Becoming a Christian
What is sin?
Sin is the Bible’s word for turning away from God: living as if he weren’t there and we were in charge. It shows in the wrong things we think, say and do, and in the good things we leave undone.
Deeper than breaking rules
Sin is not only a list of serious crimes. At root it is an attitude of the heart that says to God, “I’ll run my own life.” Jesus summed up what God asks of us as loving God with everything we have and loving our neighbour as ourselves (Matthew 22:37–39). Measured against that, none of us comes close.
For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.
The prophet Isaiah used the picture of sheep wandering off, each one choosing its own path:
All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
“Yahweh” is the personal name of God in the Hebrew Old Testament. The one on whom our wrongdoing is laid is the suffering servant Isaiah describes, whom Christians recognise as Jesus.
The forms sin takes
- Things we do: lying, cruelty, greed, unfaithfulness and the rest.
- Things we think: envy, contempt, lust and pride, which nobody else may ever see.
- Things we leave undone: the kindness we didn’t show and the help we didn’t give.
To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin.
Are some sins worse than others?
Some sins plainly do more damage than others, and the Bible recognises that. But every sin, large or small, comes from the same root and has the same effect on our relationship with God. Nobody can say, “Mine don’t count.”
Why it matters
Sin damages us and the people around us. Most seriously, it cuts us off from God, who is perfectly good and perfectly just. The Bible says that the end result of sin is death, which means separation from the God who gives life.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Does this mean people are worthless?
No. The Bible says two things about every human being at once. We are made in God’s image and loved by him, which gives each person immense worth. And we are sinners who need rescuing. Christianity takes both seriously, and that is why God went to such lengths for us.
What God has done about it
Romans 6:23 carries the good news as well as the bad. God doesn’t leave us with what we deserve; he offers a free gift. Jesus came to deal with sin by dying in our place, so that anyone who turns to him can be forgiven.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.