What is Sin? Are you really a sinner?
The reason for death and suffering in the world is because of the first man’s sin (Romans 5:12). In the beginning God’s creation was good, but Adam and Eve rebelled against God’s command. God had clearly warned them there would be consequence if they disobeyed (Genesis 2:16-17). They instead chose to obey the devil, dishonored God and chose to believe in lies about the character of God (Genesis 3:1-7, Romans 1:22). As a result, the planet and its inhabitants were cursed (Genesis 3:11-19). The Bible explains “the wages of sin is death” and wages are something you earn (Romans 6:23). Because God is good there must be punishment for sin. Therefore, the price of sin and mankind’s continued rebellion against God is why “we know that all creation is groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Romans 8:22).
The apostle Paul wrote "it was the law that showed me my sin” (Romans 7:7). We know there is need for a divine Savior because “no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are” (Romans 3:19-20). Adam and Eve only had the one command God gave them, which was ”you may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:16-17). God gave the first humans everything except for one tree and its fruit. They chose instead to be deceived by the devil, who told them to eat the fruit, which was opposite of what God told them to do. The devil also told Eve that they would not die (accusing God of lying). Then the devil gave them a false promise that “their eyes would be opened” and “you will become just like God” (Genesis 3:4-5).
Yes, the devil was there tempting Adam and Even in the beginning, but that is not an excuse either. For Jesus said, “it is the thought-life that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you and make you unacceptable to God” (Mark 7:20-23). Therefore, we need to examine ourselves truthfully. All sin is not only lateral, but horizontal and amounts to rebellion against God. He gave us the 10 commandments that shows us our sinful nature, and just like looking into a mirror we see ourself as we are when we read those commandments. So, this is not to judge you, but it is for you to judge yourself and compare yourself to them. Do you think you have kept the 10 commandments? Let’s see how you do…
The first commandment is “you shall have no other gods before me” (Ex 20:3). This means unless God, as revealed in The Holy Bible, is front and in center of our life, then we aren’t obeying the commandment. In our modern lives we put our careers, money, material possession and many other things above the one true God. But that cannot be an excuse before a holy Creator. Jesus said, “seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Jesus also said “he who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 10:37-39). Have you always put God first in your life, before yourself, your career and even your marriage?
The second commandment says “you must not make for yourself an idol of any kind” (Exodus 20:4). Our fallen nature gravitates toward the desire to worship our own god that can be virtually anything like sex, money, sports, etc. The Bible says humans tend to worship other things “instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God (Romans 1:23). In the ancient world “they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles” . It also says, “they traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself”. But even today, as in the ancient times, we find religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and many others making statues of figures and bowing down to them in worship. We can make idols out of anything in our minds or with our hands. Today, this manifests itself by devotion to money, power, success, sports, material wealth, things of the world and virtually anything else we fill our thoughts and hearts with to the point of worshipping them. For Jesus said “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money” (Matthew 6:24). Furthermore, Jesus had said “…what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul” (Matthew 8:36)?
The third commandment is “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name”. In other words, it is dishonoring God, who is the Creator of all things, and who gave your life to you, to substitute His name in place of a filth word. You often hear this done in movies where the name “Jesus Christ” is used in disgust or irreverence. This is a sin called blasphemy that used to be punishable by death in the Old Testament times. Interestingly, we wouldn’t use the name of our earthly father or mother as a cuss word, yet we take God’s name in vain. You will find this happening across the world in disrespect to particularly the name of Jesus. I have yet to hear someone use another name like “Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Buddha, or Muhammed, etc" in disgust or as a cuss word. Many people have been so angry that they will say “God damn it” and try to excuse it instead by saying they are not naming God by His holy name. But if someone said dishonorable things about the president of a country without naming him specifically, it still dishonors the person in the office because everyone knows who you are talking about when you say the president. It dishonors the office the person you are not naming is occupying and is the same. Blasphemy is considered more than just violating God’s name too, so read this.
The fourth commandment deals with taking a holy day of rest. For Israelites in the first covenant this meant resting on the last day of the week in honor of God because “…in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy”. This is why the commandment says to “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy”. The idea is to honor God one day a week, and to not think about yourself, or do things for yourself, but dedicate time to remember God and all that God does for us in honor. Some might say this commandment is no longer applicable since the new covenant began with Christ. However, we can still choose to make time for God if we want. The fact is that many think they are “too busy” and don’t have time, which is a testament to our own selfish, pride and hard hearts. Today we find rest in Jesus the Messiah, who died for us and rose again. For Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). In another place, it is written that Jesus said, “I, the Son of Man, am master even of the Sabbath” when speaking to some Pharisees who were condemning him and his disciples for working on the Sabbath picking grain (Matthew 12:8). So, Jesus is our Lord and if we have fellowship with him any day of the week to honor him, then he is our Sabbath. When we put faith in Christ we have an eternal Sabbath planned for us in heaven one day where we will finally rest. But take heed because the Scriptures also say, “all who believe in God’s Son have eternal life. Those who don’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life, but the wrath of God remains upon them” (John 3:36). Do you rest and honor God faithfully? Many in the church today worship and honor God on Sunday since the new covenant changed things. Now we have freedom today to worship any day of the week, and we can do that anywhere - not just The Temple. On this side of the cross, we find our rest in Jesus. Do you rest in Jesus and trust in him daily?
The fifth commandment is to "“Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you”. Again, we don’t have to like the president of the United States, but the office of the president should be honored no matter what party holds it, or who it is. Insofar as that office holder is not dishonoring us and completely abusing their authority we likewise should at least respect the office and thereby the person holding office, even if we have a certain opinion about them. The same concept is true with parents. God expects each of us to honor the authority of parents because respecting authority is holy. If you honor your parents “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.” (Ephesians 6:3). This is the first commandment of the ten that comes with a blessing! If our parents have done wrong against us, then we are still obligated to forgive them because Jesus taught us to always forgive others as we have been forgiven on the cross, even if we have been abused. We do not get free license to dishonor people back if they dishonor us. But in the case of bad parents you don’t have to be around them, but you do need to forgive them at least. As it is written, “if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:15). Do you forgive others every time they hurt you? Have you honored your parents always, even if they are imperfect in their ways? Nobody is perfect except God.
The sixth commandment says “you must not murder” (Exodus 20:13). A lot of people are going to write this one off as not having murdered someone. Did you know you do not have to physically kill someone in anger to be seen as a murder by a just and holy God? God’s standard is much higher than ours for God Himself is recorded as saying, “just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9). Another place in Scripture God tells Samuel the prophet that, “The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). Yet another place it is written, “the Father who knows all hearts (Romans 8:27). Jesus taught “if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell” (Matthew 5:22). He said these things in lieu of teaching about this sixth commandment during the famous Sermon on the Mount (See Matthew chapters 5-7). And elsewhere in the Bible, it is written “anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them” (1 John 3:15). So, we see that intentions of the heart are judged by a holy God, and not just our physical actions are at stake. You don’t have to physically murder another human being to be guilty of breaking this law. Again, we find in The Scriptures that, “people judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). Have you hated anyone from the heart? Were you ever angry at someone else for something? Righteous anger is okay, but The Bible says, “human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires” (James 1:20).
The seventh commandment says “You must not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). This is a sexual sin of a specific nature when a man or woman has sex with another person’s spouse. Jesus was talking about this commandment when he said “anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). An example of lust would be looking at pornography, or sexual fantasy looking at someone of the opposite sex and imagining sexual acts even. Here we see the same standard as murder in the sixth commandment. And that is the thoughts and intent of the heart are equal to the physical act. However, sexual immorality is a much larger type of sin, and deserves mentioning too. This category includes, but is not limited to practicing homosexuality, incest, rape, sex outside of marriage, sex with animals, etc. (see Leviticus 18). For it is written, “those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9).
The eighth commandment is “You must not steal” (Exodus 20:15). This means if you have ever taken anything that did not belong to you, regardless of the value or from where you took it, then you have stolen. This could be from a store, or another person such as family, friend or a stranger. But if anyone who thinks they have never taken anything that did not belong to them, then you only need to turn to God’s word. God said to Israel, “you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions” (Malachi 3:8 ESV). Therefore, not tithing or giving a tenth of your income as an offering to God is actually theft from God. For it is God that gives all of us everything, including the resources we have been blessed with. The Scriptures make it clear we are to be generous, help the poor and needy, as well as contribute to the church. However, Jesus explains, “the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). This is reference to Satan himself being “the thief”, so stealing is what the devil does. Have you ever stolen anything in your life? If even just once, you still did it.
The ninth command says “You must not testify falsely against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). Your neighbor can be anyone around you (including friends, family and strangers even). You can understand this one better by reducing it down to “do not tell a lie”. For it is written, “The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in those who tell the truth” (Proverbs 12:22). Elsewhere in the Bible, a man and his wife were put to death for lying to The Holy Spirit, who is God. What had happened is these two decided to go back on their promise to donate money to the church, which they obtained from land they sold (see Acts chapter 5). Instead, “he brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest” (Acts 5:2). Peter was filled with The Holy Spirit and said to him, “the property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!” (Acts 5:4). Both the husband and wife went back on their promise to give it all to the church. They both lied to cover up what they did, and both dropped dead. After this happened,“…everyone who heard about it was terrified” (Acts 5:5). The Bible warns us, “all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death” (Revelation 21:8). Have you lied?
The tenth commandment is “you must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor” (Exodus 20:18). Coveting is the same as being envious of others’ possessions, status, and things you do not have yourself. Coveting is not only being greedy for things, which is a sin in and of itself too. However, it goes further into thinking we deserve something more than others and hate them for it. This leads to all kinds of wickedness, bitterness, self-pride, and a slippery slope like murdering someone else for what they have (wife, car, title, etc). The Scriptures warn us that “wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind” (James 3:16). In the beginning, Satan tempted Adam and Eve by getting them to desire power and control to become God. Something they were not created to be, for humans are created by God and not the other way around. None the less, the devilish lie is that you should have something you don’t have. Have you ever coveting something?
Remember, sin is an offense against God, even if we do it to another person. When we sin against each other our actions are not just horizontal, but vertical to God too. For it is written, “God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27).
How did you do with the test above? The correct answer is not good. Keep in mind these commandments are not an exhaustive list of every sin. But they help us today by comparison of God’s standard, like looking in a mirror that reflects reality. We can think things on our own, but God exists as our objective standard for morality. In other words, his standards of morality come to us from Him. Therefore, they are an “objective” standard of truth instead of being “subjective” or made up by each individual as they see fit (i.e. everything is your opinion). His Law is embedded in everyone, as image bearers of Christ, and gives us fundamental understanding of what is right and wrong.
So, what is the greatest of all commandments? Jesus answered a question about which commandment is greatest. He said ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40). God is not a God of chaos, but God of righteousness, of order and justice. Is God number 1 priority in your every day life? Do you always love others as yourself? If you don’t really love yourself to begin with then you cannot by definition love others. We can each choose to live godly lives, or to simply give into sin every day. And so it is written,
“God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. (Romans 1:18-20).
For this reason, there is coming a day of wrath because “everyone has sinned and falls short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). Therefore, God must punish sin because of His goodness. Any good judge will punish the guilty. God gave us free will to choose right from wrong, and to know Him or not. He won’t force anyone to be in His presence. After all, why should he make you do anything? Because true love comes from the heart and God wants people to know and love Him with their God given free will. There will be no one in heaven who doesn’t want to be there in the end. But the problem started when the first humans chose to be deceived by Satan and gave him power over the earth, which was originally given to Adam by God. This explains the following Scripture:
“Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Even so, The Bible says, “the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws” (James 2:10). And “God…commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30 NIV). Repentance is a lifestyle change, and God demonstrates He will show mercy to the repentant, as it is also written…
"But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment” (2 Peter 3:8-10).
Repentance alone cannot save you and bring you eternal life. You cannot bribe the Creator of the universe with doing good, even though you should be sorry for your sins, and you should do good. For it would be like a rapist before a human judge that says… “Dear judge, I am sorry for what I did, but I have not done it again and I donate a lot to charity every month too”. The judge will simply say, “Of course you should be sorry. And certainly, you should not do it again. We are not here to talk about the good things you have done. We are here to judge the wrong you did so that justice can be done.” How much more should God judge us, whose “ways our higher than our ways and thoughts are not our thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). For even Jesus said, “only God is good” (Mark 10:17). But God is merciful, kind and compassionate and made a way for us to return to Him. That way was made available to us by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and when you repent and trust in him you will be saved.
Scripture says “…according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). Jesus was referred to as “the lamb of God” (John 1:36) and even died on Passover to take our sin debt away (see John 19:14, Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54, Matthew 27:62). This was the greatest act of love because “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8). Jesus’ death on the cross is the blood atonement for sin and is the heart of the Gospel, which “…is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile” (Romans 1:16). The demands of The Law are forever satisfied through the finished work of Jesus Christ and is summed up in the follow passage of Scripture:
“But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!). For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:8-10).
Today, get right with God by calling upon Jesus’ name in prayer from the heart. Confess your sins to The Lord in that same prayer. Don’t just confess the, but turn away from all sin and when you believe in Jesus and obey God, then that turning away should become easier to do (you will always be tempted to do wrong though). Put your trust and faith in Jesus as Lord. Declare faith in Jesus with your mouth and before others to show you are not ashamed of this Good News that Jesus is Lord. For it is written, “trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” (Proverbs 3:5). Believe in your heart that Jesus was raised from the dead and you shall be saved by grace through faith (Romans 10:9; Ephesians 2:8). By proclaiming this to others you demonstrate your faith is real, and we are supposed to witness to others. You will receive the gift of The Holy Spirit when you truly trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Every believer should get baptized too. This is your time to give a public testimony of your faith in Christ and what he did for you, how he did it, etc. Baptism marks your commitment to God and living out of obedience to Jesus’ commands to his disciples. For Jesus said, “those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them” (John 14:21). Baptism was commanded by Jesus when he told his disciples “…go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-2). Therefore, baptism is very important in your walk with God and it comes after you repent and believe that Jesus is Lord (trusting in him).
For it is written, “all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes” (Galatians 3:27). Examine the pattern of believers in The Bible and see that after they repent and trusted Christ, they would get baptized immediately (Read the Book of Acts of The Apostles). Don’t get baptized as a baby because a baby cannot make the choice to have faith in Christ. When you are old enough to have a real understanding of what Jesus did to believe in him, then you should get dunked in the water, or what is sometimes referred to as full immersion baptism. This is the way Jesus did it and he is our model (see Matthew 3).
Then work on becoming obedient every day to God’s commands by submitting to God and all His ways. Forgive others as you have been forgiven on the cross (Ephesians 4:32). Be a witness for Christ and help to spread the Good News to others that there is hope and purpose in life, and knowing and to love God is our source of joy. Give to the poor and needy and tithe your income. Jesus said, “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10. But realize Jesus also warned “here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).