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What is Sin?
by L Cruz III2008
Under Construction
What is Sin?
Is sin simply being a bad boy
or girl? Or, is there more to it?
These are important
questions. If we do not understand the concept of sin, we will
never understand the benefits of being freed from it.
In the back of my Bible there
is a dictionary and it defines sin this way:
Sin–1. (v.) to break the law of God; 2. (n.) the act
of not doing what God wants.
I remember asking a close family member what “sin” meant
to him. Here is how he
responded. In a somewhat stern tone he
said, “To me, sin is the church pointing their finger at me and accusing me of
being bad!”
His
reaction is a very popular one that seems to have everything
to do with definitions similar to the one above. However, the problem, as I see it, is not necessarily the
definition itself, but rather the interpretation of the words within it. Words like “break”, “law” and “God” are so loaded with
deeper meanings that they often take a lifetime to understand.
Fortunately, I think this misunderstanding
can be somewhat remedied. And, I
think this can be done by incorporating some of the deeper meanings into the
definition.
In accordance with the
scripture of Adam and Eve, what if I were to substitute the word “break”, with
the words, “break away from?”
Sin–1. (v.) to break away
from the law of God; 2.
(n.) the act of not doing what God wants.
Next, let us clarify the
word “law” by substituting it with the words “universal order.”
Sin–1. (v.) to break away from the universal order
of God; 2. (n.) the act of not doing what God
wants.
And finally, based on 1 John
4:8 that teaches us that God is love, let us replace the word ‘God” with the word
“Love?”
Sin–1. (v.) to break away from the universal
order of love; 2. (n.) the act of not doing what
love
wants.
Suddenly, with this new
definition two things happen.
1) the meaning behind the
word sin becomes more concrete
2) the benefit of
being freed from sin becomes more appealing.
(However, it is also important to understand
that God's love is not only wider, deeper and more profound than the
love we understand, but the wonder of His nature reaches far beyond love
alone...a topic we will explore in later articles.)
I think few people
could have defined sin more eloquently than Susanna Wesley, the wise and brilliant mother
of one of the most influential leaders of the Christian movement, John Wesley. In a June 8th 1725 letter to John she wrote:
"Take this rule: whatever weakens your
reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of
God, or takes off your relish of
spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of
your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be
in itself."
Isn't that beautiful. By that deeper
explanation, perhaps it may also be said that:
Sin is the breaking away from the universal order of
love.
Sin is
the breaking away from the universal order of Truth.
Sin is
the breaking away from the universal order of a tender Conscience.
Sin is
the breaking away from the universal order of Intellect.
Sin is the breaking away from the universal order of God.
Sin and
Others?
"Teacher, which is the greatest
commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and
greatest commandment. And the
second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on
these two commandments." (Matthew 22:34-40)
In the above scripture, Jesus clearly
points to a responsibility we have to our neighbors (anyone other than us). We are
to treat them in
In her book, “It Takes a Village: and other Lessons Children Teach Us”, former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton describes how children not only learn from their parents, but they also assimilate to what they see acted out around them…i.e. in their neighborhoods, on television, on billboards, in their schools, etc. In other words, children often assimilate to actions found in their “village.”
Now, consider this. In the Bible, Jesus
also says:
"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my
name welcomes me. But if anyone
causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for
him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the
depths of the sea.
"Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!”(Matthew 18:5-7)
This
means we ought to pay special attention to ensure we do not intentionally do things that could cause others to separate
from God (who is Love).
This not only applies
to actual children, but also all of us as we are each children of
God.
There is much more to this
topic.
(To be continued...)