What is Sin?

Most religious people have well developed ideas about a concept of sin. It is a major concern for many. But, what is it after all? What does the Christian New Testament identify as sin, and why?

A Definition

Sin is that which destroys life, spirit, and relationships in the life of persons. It may be understandings or actions. Its end result is the same: life is less because of it. The word “sin” means to miss the mark, be inaccurate to the truth, or to be erroneous as a lifestyle seeking the best and highest. Sin harms, destroys, misleads, and thwarts.

Religious people usually see sin as being against God, and they think that its bad results are rewards from God for disobedience. In fact, sin is sin whether one is religious or not. Sin is sin because of its destructive and debilitating results in life, not just because a religion says that it is wrong. Most negative results of sin are not the punishment of a god. They are the natural results of the sins themselves.

Societies identify sins that are important to themselves. Many do this in the name of their religion. But the sins identified are very similar from culture to culture and religion to religion. The Ten Commandments have never been unique to Judaism. They contain prohibitions common to all societies:
Do not murder
Do not steal
Do not falsely accuse another
Do not commit adultery
Do not envy

Societies have recognized the harmfulness of these kinds of lifestyles no matter what their religious observances. This is so because these behaviors are obviously detrimental to the social fabric of a person, tribe, town, or state.

How Do We Know What is Sin?

This is one of life’s most vexing questions. Most people have their own lists, as do societies. But how do we really know what kinds of actions build life and what kinds destroy life? The Garden of Eden story in the book of Genesis obviously predates the Hebrews and Judaism. Moses did not pen or compile the first five books of the Bible until 1400-1300 BCE. The Adam and Eve story had been passed down for generations before that. And that story deals with the secret of what is right and wrong. The fruit of the forbidden tree would give Adam and Eve the ability to distinguish between what is right for persons and what is wrong for persons. It is the common quest of all persons to try and understand which is which.

Jesus the Revealer of Right and Life

Jesus dealt with the issue of right and wrong when he taught,

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7.13-14 NASB)

His point is that the way is difficult to find. Where does one go to find the answers for happiness and fulfillment? Discovering that which is sinful and destructive is far easier than finding that which is fulfilling. Jesus went on to say that he had come to reveal the way,

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10.10 NASB)

The Garden of Eden account indicates that God knows the difference between right and wrong, but humans do not. It also implies that we must get such information from God if we are to know it. He is our source. He speaks to humanity through revelations to persons who speak for him to the world. These persons have been called angels and prophets, because they speak a message from God. Jesus said that he was such a messenger,

Truly, I say to you, he who hears my message, and believes it was him who sent me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. (John 5.24)

The writer of Hebrews said,

God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers through the prophets in many fragments and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us through his Son, whom he appointed the recipient of all things, through whom also he made the world. (Hebrews 1.1-2)

Jesus Discounted Religious Taboos as Being Sinful

The religious world of Israel into which Jesus came, was riddled with religious taboos which were labeled as sin. Jewish scholars had for several centuries continued to spin out applications of the Ten Commandments. Each Commandment was further and further defined in great detail to state what actions were a violation of its intent. Jesus was constantly running into specifics about what could not be done on the Sabbath in order to preserve its holiness.
At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and his disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath." (Matthew 12.1-2)

A man was there whose hand was withered. They questioned Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"--so that they might accuse him. And he said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?” (Matthew 12.10-11)

Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day. So the Judeans were saying to the man who was cured, "It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet." (John 5.9-10)
Jesus indicated that the Ten Commandments had been misunderstood by Judaism. They were not intended to be a burden around the necks of the people. They were intended to help persons know how to live life at its best.
Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2.27)

Jewish purification laws were also disrespected by Jesus. He did not honor rules and prohibitions that prevented persons from being the kind of persons whom God desired. The Parable of the Good Samaritan is an example in which purification laws kept a priest and a Levite from helping a man in need, while a despised Samaritan helped in spite of them.
"And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by over on the other side of the road. In a similar manner a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.” (Luke 10.31-32)

It is probable that the reason the two professional religious men did not help the man is because they could be made ritually unclean by touching blood or a dead body. Their religious taboos were more important than the man who needed desperate assistance. By telling this story as he did, Jesus identified what is important to God and what is not.

The many minor legalisms of religion are not important to God. That which is sin is that which actually does harm to persons and to society.

New Testament Uses for the Word Sin

In the New Testament, the Greek word hamartia is commonly used, but in various ways, all of which are translated into English as “sin.” The Greek word parabasis is usually translated as “disobedience” or “transgression.” The root meaning of harmartia was to miss an intended mark, or to be wrong or in error.

Sin as a transgression of the Ten Commandments: The woman caught in adultery.

Sin as a violation of Jewish mini laws: The sinners with whom Jesus dined were called sinners because they did not observe the hundreds of mini laws which grew out of the Ten Commandments.

Sin as an error: Jesus used the word to mean an error in understanding.

Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin [error]? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? (John 8.45-46 NIV)

Sin as thinking wrongly

Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot understand my message. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me. (John 8.43-45)
Since hamartia is used in various ways in the New Testament, it is not always easy to tell exactly how to translate it into English. The context in which it is used is the best indication of its meaning. And, even then the translation may be debatable. For instance,
in these last days [God] has spoken to us in his Son, whom he appointed the recipient of all things, through whom also he made the world. And he is the brightness of his glory and the exact representation of his personality, and supports everything in his message by his power. When he had made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, (Hebrews 1.2-3)
The translation, “purification of sins,” is a strange one for the context of the paragraph. The context is about Jesus revealing the person and character of God through his own person and through his message. The implication being that the world does not know who God really is and what he is really about. Jesus has come to set the record straight.

In that context, the use of hamartia must have more to do with misunderstanding and error than about overt transgressions. Jesus is communicating the truth about the Father in order to offset the misunderstandings that exist. So, hamartia should more accurately be translated “misunderstandings.” The verse would then read, “when he had cleansed us of our misunderstandings.” This translation would be more in keeping with the context of the passage.

Because translators believe the mission of Jesus was primarily about sacrificing himself for the sins of mankind, they are prone to translate everything related to purification and sin as part of that sacrificial process. In the case above, the context indicates that the subject is really Jesus’ revelation of the Father. The purification or cleansing being accomplished is a cleansing of the mind and understanding rather than that of transgressions.

It is easy to mistranslate words from one language to another. Numerous renderings are possible and the translator usually uses the one most appealing to himself. Sometimes this can be a mistranslation.

The meaning of sin is always about that which is erroneous whether it be actions done or a mindset which is wrong. Jesus came to help us with both because both rob life of its fullness and joy. That is why sin is sin. It destroys life and causes the death of the spirit.