Sin

1. God Permitted the Existence of Sin.

God predestined and foreordained everything that will ever happen (Rom. 11:36). Therefore, God predestined sin. Sin is not an accident; it is part of God's overall plan to glorify Himself. God foreordained sin so as to further glorify His holiness and love. God is glorified in His wrath by punishing sin and in His grace by forgiving it. The first one to sin was Satan, but that was not the whole beginning. It was planned. God predestined it negatively and by permission, rather than positively or actively, as He did in predestinating good.

2. God Cannot Be Blamed for Sin.

Though God predestined its existence, God cannot be blamed or accused. In this sense, God is not the author of sin, nor its approver, essential source or promoter. God is holy. He does only that which is holy. God does no evil or wickedness. Nor does He tempt people to sin (James 1:13). This is a deep mystery. But it is sufficient for us to remember Rom. 9:19-20. Sinful Man cannot blame the sinless God. The faultfinder is at fault and cannot find fault in God.


3. God Put Adam and Eve in a Covenant of Works.

Adam and Eve were created holy and innocent, not neutral. But it was a kind of naive innocence; it needed to be tested. So God put them on a conditional standing. If they obeyed, fine. They would be granted immortality. Otherwise, they would die. We call this the Covenant of Works. They did not earn or merit salvation. Rather, they were tested to see if they would maintain their loyalty to God. Adam was the Federal Head, or representative, for all mankind. If he passed, they passed; if he failed, they failed. Some think the test was for a short probationary time; others say it was perpetual. Either way, it was conditional.

4. Adam and Eve Disobeyed God.

They failed the test and broke the Covenant of Works. It took only a single act of disobedience. This was the first sin on Earth, and through it entered sin and death to the rest of humanity (Rom. 5:12). Eve was actually the first one to sin, and unlike Adam, she was deceived while Adam went into it deliberately (I Tim. 2:14). Their sin involved more than eating the Forbidden Fruit, whatever it was. It included unbelief in God's Word, making themselves the test of all truth, obedience to Satan, idolatry, selfishness, greed, putting tangible pleasures before spiritual duties, disregard for the glory of God, and many other sins. They were punished with immediate spiritual death, eventual physical death, banishment from Eden, and loss of fellowship with God. Adam was cursed with having to sweat hard in his work, and Eve was cursed with labor pains in childbirth and the tendency to rebel against Adam.

5. Sin is Disobedience to God's Law.

The Bible, not psychology or majority opinion, determines what sin is. God defines sin as the breaking of His Law (I John 3:4). God's Law is summed up in the 2 love Commandments and in the 10 Commandments. Sin is when we fail to do what God tells us to do or when we do what God tells us not to do. We call these sins of omission and commission (cf. James 4:17). One word for “sin” means failure to hit the mark. A trespass is when we do what ought not to do, like trespassing where we ought not to go. A transgression is an act of disobedience to a known Law. An iniquity is an inequality in our dealings with God and Man.

6. There Are Many Kinds of Sins.

There are many catalogs of sins in the Bible, and also many examples. There are also various kinds of sins. Some sins involve the body, others the mind (Eph. 2:3). Some are internal only, others involve external acts. We sin in thought, word and deed. Some sins are new, others old. Some are habits, or besetting sins (Heb. 12:1). We are born in Original Sin and later commit individual acts of Actual Sin. Some sins are civil crimes, others not. Some are against ourselves (vice), others are against other people. Some are mortal, others non-mortal (I John 5:16-17) The list goes on and on. And all are evil, wicked, black and despicable.

7. Some Sins Are Worse than Others.

All sins deserve punishment, but some deserve more punishment than others. Some are crimes which deserve punishment here on Earth, either by civil law or by God's direct act. Judas had a “greater sin” than Pilate (John 19:11). Sin is determined by knowledge of God's Law, and some have the Law only in conscience and Nature while others have it in the Bible. A willful and deliberate sin is worse than a sin of ignorance. An external sin is worse than one which is only internal, for it involves both. A repeated sin is worse than a new sin. Sins directly against God (such as blasphemy or sacrilege) are worse than those directly against Man (such as hatred). Murder is worse than hate. Some deserve more punishment in Hell than others. But even the smallest sin is far worse than we think.

8. There is an Unpardonable Sin.

Unless a person is forgiven, he will be punished in Hell. But there is a unique kind of sin mentioned in Matt. 12:31-32 that is unpardonable both in this life and in the next. It is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. It is very rare and confirms that a person is reprobate and will never repent. A person commits it when he is convinced that the special work of God is real, but he attributes it to Satan rather than to God. This is similar to the extreme form of apostasy in Hebrews 6. Apostasy is when a person renounces his profession of faith in Christ and the Gospel, showing that he never was truly saved to begin with. In some cases, this involves the unpardonable blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

9. There is No Excuse for Sin.

Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed Satan. Adam even blamed God. We try to shift the blame onto others, such as friends and family, our environment, etc. But we can blame no one but ourselves. We cannot blame Adam for Original Sin, for we were part of Adam. We cannot say, “Someone tempted me” like Eve did, nor “I couldn't help it”. Nor can we blame God in any form or fashion. Though God foreordained sin, we alone have the guilt. God tests us by allowing us to be tempted by Satan, but He Himself does not solicit to sin (James 1:13). Indeed, God always provides a way of escape from temptation if we would only listen (I Cor. 10:13). Sin is no small thing. It is no laughing matter. Only fools scoff at sin or make excuses.

10. Sinners Deserve Punishment.

Sin brings guilt. We are responsible to God, and culpable for our every thought, word and deed. Every person deserves to be punished. God is angry with all sinners and everyone deserves to be punished in Hell forever, no matter how many sins they have committed or of what kind. Rom. 6:23, “The wages of sin is death”, meaning we have earned it. The thief on the cross spoke rightly when he said, “We are getting what we deserve.” In repentance, we admit that we have no excuse and have only ourselves to blame. Confession means we admit that we deserve to be punished in Hell. Conviction of sin is when we finally know it.