Recently, I had the opportunity to teach a class on The Offense of Sin.
Below are a few of the key concepts.
Weight of sin
Question: Of the Bible’s 66 books and 1,189 chapters, only two books and four chapters do not mention sin or sinner.
Answer: Genesis 1-2 describes creation before sin and Revelation 21-22 depicts the new heaven and earth that will never be infected by sin.
Genesis 4 to the end of Revelation deals with God’s response to and remedy for the events of the Fall in Genesis 3
Why is an understanding of sin important?
Believer
He who wishes to attain right views about Christian holiness must begin by examining the vast and solemn subject of sin. He must dig down very low if he would build high. A mistake here is most mischievous. Wrong views about holiness are generally traceable to wrong views about human corruption. – JC Ryle
Unbeliever
The plain truth is that a right understanding of sin lies at the root of all saving Christianity…The first thing, therefore, that God does when He makes anyone a new creature in Christ is to send light into his heart and show him that he is a guilty sinner. The material creation in Genesis began with “light,” and so also does the spiritual creation. Dim or indistinct views of sin are the origin of most of the errors, heresies and false doctrines of the present day…I believe that one of the chief wants of the contemporary church has been, and is, clearer, fuller teaching about sin. – JC Ryle
Sin: A definition
“Sin is the transgression of the law.” (1 John 3:4 KJV).
– Sin must be understood from a God-centered standpoint: it is a violation of the Creator-creature relationship.
– Every sin: acting autonomously, usurping God’s authority and saying, “My will be done…not God’s Will be done.” (Luke 22:42)
– There are sins of Omission as well as Commission (James 4:17
God judges sin based on two criteria:
1. Outward acts/Inward thoughts (horizontal relationships) – to see if they conform to His law (Matt. 5:21-28)
2. Inward motivation (vertical relationship) – a desire to please God (the heart)
Only the Holy Spirit can change our natural disposition and inclination and create in our souls a genuine love for God.
Unless He moves to change us, the only good we will ever do is on the horizontal plane, and that will not satisfy the law of God.
