Paul says in Rom. 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our LORD.” If we want to live we need to know what “sin” is so we do not die.
The Bible tells us exactly what sin is and only God through His Word is qualified to define sin. Therefore we will let the Bible (God’s Word) tell us what sin is. As we study we will learn sin can be either an act of “commission” or an act of “omission” against the will of God.
- I John 3:4 “Sin is the transgression of the law” and from the N.I.V. …”sin is lawlessness”. Breaking God’s moral law of the Ten Commandments is a sin of commission. One has “transgressed”, stepped across or gone beyond a boundary or limit set by God. We see in Romans 7:12-14 the “Law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good”. Sin is the active violation of God’s laws and He gives us a choice to obey Him or not (Deut. 30:15-16).
- A second concept of sin is to “Miss the mark”. We aim to do right by God but we fall short. This is still sin. God gives us standards and expectations. We often miss the mark in trying to obey Him. Scripture defines His standards and sin is not just an arbitrary list of do’s and don’ts. I John 5: 17 says “All wrongdoing is sin”. Therefore any action or wrong behavior is sin. Our actual thoughts can be sin. Matt. 5:21-22, 27-28. Our internal personal thoughts may not manifest into “action” but they can still be sin. Both sins of omission and commission can be sin.
- ”Everything that does not come from faith is sin.” Rom. 14:23. If we violate our conscious we are sinning. If we do something we think we should not be doing, then we are sinning. Compromising God’s law and what He instructs us to do is a sin. These are sins of commission- we actually physically did something against the Word of God.
- James 4:17 says, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” This is where character comes in. Righteous character is simply knowing right from wrong and choosing to do the right. Jesus tells us in Matthew 25:31-46 that it is our intent and thoughts that count. We must obey even the “spirit of the law” not just the “letter of the law”. It is what is in our heart and mind that God will see and judge. We must do the good we know to do. James 2:14-17 …”faith without works is dead.” Galatians 5:16 says we must walk in the spirit and then we will not suffer the lust of the flesh. Omitting to do God’s will is a sin.
We have seen sin is the “transgression of God’s law”, to “miss the mark”, “whatever is not of faith is sin” and “knowing to do good and not doing the good is sin”. Sin can be an act of omission or commission. God wants us to think like He does (Phil. 2:5) and to keep our thoughts and actions pure and righteous based on His Commandments and attitude of love.
Sin can be both active (commission) and passive (omission) of God’s will. In the final analysis, “Sin is anything that is contrary to the will of God.”
