Sin - What is it? Part 1

What is sin? We as Christians hear that Jesus died for it, but what does that mean? I'm publishing the first part of a series of simple posts that seek to briefly explain this important topic from Scripture.


The Bible says Jesus died for people’s sins. So what is sin?

Definition

The definition of sin is lawlessness: “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4).

The Law of God

God created the universe with natural law and order. The Bible teaches us that mankind was made with a moral law, which is contained in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). All ten commandments are summed up in these two commands: 1) “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,” and 2) “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 22:36-40).

Our Problem

Our problem is that we have each broken that standard. Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit would come to convict the world of sin (John 16:8,9), and the Spirit reveals to us in the Bible that “there is none righteous, no, not one... there is none that does good, no, not one” (Romans 3:10,12).