SIN
IT IS THE UNSPOKEN GOAL OF EVERY PERSON ON EARTH, TO LIVE INDEPENDENT OF GOD AND HIS AUTHORITY (OR ANYONE ELSE’S)
There are four major themes regarding sin running throughout the Bible: the holiness and sovereignty of God, the rebellion of man against the rule of God, the consequences of their sin on individuals and nations and the love, forgiveness, and mercy of God toward ungrateful, undeserving people. Which always raises the questions, “What is the basic cause of sin and why would God tolerate it?”
God, being a sovereign God, had a choice regarding how much freedom to grant men (and angels). If his ultimate purpose is that he would be glorified by his creation, he could have created man without free will. Man would then automatically and for all eternity perfectly obey and glorify him. But would God, or would we, be honored by the “love” of robots? Instead, he created man with the freedom to choose to obey him, or not obey him, to praise him or not to praise him. God, like parents everywhere, is most honored when his children choose to thank him, obey him and praise him, especially when they have the option not to.
The inherent danger in giving anyone that much freedom is that we also have the freedom to choose not to obey. Free will then can be described as God’s decision to give man the right to choose right and wrong. That does not make God responsible for the ensuing bad choices of man; neither does it make him the author of evil, sin, or suffering. Sin is any attitude or action which is contrary to the will of God. This includes attitudes or actions, which we fail to do, as well as those we do, which God prohibits.
Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, were created perfect and without sin. Even though they were tempted by Satan, they alone chose to believe Satan’s lie and sin entered the world with all of its devastating consequences (original sin). We refer to this event as the “fall” because humans fell from their close relationship with God and from the ability to perfectly know and do his will. We became spiritually adrift in life - lost. One of those consequences is that their sin nature has been passed on to every person ever born (inherited sin). See Genesis 2:16-17 and Romans 5:12, 19. We not only commit sins, but unless we are born again, we are by nature sinful and incapable of pleasing God. In fact, the Bible says that man by nature is in rebellion against God and that we are in fact dead to sin and slaves to sin. No one on their own can ever do enough good things or keep from sinning, in order to re-establish a relationship with God, except by the provision God made through Jesus Christ. In fact, unless we understand how sinful we are and powerless to do anything about it, we really have no need of a Savior.
But, why do we continue to sin? Plantinga says, “We are like people whose abuse of alcohol ruins not only the liver, but also their judgment and will, the very things that might have kept them from further abuse of alcohol… We now sin because we are sinners, because we have a habit, and because the habit has damaged our judgment and will.” [1]
The consequences of sin, even for those who are followers of Jesus, affect every area of our lives. Independence – that is the desire to determine for ourselves our own destiny and the rules which will, or will not govern our lives – was part of the original sin and still is the god of our age. God created us to be dependent on him. While we give lip service to trusting God, the truth is we spend most of our lives putting our real trust in our jobs, investments, education, social status, and our own abilities, so we won’t ever have to be completely dependent on God. Think about it! The very thing God wants for us – to trust him and love him alone, we’re working to make sure never happens!
Sin also causes us to mistrust others. Because of our own propensity for selfishness, we are often suspicious and fearful of the actions and motives of others. As a result we often flounder through life isolated and not feeling safe with most people. Much of our time and energy is spent trying to protect ourselves and our "stuff," by either controlling others or building "walls" in our families, workplaces, and even between nations. Sin corrupts every relationship and institution and destroys our hope that things can ever be better.
Because of sin and the fall, humans are not as good as they could be. However, because we were created in the image of God and have been given a conscience, God’s moral laws and the Holy Spirit’s influence in this world, no human being is as bad as he (or she) could be either.
God is often wrongly blamed for much of the suffering in this world. However, there are at least five possible sources of suffering:
- It can be the unintended consequence of our own sin.
- It can be the impact of other people’s sin on our own lives.
- God can and does cause or allow suffering to accomplish his purposes, or to discipline, or test those he loves.
- Satan and demons can cause suffering.
- Creation itself is corrupted, which means death, disease, the aging of our bodies and natural disasters are a consequence of the fall.
In summary, it is the power of sin and its hold on each person that is the primary problem, not just Satan. “The devil didn’t make me do it.” He is simply the lead figure or “cheerleader” in this realm of rebellion. There are three sources of evil in this world: the world (the temptations of the sinful world), the power of sin (what the Bible calls the “flesh”), and the devil (Satan). By nature, man is prone to sin and can only overcome the power of sin by being born again and obeying God.
Gen. 3:1-4; Romans 3:10-12, 23; Romans 5:12; Romans 8:5, 8; James 3:14-16 ; Eph. 2 :3 ; Gen. 3 :17, 19 ; I John 2 :16 ; I Peter 1 :6, 7 ; Heb. 12 :5, 6 ; James 1 :13-15 ; Romans 8 :20, 21