SIN
What is sin? Where did it come from? Did God create sin? What is the penalty of sin? Is punishment for sin everlasting? Why did God allow sin to enter the world? These questions and more are explained in God's Word. However, God did not explain why He allowed sin to enter the world. Some teach that sin is eternal but sin had a beginning as we will see and is not eternal. The Bible teaches us that sin had a beginning. We know there was no sin before Lucifer sinned and became the Devil, or Satan. It was Lucifer that brought sin into the universe, and this is explained in Ezekiel 28:16-17. This was the first sin in the universe and occurred when Lucifer chose his will over God's will and desired to be equal with God.
After Lucifer sinned, he was referred to as the Devil or Satan, and he introduced sin into the human race. We know that Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden when Satan came to Eve and tempted her. She ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the midst of the garden, and this had been forbidden to her and Adam, (Genesis 2:16-17). Then Eve gave the fruit to Adam, who also ate, Genesis 3:1-6. We see that sin entered the world by one man (Adam)and because of that sin, death passed upon all men, for all have sinned, Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:22. The sin of Adam is also imputed to all mankind, Romans 5:12; 5:18. One might ask why God allowed man to sin. God did not explain, but it appears the only possible answer is, to show the ". . . exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus", Ephesians 2:7.
So what, exactly, is sin? There are two words in the Greek New Testament that we can use to help us define sin. First is the Greek word, "Hamartema, which means to miss the mark. This is our attitudes or actions that miss the mark, Romans 3:23. The other is "Parabasis", which means to overstep a forbidden line. Sin occurs here where one intentionally, or unintentionally, steps over a line drawn by God, 1 John 3:4; James 2:11; Acts 1:25.
- disobedience, a lack of response to God, Ephesians 2:2; Ephesians 5:6; John 3:36.
- transgression of God's law, 1 John 3:4; Numbers 15:30; 15:27.
- missing the Mark and coming short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23.
- rebellion against God, Isaiah 1:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:4, 8; 1 Samuel 15:22.
- unbelief, if you are not a believer you are a sinner, John 3:18; 1 John 5:10.
- ungodliness, Romans 4:5; 5:6; 1 Timothy 1:9; 2 Peter 2:5, 7; 1 Peter 4:18; Jude 1:4; 1:15.
- iniquity, Galatians 5:19-21; Colossians 3:5-6.
- any unrighteousness, 1 John 5:17; 1 John 3:4.
- a debt, Matthew 6:12; Luke 11:4; Luke 17:10 ("duty" indicating a debt); John 13:14 ("ought" indicating a debt); 2 Thessalonians 2:13 ("bound" indicating a debt).
- failure to love God, Deuteronomy 6:5.
- injustice toward man, Leviticus 19:13.
- a failure to love your neighbor as yourself, Galatians 5:14; Leviticus 19:18.
- selfishness, Matthew 16:26.
- corruption, Psalms 51:5
- whatever is done that is not of faith, Romans 14:23.
- Unbelief, if you are not a believer you are a sinner, John 3:18; 1 John 5:10.
- There is no one that hasn't sinned, 1 Kings 8:46.
- No one is pure from sin, Proverbs 20:9.
- Man's heart is desperately wicked, Jeremiah 17:9.
- There is not a just man on earth that does not sin, Ecclesiastes 7:20.
- We are all unclean and our righteousness is as filthy rags, Isaiah 64:6.
- All of us have sinned, Romans 3:23.
- Even the scripture concludes that we are all under sin, Galatians 3:22.
- If we say we have no sin, the truth is not in us and we deceive ourselves, 1 John 1:8.
- If we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar, and His Word is not in us, 1 John 1:10.
- brings death, Ezekiel 18:4.
- causes us to go astray, Isaiah 53:6.
- deceives the heart, Jeremiah 17:9.
- closes our eyes and dulls our hearing, Acts 28:27.
- defiles our tongue, Romans 3:13-14.
- darkens our understanding and blinds our heart, Ephesians 4:18.
- blinds us to the things of God, 1 Corinthians 2:14.
What Happens When a Believer Sins
- a loss of joy, John 15:11; Galatians 5:22; 1 John 1:4; Psalms 51:12.
- a loss of fellowship, 1 John 1:3, 6, 7.
- a loss of confidence 1 John 3:21.
- a possible loss of health and physical life, 1 Corinthians 11:28-31.
The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death, Romans 6:23. The death spoken of here is the second death. There are two deaths, one death for believers and two for unbelievers. In the Bible, death never means annihilation, as some falsely teach. At death, the first death, there is a separation of the soul and spirit from the body, Genesis 35:18. Paul said, in 2 Corinthians 5:8, that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. For believers, the first and only death, the soul and spirit are separated from the body and go to heaven to be with Christ. For unbelievers, the first death results in the soul and spirit being separated and going to hell, to await resurrection at the great white throne judgment, after which they will be cast into a lake of fire for eternity, which is the second death. There is no place in the Bible where the word "annihilation" can be substituted for death.
There is an eternal death, which is the second death, Revelation 20:14. For those who refuse to believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ there is coming a time when they will be punished with "everlasting" destruction from the present of the Lord, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9. Everlasting means forever, for eternity. The same word is used for God, and for salvation. Therefore, if everlasting does not mean for eternity, then God is not an eternal being, and salvation does not bring eternal life, but these ideas are refuted by the God's Word, the Bible, Hebrews 9:14; Romans 16:26; John 3:36; Matthew 25:46. Therefore, God is eternal, salvation is eternal, and punishment is eternal. It should be noted that there is a difference between punishment and chastisement. Punishment, as we have seen, is for the sinner, but it should be kept in mind that chastisement is for the saint, Hebrews 12:6. Those who do not believe that Jesus is the Lord Jesus Christ are already condemned to a lake of fire, John 3:18. One can change this condemnation and have eternal life through the new birth or being born again.
