born with a sinful nature and with an inward disposition or tendency to sin. This disposition
to sin results from the fallen and corrupt nature that Adam transmitted to all humanity because of
his sin and rebellion against God. God does not hold Adam and Eve’s descendants personally responsible
for their first parent’s actual and specific sin. Nonetheless, all mankind shares in the penalty and
consequences of that sin. The consequences includes the corruption of nature that their first parents
brought upon themselves.
Scripture References
Genesis 8:21
(21) And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I
will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination
of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any
more every thing living, as I have done.
Job 15:14
(14) What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman,
that he should be righteous?
Psalms 51:5
(5) Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Psalms 58:3
(3) The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they
be born, speaking lies.
Note 3
Under God’s Wrath
Unless a person is regenerated (i.e. born again of God’s Holy Spirit), and justified (or declared righteous),
that person remains under the just condemnation of God. The wrath of God abides on him, together
with the curse of the law. This is the penalty for that person’s sin, and for the fact that he
remains an enemy of God. He remains God’s enemy because of his sin, and because of his rejection
of—or failure to acknowledge—the truth, and to seek God’s mercy. So long, therefore, as he remains
alienated from God, and dead in trespasses and sins, that person remains under God’s righteous
wrath and judgment.
Scripture References
John 3:18
Bible Truths Explained: Sin
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(18) He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God.
John 3:36
(36) He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth
not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Romans 1:18
(18) For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Romans 2:5
(5) But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself
wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of
God;
Note 4
No Forgiveness without Atonement
God will not forgive sin on the grounds of a person’s (supposedly) good character or good works. God
will forgive sin only on the grounds of the perfect character and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in
virtue of his substitutionary and atoning sacrifice. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness
of sin. Only a life lived in perfect obedience to God is acceptable to God. Christ lived that kind of
life for all who would believe on him. The Lord Jesus thereby satisfied God’s demands on his people
for a life of perfect obedience to him. Only a perfect, unblemished life is acceptable to God as an atoning
sacrifice for sin. Christ had no sins of his own for which to atone. However, the holy Son of God
voluntarily laid down his perfect, spotless life to make atonement for repentant and believing sinners.
Scripture References
Leviticus 17:11
(11) For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the
altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh
an atonement for the soul.
Hebrews 9:22
(22) And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding
of blood is no remission.
Romans 3:25
(25) Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through
the forbearance of God;
1 Peter 1:18-19
(18) Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things,
as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from
your fathers; (19) But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot: