Diseases
are devastating. Diseases are ugly. Diseases are putrid. They are organisms’
that can affect only one person but also have an effect on a large group of
people, like a plague. Diseases can take many forms and have different effects,
but in the end they bring corruption of the human body. Diabetes is a powerful
disease that destroys a person if unchecked. It has no direct outward signs
telling that a person has the diseases. Shingles is a disease that is revealed
in a physical symptom, red bumps on the surface of the skin that itch but it
also includes a hidden pain inside the nervous system. Shingles, when treated
can be taken care of, but if left untreated shingles can have very drastic
effects. Cancer is another type of disease. Cancer is a spreading disease that
can travel throughout the body and slowly kill a person from the inside out if
not dealt with. Cancer can be a killing disease even with treatment. Sin is
just like a disease. Sin is a killer that can have physical signs or be more
internal. Disease can spread slowly, killing us that way, or it can be fast
paced and kill us right away. Sin is much worse though. Sin can kill us
spiritually and eternally if not dealt with properly with the only true cure,
the grace of God.
But what is sin? How can we define
what sin is or what it has done? The first place to begin the definition of sin
is to explain what sin is not. Sin is everywhere and is consumed in every human
from birth. So to show what sin is, the human race must not be used because
humans are filled with it. The sinless state then is the Holiness of God.
Holiness is the absence of sin and the imperfection of the sinful curse. God is
Holy because He is perfect, has no blemish or spot of sin or selfish state. God
hates sin and the imperfection that it brings. His holiness declares to the
universe that He hates sin. Man in his sinful cursed state cannot even fathom
the holiness of God. A. W. Tozer explains, “He [man] may fear God’s power and
admire His wisdom, but His holiness he cannot even imagine” Tozer adds
later, “God is holy and He has made holiness the moral condition of necessary
to the health of His universe…. Whatever is holy is healthy; evil is a moral
sickness that must end in death”. So holiness is the opposite of sin
which means God is the opposite of sin. That means that anything that goes
against God or is put before God is sin.
Sin then is a rebellion toward God
and His laws. 1 John 3:4 states clearly, “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in
fact, sin is lawlessness”. Breaking the laws of God then is sin, and putting
yourself before God is sin. Romans 3:23 sets it out from the beginning, “For
all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. If God and His holiness
is the standard, then not meeting that standard is sin and falling short.
Putting God first in all actions, words, and thoughts is what sin is not. Putting
yourself first in actions, thoughts, or words is sin. Timothy Keller explains
this concept further stating, “It [sin] is seeking to establish a sense of self
by making something else more central to your significance, purpose, and
happiness than your relationship to God”. Sin is pride, thinking of
yourself better than you should and not thinking of God first. Sin ultimately
then is not meeting the standard of God or what is called “missing the mark”
and falling short of what God desires. Romans 14:23 reminds us, “… and
everything that does not come from faith is sin”. Keller gives a nice simple
definition of sin saying, “Sin is seeking to become oneself, to get an
identity, apart from him [God]". We must realize that sin is separate
from God.
But where did sin come from, and
what is the original sin and how does that affect the human race? Genesis
chapter three talk about the first sin in the Garden of Eden. It tells us about
the pride of man and the selfish nature that thought it could be just like God.
Because of the first sin of Adam and Eve, all of mankind for the rest of time
will be born with a sin nature and a fallen state from the created perfection.
All men are born with a sin nature. Galatians 3:22 states, “But the scriptures
declare that the whole world is a prisoner of sin…”.Everyone suffers from sin
in their life. Sin is with mankind from the very first breath, and it cannot be
escaped. This is the original sin or the original state of mankind at birth.
Simply put all men sin in their lives because of this sin nature. “Original
sin…is humanity’s inherent pride and self-centeredness”. This sin
or pride about oneself infiltrates every aspect and part of a person. The sin is
in our mind and thoughts, our will and drives, our conscience, our heart and
emotions, and in the whole of a person. The sin nature is innate in our being.
Romans 7:18 tells us, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my
sinful nature”.
This sin nature then, leaves all
mankind totally depraved of all good or any actions in doing what is right in
the eyes of God. Even actions by humans that are deemed good in the human eyes
can never be good in the eyes of God because God is holy and we as humans can
never have a perfect loving motive behind our best actions. Even with the good
actions man still does them with a depraved, sinful and sometimes selfish
motive. Genesis 6:5 reminds us of this truth, “The LORD saw how great man’s
wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts
of his heart was only of evil all the time”. Yes, this verse is talking about
before the flood of Noah, but the same truth about man is still applicable
today. The entire human race is totally
depraved in the sight of God. This means that human beings can do nothing in
and of themselves to get in right standing with God. Humans are born with the
sinful nature and die with the sinful nature. Human beings are even slaves to
sin as Paul reminds us in Romans 6:17, “But thanks be to God that, though you
used to be slaves to sin… ”. Every person then is “spiritually dead” as
Ephesians 2:1 states, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and
sin”. Another great verse talking about
the totally depraved and sinful state is Psalms 14:3, “All have turned aside,
they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even
one”. Everyone is lost and in the dark because of sin. Man can do nothing on
his own, whether it is works or actions, man can never get away from or leave
behind the sinful nature. It is there with us all the time. Only by the works
of Jesus Christ and the saving grace and mercy of God the Father, can a person
escape the depraved and sinful state. But even then, a saved and forgiven
person cannot escape the human sin nature; they just escape the eternal
punishment for the sin nature. So even Christians, who are saved from eternal
punishment through Jesus Christ blood, still have a sin nature and will
continually sin throughout their saved and forgiven life.
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