Maybe we should start with a definition here first. What is sin? From my study, it is anything contrary to the will of God. Please take note here that I am talking about the one true God. You might identify Him as the Christian or the Hebrew God. He is certainly not the demon that is worshiped in Islam. He is the Lord God and he hates sin.
There are many things that are contrary to His will - things that constitute sin; things that humanity has regularly participated in since it first started making its own moral choices. We are a sinful race. We are able to choose to do or not do things that are within God's will. This is the way He created us. He wanted us to be able to see the choices before us and choose to do His will and refrain from all things sinful. I am sure that, as our Creator, He knew that this would be a battle for us, but that ultimately some of us would make the right choices if we had the correct information. He supplied us with the Law as handed down to Moses so that we would know what sin was; so that we would be without excuse. He sent His Son to refine our understanding of what sin is and how to live without it. Most importantly though, He gave His son a mission to redeem us from our bad choices and empower us to make the right choices. Once His Son's work was finished, God sent those of us who believe, His Holy Spirit. He was and is God's permanent presence in the lives of those of us that believe. He indwells us and strengthens our will power to withstand temptation and the urges of our decaying bodies to sin. I have left some very important things out of this equation for the sake of brevity, but the bottom line is that God knows we will sin. He knows we are weak. And this is why He has provided us a way out and and a way back to Him. He had to do this. If He did not, judgement and eternal condemnation would have been required. He did not want that for us.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, wrote a letter to the Roman Church explaining these things much better than I am doing now. In the first few chapters of the letter, Paul outlines how humanity ended up in their present sinful condition. He leaves no wiggle room for anyone. We have all sinned. Chapters one and two are and indictment of the human race and Paul makes no distinction between unbelievers and believers in his condemnation of sin.
ROMANS 1:18 - 2:11
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
2 You, therefore, have no excuse,
you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge
another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do
the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
5 But
because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are
storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”[g] 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.The world is an evil place. We all live in a fallen state. Our physical bodies have been corrupted by the works of sin. We have become weak and cannot save ourselves from God's wrath that is overdue because of sin.
The answer is Jesus. He is the only way out of the condemnation of God and He is the only way into a right relationship with God. Paul discusses this in depth in his letter to the Romans and maybe we can discus that tomorrow or in the near future. Tomorrow however I believe we will look at Romans 2:1. This is a scripture which gets regularly ignored by believers when the study of chapter one commences. It must not be glossed over. It points a finger directly at the self righteousness of believers. It is a warning shot. Christians, know this; no one is righteous.
