Sin: a Definition

The topic of ‘sin’ is vast. In order to cover it thoroughly, it would be necessary to analyse the theology of the origin of sin as well as ‘original sin’ (from various perspectives), compare the various hypotheses about the ‘unpardonable sin’, contrast philosophically the principles of absolute truth with human accountability, and so on. Make Straight Paths does not attempt to do that, and therefore, only sets out a relatively small part of the picture. However, there is good reason to include a study on ‘sin’ at Make Straight Paths, because of a number of misconceptions about sin within the Family.

In trying to define sin, Family members may give the concise quote “sin is missing the mark” and some people may even know that that quote is in fact a definition based upon the original language, although few, if any, would be able to give any more details than that. They may then explain that sin is disobedience to God. From then on things become rather confusing. Is it sin to disobey a commandment in the Bible? The Family position is that it is only sin if that biblical command is actually applicable to modern Christians, as well as to Family members. In other words, in Bible times, God expected his people to obey certain biblical commands, but modern Christians are exempt from such strict legalism. Further, they say that there are some biblical commands, which most modern Christians must obey, but from which Family members are exempt. In other words, it is a Family doctrine that Family members may engage in certain activities in good conscience before God, which would be sin for other Christians. This doctrine was originally developed to justify the practice of FFing (a kind of sexualised witnessing now discontinued), but it is now used to justify sexual activity between Family members.

The Family reasoning goes like this: the Bible says that “whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Rom 14:23 KJV), therefore, if I ‘have the faith’ for something then it cannot be sin for me. After all, faith pleases God (Heb 11:6) and “unto the pure all things are pure” (Tit 1:15 KJV) which means that there isn’t anything that is actually ‘impure’. The Bible also says that my faith comes from hearing the word of God (Rom 10:17) so I have lots of faith because I have been reading the word of God that He gave through Family leadership: I have been studying official Family publications and these give me faith for what I do. Doesn’t the Bible say that I should act according to my faith (Matt 9:29)? If other people don’t have faith for it then they shouldn’t do it, but as I have faith for it then I can. In fact as God has told me (again via the Family) that He expects me to engage in these activities, it would actually be sin for me to refrain!

Therefore, according to the Family, it is sin to disobey Family leadership because they are seen as being anointed by God to give instructions, counsel and commands for the days in which we now live.

There are a couple of points in the above reasoning that are addressed in other studies:

Does Rom 14:23 imply that faith can justify almost any action? Click here.
Does Tit 1:15 really give license to any activity? It says “all things are pure”, doesn’t it? Click here.

From the dictionary

There are six different nouns in the Old Testament that may be translated as ‘sin’, two adjectives and two verbs. In the New Testament, there are two nouns and two verbs (Vine).

It is true that one of these words has its origin in a word meaning ‘missing the mark’, as is demonstrated by the following verse, written about 1400 years before Christ:

Judg 20:16 Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men left-handed; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss. KJV

The Hebrew word for ‘miss’ is more commonly used throughout the Old Testament as “to sin, to miss, to miss the way, to go wrong, to incur guilt, to forfeit, to purify from uncleanness” (Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, OT:2398).

However by the time the New Testament was written, the etymological meaning of ‘missing the mark’ had been almost completely lost (NT:266 Vine). So, in the New Testament the Greek words used indicate “a sinning, whether it occurs by omission or commission, in thought and feeling or in speech and action; that which is done wrong, committed or resultant sin, an offence, a violation of the divine law in thought or in act generally or by some particular evil deed” (Thayer).

The problem with saying that sin is ‘missing the mark’ is that such a definition lacks the gravity with which the Bible views offences against God. Sin is more than a mere slip-up, more than an error of judgment, more than a ‘blunder of the mind’. The Bible, in neither the Old nor New Testaments, gives any indication that sin is a minor, unavoidable mistake. To define sin as ‘missing the mark’ is to choose the wrong definition.

Sin is “any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God in the inward state and habit of the soul, as well as in the outward conduct of the life, whether by omission or commission. It is not a mere violation of the law of our constitution, nor of the system of things, but an offence against a personal lawgiver and moral governor who vindicates his law with penalties”. (Easton)

Sin is “a degeneracy from original good”. It is a lack of resemblance to God and “sets up self and self will instead of God and God’s will” (Fausset).

Sin is “everything in the disposition and purpose and conduct of God’s moral creatures that is contrary to the expressed will of God” (Unger).

Sin is “omitting to do what God’s law requires or by doing what it forbids in thought, word or deed”. It is “more than unwise, inexpedient, calamitous behavior that produces sorrow and distress. It is rebellion against God’s law − the standard of righteousness… Since God demands righteousness, sin must be defined in terms of mankind’s relation to God. Sin is thus the faithless rebellion of the creature against the just authority of his Creator. For this reason, breaking God’s law at any point involves transgression at every point… Violation of the law of God in thought, word, and deed shows the sinfulness of the human heart. Sin is actually a contradiction to the holiness of God, whose image mankind bears” (Nelson)

The image of God

It is true that mankind was created in the image of God (Gen 1:26), but that does not mean that humanity is godly. The image of God remained holy only until the fall, when Adam and Eve sinned. Since then, the image of God that we bear is corrupted through sin, and remains corrupt until we have been cleansed from sin. This means that human desires are not necessarily a reflection of God’s desires, and that we cannot determine the nature of God by observing what people want or how they act.

Light and Darkness

Throughout the Bible, God is often represented by ‘light’, and sin by ‘darkness’:

John 1:5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. NKJV

John 3:19 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. NASU

John 8:12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” NASU

John 12:46 “I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. NASU

The idea here is that the world was in the darkness of sin and Jesus came to bring His light, to free us from that darkness.

Acts 26:18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me. NASU

‘Light’ is defined by the presence of God, and darkness by His absence. The only way we can walk in the light is through reconciliation with God, by means of the salvation given by Jesus.

1 John 1:5-7

5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

NASU

Walking in the light means that Jesus Christ has cleansed us from sin. This also means that we can often see whether someone is walking in the light or not by their actions.

Sin is that which displeases God

Now, here’s an important point: it makes no difference whether or not people are aware of what actions constitute ‘sin’: sin is sin nonetheless. Sin is defined by that which goes against God’s nature. If I do something that displeases God, it is still sin, even if I don’t realise it.

The Old Testament even contains laws prescribing what to do if someone sinned ‘unintentionally’. In other words, they offended God without realising it. The following verses are from the Lord’s words to Moses:

Lev 4:27-28

27 If a member of the community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD’s commands, he is guilty.

28 When he is made aware of the sin he committed, he must bring as his offering for the sin he committed a female goat without defect.

NIV

King David prayed:

Ps 19:12 Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. NKJV

This verse may reflect a prayer that David be forgiven if he has sinned unintentionally. Look at the verse in other translations (the word ‘secret’ means ‘hidden’):

Ps 19:12 Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. NIV

Ps 19:12 But who can discern his errors? Clear thou me from hidden faults. RSV

Ps 19:12 How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. NLT

Ps 19:12 Errors! who doth understand? From hidden ones declare me innocent. YLT

Ps 19:12 Who can know all his errors? Please do not punish me for sins I am unaware of. NET

The NET Bible has this note from its translators:

Heb “declare me innocent from hidden [things],” i.e., sins. In this context (see the preceding line) “hidden” sins are not sins committed in secret, but sins which are not recognized as such by the psalmist.

Sin is an offence against God, and ignorance is no excuse. Now, this does not mean that God sends people to hell for unintentionally offending Him. As noted above, sin is a rebellion in the human heart against the holiness of God, which is why sin separates people from God. God cannot co-exist with sin, and therefore the ultimate punishment for sin can only be eternal separation from God. However it is true that God in His mercy may choose to overlook certain sins committed in ignorance, but that is a matter entirely up to Him.

Acts 17:30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. NIV

In these modern times, when Bibles are so prolific and accessible, that which constitutes ‘sin’ may be plainly seen. In other words, if you have access to a Bible, God will probably hold you responsible to know what is in it. If you have ever received the Holy Spirit, you are accountable to know the truth. Every Family member has a Bible, or should have one. Every Family member is therefore accountable for the truths it contains. Every Family member must search the Bible, for it is by the truth therein that they will be judged, not by how closely they followed the GNs.

Again, as righteousness is defined by God Himself, sin is defined by what God is not, regardless of whether or not people know about it. The definition of sin is not centred around people’s understanding, faith or knowledge, but rather has to do with that which offends God’s righteousness, and God has graciously granted that clear standards of righteousness have been laid down in the Bible.

Therefore, murder is sin, whether or not the murderer never heard the commandment “You shall not murder”. Lying, theft, adultery and idolatry are likewise sin, regardless of whether the perpetrators are aware, agree or understand.

Remember, the point here is that God defines what is or is not sin. How He chooses to deal with sinners is also up to Him. He may choose to take mitigating factors into consideration, such as the person’s ability to comprehend right and wrong. No one, however, should have the presumption to assume that God will deal lightly with him or her because he or she ‘had good motives’. Noble human motives do not confer righteousness upon sinners, and doing things with good intentions do not justify actions that are against God’s holy law. It is only when both actions and motives are righteous that there is no sin. In other words, if I do the right thing for selfish motives, I am sinning against God. Likewise, if I do the wrong thing out of unselfish motives, I am still sinning against God.

There can be no getting around it, there is no possibility for self-justification. To summarise the point of this study: sin is sin.

It is also true that there are different kinds of sin. For example: breaking God’s law as set down in the Bible, disobeying God’s direct instructions to a person, unintentional sin as noted above, sins of omission, sins of commission, sins of the mind, sins of the will, the ‘unpardonable’ sin, and so on. As noted above, this page does not attempt to define or differentiate between these subcategories. It is, however, a basic tenet of Christianity that sin is departure from God’s will.

Sin is the “personal act of turning away from God and His will… Sin is against God − against His holiness, love and truth; it is deeply and profoundly personal… it is the violation of God’s command… It is both deviation and rebellion” (Williams).

Sin is “more than breaking external rules and commands. It is also an internal unwillingness to conform to God, whatever He wants” (ISBE).

What Jesus said about sin

When God came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ, He did not change His definition of sin. Jesus did not come to explain that certain things were no longer sin or that God was no longer offended by rebellion against Him. Sin was still sin, when Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, and sin was still sin when He died and rose again. Jesus’ death and resurrection did not change the nature of sin, or the fact that sin always separates people from God.

The difference brought by Jesus Christ, of course, is that through Him God provided a means for atonement, forgiveness and reconciliation. God did not, and indeed could not change the definition of sin, but through the ultimate sacrifice He provided the only possible solution.

In fact, far from saying that certain actions were no longer sin, Jesus’ explanation of sin was far more encompassing than was common at the time. People knew that murder was sin, but Jesus went much further: He said that anger was sin. They knew that adultery was sin, but Jesus said that lustful thoughts were sin (Matthew 5:21-28).

The ISBE makes this comment:

It is easy to see, however, how the hardening of moral precepts into formal codes, absolutely necessary as that task was, led to an externalizing of the thought of sin. The man who did not keep the formal law was a sinner. On such basis there grew up the artificial systems which came to their culmination in the New Testament times in Pharisaism.

Jesus gave clear utterance to what everyone knew. Those who thought of religion as external gave themselves to formal keeping of the commandments and allowed the inner life to run riot as it would (Matt 23:23, et al.).

Jesus honored the Law, but He pushed the keeping of the Law back from the mere performance of externals to the inner stirrings of motives. It is not merely the actual commission of adultery, for example, that is sin: it is the lustful desire which leads to the evil glance; it is not merely the actual killing of the man that is murder; it is the spirit of hatred which makes the thought of murder welcome (Matt 5:21,27) (ISBE).

Jesus’ expansion and clarification of the concept of sin was not, of course, His primary purpose in coming to earth. Jesus’ mission was to provide Himself as the solution to sin, as the only means of reconciliation with God through His death on the cross.

John 8:34-36

34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. 35 “The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

NASU

Sin is a huge problem; it is enormous and unsurmountable, so Jesus Christ gave Himself to make atonement for us, to provide salvation from certain doom.

Sexual sin throughout the Bible

Due to the declarations made by the Family that they believe the consensual sexual relations between adults are lawful in the sight of God, it is necessary to be very clear about what the Bible says regarding this topic.

The Bible is actually very consistent: throughout the Old and New Testaments, ‘sexual immorality’ (as the NKJV puts it) is a sin, always has been a sin and always will be a sin, because it is contrary to the nature of God.

It was a sin before God gave Moses the Law:

Gen 20:3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is married.” NASU

It was condemned as a sin in the Mosaic Law:

Ex 20:14 You shall not commit adultery. NASU

It was regarded as sin throughout the Old Testament after the Mosaic Law was given:

2 Sam 12:9 Why have you despised the word of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. NASU

Jesus Christ Himself reiterated the commandment against sexual sin:

Matt 19:18 Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “you shall not commit murder; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; NASU

After He rose, in the so-called ‘age of grace’, Jesus Christ again condemned sexual sin:

Rev 2:22 Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. NASU

Rev 21:8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars — their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. NIV

Paul repeatedly urged his readers against it:

1 Thess 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; NASU

James acknowledged it:

James 2:11 For He who said, “do not commit adultery,” also said, “do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. NASU

There can be no question about it. The Bible is clear. God considers sexual relations outside of marriage as sin.

For more on this topic, see the dictionary entries for ‘adultery’, ‘fornication’ and ‘sexual immorality’ and the various articles grouped under the heading ‘sex’.

Sin is sin irrespective of denomination

Finally, it should be stated that there can be no possibility of an action being lawful for one group, but unlawful for another. Sin offends God’s nature, and He can no more permit a particular group to sin than He can to change His holy nature. God is righteousness, therefore sin is a rebellion against that righteousness. For God to grant permission for one group to engage in activities declared sin in the Bible, God’s own righteousness would be compromised, and that is impossible.

It is not just that God does not choose to hold different standards for different groups, it is that He cannot do so. Sin is far more than a list of offences, changeable according to the circumstances. Sin is that which is against God’s righteousness, against God’s holiness, against God’s purity, truth and love.

Conclusion

There are certain actions which offend God’s righteousness whether or not we have ‘faith’ for them. It is God’s prerogative to define what is and what is not sin, and at no time does He relinquish that task to mere humans, depending on how much ‘faith’ they have or what their motives are. He has given us the Bible in order that we may learn how to please Him, and so we are without excuse.

In particular, the Family has a great need to learn of the ways of God, of the things which please Him, and of those things which He has defined as sin.

Sin itself is defined by that which is contrary to the unchangeable nature of God.