What is SIN?
Many people have an idea what sin is.
Most people think that sin is a religious terminology that means lying,
cheating, stealing, etc. Further more,
big sins may be murdering at the top of the list, followed by doing drugs, committing
adultery, fornication, etc., even though many people today think that the last
one is really not a sin, but a totally acceptable way of modern life style for
the enlightened and the free-spirited.
Again, it does not matter what the society thinks or tells you. Jesus tells us in Mark
In Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as through one man,”
meaning Adam, “sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death
spread to all men, because all sinned.” This is the New Testament commentary on what happened in
Genesis. Through one man, Adam, “sin
entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men,
because all sinned.” We are
substantively involved in Adam’s sin. As
a result, we have the imputed sin of Adam.
We are all born sinners. That is
the inherent sin of all mankind. No one is righteous. We would be deceiving ourselves thinking that
any one of us has no sin (1 John 1:8).
What then is the definition of sin? Sin is personal lack of conformity to the moral
character of God. It is contrary to
God’s character and His holy nature. It
is violation of His righteous law. It is
disobedience to God. How did Adam
sin? By disobeying
God. What was the first thing he
and Eve did after the sin entered in their life? They sewed fig leaves together and put it on
to cover their bodies.[1] In Genesis 2:25, it is said, “And the man and
his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”
They had no shame prior to sinning, but soon as the sin entered, they
covered themselves. All of a sudden,
there was shame, because sin entered.
Subsequently, they hid themselves from God, because they were afraid
(Genesis
God did not make us as automaton who
just does what it is told, but He made us with free will. We all have choices – to either obey God or
disobey God. God wants us to belong to
Him. Denying the need to belong to God,
and denying Jesus is disobedience to His desire and will. It is a sin.
Jesus said in John 16:8 and
9,
And He, when He comes,
will convict the world
concerning sin and
righteousness and judgment;
concerning sin, because
they do not believe in Me.
In these verses, “He” means the Holy Spirit. Jesus is talking to His disciples about the
coming of the Holy Spirit. The Holy
Spirit will convict the world concerning sin.
Then He goes on to say WHY the Holy Spirit will convict the world of
sin. Because, they do
not believe in Jesus. Denial of
Jesus is sin and the denial results in death (1 John
Some of you have gone to church retreats. Especially if you have gone to retreats where
many different college students are gathered at one place, it is not unusual to
hear a testimony of a student who says that he used to be a drug addict or
promiscuous. But
one day, he was convicted of his sins and knelt on his knees to ask for
forgiveness as tears ran down on his cheeks.
At that moment, he felt like all the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders and he never looked back
at his old lifestyle or repeated any of the old habits. He is now a leader of campus Christian group
and so on. Perhaps you sat and listened
to this kind of testimony and said to yourself that you never did any
drugs. You never had any physical
relationship. Basically,
I lived a good life. What have I got to repent?
God created us and we were meant
to belong to Him. That is the original
design. The life without God is against
the design. When you live outside the
design, you do not meet the original purpose.
Everything you do is outside the original design and therefore is
outside the will of God no matter how successful you are; no matter how ethical
you are; no matter how “good” you are.
By definition, you are against God and therefore you are sinful. As I said, the first thing about sin is not
about whether or not you have committed murder or
adultery, it is about not knowing God and not believing in God. Knowing and believing do not mean simply
acknowledging the existence of God. The
Bible says in James 2:19, “You believe that God is
one. You do well; the demons also
believe, and shudder.” It is not enough
to acknowledge in the existence of God.
It requires a complete change of mental and spiritual attitude. It is not enough to say, “I have changed my
mind according to the definition of the word ‘repent’.” It means not only turning from sin, it is also turning from the sin of not knowing God and
not belonging to God. It is to return to
God by surrendering yourself to Him, and to strive after righteousness that is
of God. It is to reckon the original design and submitting yourself to God in
His original design and seeking after His heart. God seeks after a man whose heart belongs to
Him (1 Samuel 13:14a).
God knows your heart and He cares about where your heart is. “All the ways of a man are clean in his own
sight, But the LORD weighs the motives” (Proverbs 16:2) of the heart.
John the Baptist preached repentance. His message, it seems, was always the same as
he was preaching in the wilderness of
What then is it to repent?
People debate about the meaning of “repentance.” I have had one person
talk to me after a message I preached at a church service. He asked me what the meaning of repentance
was. Then he went on to tell me that the
meaning of the word “repentance” was “to change one’s mind.” Obviously, he knew Greek. According to him, Christian is a person who
changed his or her mind to follow Jesus.
The change of mind was all that was necessary for salvation, which could never be taken away.
It sounded good, but then he followed by saying that a lifestyle is not
a basis for us to assess the genuineness of one’s salvation. Therefore, the lack of fruit in one’s life
does not mean that he or she is not a genuine Christian. That is pretty much what he said. Though he is right to a certain extent, I do
not agree with what he said. Certainly, there is a case in which a person is a new Christian and
he or she has not had time to mature, thus not producing much fruit in his or
her life. But
if a person has had a number of years and still does not show any signs of
changed lifestyle, I think it is legitimate to put a question mark on that
person’s genuineness. I must be very
careful here to point out that I am not talking about going around, labeling
one as truly saved, and others as not saved.
I am talking about display of consistent failure to incorporate biblical
principles in one’s lifestyle and maintaining socially acceptable but ungodly
practices. It is not enough to say that
one has changed his or her mind to follow Jesus. IF you have indeed changed your mind to
follow Jesus, then follow Jesus. Mere
mouthing of “I follow Jesus” not followed by action is a deception.
Let’s talk about repentance. Martin Luther, in 1517, wrote his Ninety-Five Thesis
and pinned it to the church door at
Let me borrow the words of the Westminster Confession
of Faith, which describes repentance far better than I ever could. It was written in
1646. Though the term
By [repentance], a sinner, out of the sight and sense not only of the
danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, as contrary to
the holy nature, and righteous law of God; and upon the apprehension of His
mercy in Christ to such as are penitent, so grieves for, and hates his sins, as
to turn from them all unto God, purposing and endeavouring
to walk with Him in all the ways of His commandments.
Although
repentance be not to be rested in, as any satisfaction
for sin, or any cause of the pardon thereof, which is the act of God's free
grace in Christ; yet it is of such necessity to all sinners, that none may
expect pardon without it.
As there is
no sin so small, but it deserves damnation; so there
is no sin so great, that it can bring damnation upon those who truly repent.
What this is a good summary of the biblical view of
repentance. The prophets of the Bible
insisted on a complete change of the sinner's mental and spiritual
attitude. They demanded regeneration of
the heart – complete change of heart, that is.
It meant not only turning from sin, but also turning from sinful ways of
life that abhors such lifestyle and returning to God by striving after the
righteousness of God. It is not simply
saying that you changed your mind.
Pharisees had a change of mind.
Their mind was to follow God’s law to the tee. But Jesus called
them hypocrites. On the other hand,
Jesus declared the tax-collector who did not even dare
to lift up his eyes to heaven and “was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be
merciful to me, the sinner!’” (Luke 18:13) justified, because of his
repentance. Joel 2:13 says, “And rend your heart and not your garments. Now return to the LORD your God, For He is
gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving-kindness and
relenting of evil.” To rend means to
tear (the hair or clothing) as a sign of anger, grief, or despair. You are to tear your heart by your grief of
sins against God resulting in complete regeneration of heart that abhors
sins.
Additionally, repentance involves change of will. I had a colleague who changed his position at
his work. He was an associate pastor,
but upon a departure of the pastor, he became the pastor. Through the change of his position, his
behavior was changed. What I mean is
that he had to think as a leader and because he had to think as a leader, his behavior
was that of a leader. His will was
changed and behaved according to his new position. When we repent and become born-again
Christians, our position takes on a new one as that of God’s children. It must involve changing of the will and
changed behavior according to the will.
I am not talking about salvation through work here. I am talking about changed life. I am also talking about the changed will to
have continuous attitude of repentance.
The continuous attitude of repentance produces the “poor in
spirit.” That is what Jesus said,
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew
5:3). The poor in spirit causes the
spirit to mourn, and to hunger and thirst for righteousness. Changed will by the enabling of the Holy
Spirit is the result of repentance.
Jesus talks about the Lost Sheep and the Lost
Coin. He follows the two parables with
the very well known story of the another one that we
are all very familiar with – the Prodigal Son (Luke
The Bible says in 1 Timothy
2:4, “[God] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
truth.” God has a desire that all people
in this world to be saved (2 Peter 3:9). He desires that all people to come to know
the truth. It is God’s desire and His
will. What is His will for your life? First of all, He
would like you to come to know the truth.
God’s will for your life number one (No. 1) is that you know Him and belong to Him by
coming to know the truth.
God’s desire for you to come to Him is
well described by Jesus in His story telling in Luke chapter 15. Jesus was talking to the tax-gatherers and
the sinners. The Pharisees joined in
also. He tells a story of the Prodigal
Son. In the story, Jesus reveals to us
God’s desire for us to come to Him. It
is said in verse 20, “But while he (the second son) was still a long way
off, his father saw him, and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him,
and kissed him.” The Prodigal son had
decided that he would return to his father’s house in order that he would not
go starve. As he was approaching his
house, the father saw his son even though it was “still a long way off.” This tells us that father was expecting him,
not because he knew that his son was about to return that day, but because he
was hoping and expecting his son’s return everyday. Perhaps he looked out from time to time
through out the day onto the roadside to see who was coming down the road. If he ever saw anyone coming down, he would
get excited and nervous at the same time only to realize that it was not his
son when the person got close enough to be identified. How many times would he experience such disappointments
each and every day? That is the desire
of our Heavenly Father. God desires all
men to come to Him, and eagerly awaits everyday for us to come to Him.
Prior to the warm reception by the father, look at the
attitude of the Prodigal son. He said he
would say to his father, “I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am
no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.” His attitude was that of a repentant
one. He was sincere and he meant every
word he said. He was truly repentant and
thought he deserved to be treated as one of the
servants, not as the son. In order to
know God and to belong to Him, you need to realize that you are a sinner. Perhaps you have never done any “bad” things
in life, but fundamentally, you need to recognize that you have lived a life
outside the will of God. You need to
repent and come to God. You need to
realize that contrary to the holy nature of God, you lived a godless life, and
by repenting and asking God to forgive you by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ,
you will fulfill God’s desire. Jesus
Christ is God's ONLY provision for man's sin.
As mankind is identified with Adam in a
substantial and realistic sense to be sinful, mankind is at the same time,
identified with Christ’s death that paid the penalty for all of our sin. Jesus is the only way (John 14:6).
Romans 10:9 and 10 says, “If you confess with your
mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the
dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in
righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” If a man confessed faith in Jesus, as the
Lord and Savior, and truly believed in his heart that God had raised him from
the dead, he is saved by the righteousness of Christ
imputed to him through faith. We must
devote our souls in believing with the heart, and in confessing with the
mouth. Confessing involves at least
another person. Do not deceive yourself
by saying that you know you are saved and that you do
not need to be baptized in public. Tell
your local pastor or a Christian who is in a leadership position.
If you have never given your life over to Jesus,
please follow the steps below. What is God’s
will for your life? First, you need to
hand over your life to Him. You need
surrender yourself to God and to be saved. That is God’s will number one (No. 1) for your life.
1.
God LOVES you, and desires you to belong to him.
[God] desires all men to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
(1 Timothy 2:4)
2.
God loves you and offers a wonderful PLAN for your
life.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
3.
However, you must
first realize that Man is SINFUL and
SEPARATED from God. In such condition,
it is not possible to know and experience God's love and plan for his life.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God. (Romans 3:23)
4.
The consequence
of being separated from God is eternal death.
For the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23a)
5.
Jesus Christ is God's ONLY provision for man's sin.
But
the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23b)
6.
Jesus died for
your sins and only by His death, the penalty for your sins have
been paid.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
Christ died for our sins according to the Bibles,
and
that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the
Bibles. (1
Corinthians 15:3b-4)
7.
Through Jesus Christ only, you can come to know God and
belong to God.
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one
comes to the Father but through Me. (John 14:6)
8. You must individually RECEIVE Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave
the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name. (John 1:12)
9.
You Receive
Christ Through Faith and Salvation.
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
(Ephesians 2:8)
10.
Only by receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, you can
know and experience God's love and plan for your life.
I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10b)
Prayer is
talking with God. It is not a fancy
uttering of words, but a simple conversation with God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned
with your words. It is the attitude of
your heart that He cares. The following
is a suggested prayer:
Jesus,
I am a sinner and I need you and need to be saved. I cannot save myself. Thank You for dying on the cross for my
sins. I repent of my sins and sincerely
open my heart to receive You as my Lord and
Savior. Thank You for hearing my prayer
and forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Please take control of my life and make me
the kind of person You want me to be. In your name. Amen
Does this prayer express the
desire of your heart?
If it does, pray this prayer right now,
and Christ will come into your life, just as He promised.
As a next step, talk to your local church pastor or
any Christians that you may know and tell them that you have decided to follow
Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
All materials are
copyrighted
© Prof. Charles Sunwood,
[1] Genesis 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.
[2] Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way And the
unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to
the LORD, And He will have compassion on him,
And to our God, For He
will abundantly pardon.