Sin is a strange word to use in Western culture, largely because we don’t really know what it means. It is not going against the grain of cultural standards, nor is it making a poor decision.[1] Nor is it even the temptation to defy God and His commands (Matt. 4). It is a deliberate and multifaceted act defined by:
Notes: 1. A poor decision is choosing fish over steak at a wedding. Or choosing fish in general. But then, I don’t really care for fish.
This post is adapted from Devotional Doctrine: Delighting in God, His Word, and His World, a new free digital resource from The Gospel Project exploring the essential doctrines of the Christian faith and how doctrine shapes our devotion. Get your free copy here.
- Missing the mark. Sin is falling short of God’s glory and His standards for humanity by our conscious choice to defy Him (Rom. 3:23).
- Transgression. It is lawbreaking, or transgression, a deliberate act of defiance of God’s explicit commands (Rom. 5:14; 1 Tim. 2:14).
- Rebellion. Speaking to the heart of our transgressions, the rebellious nature of sin is our desire to disobey God, shaking our clenched fists at the One who has made us and shown us the way to life (Isa. 1:2).
- Selfishness. Sin is acting out of a selfish attitude, one that assumes happiness comes from doing whatever we think we want rather than obedience to God. It is putting ourselves first rather than others (Phil. 2:3).
- Idolatry. Our sin is the real-world manifestation of what rules our hearts, our worship of someone or something other than God, whether statues of wood or gold, status, security, power, or pleasure (Matt. 15:10-20; Jas. 4:1-10).
Taking Sin as Seriously as God Does
There is no exception to this reality. All of us are without excuse. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). And if we truly want lost people to see Christ as their only hope and to see the lies of a world opposed to God for what they are, we need to embrace the Bible’s shocking portrayal of the state of humanity. Here’s what that requires of us:- Honesty about our own sin. When it comes to our own sinfulness, we are the Black Knight shouting, “It’s just a flesh wound,” and trying to wage war despite our arms and legs being hacked off.51 As Christians, it’s tempting to behave as though our sin is somehow less offensive to God than the sins of those who do not believe or even those of other believers, at least the ones we think we are better than. Instead, the gospel encourages us to see our own sins as the most offensive to God and ourselves as “the worst of them” (1 Tim. 1:15-16). There is no room for posturing or self-righteousness in the Christian life because the whole point of Christianity is you haven’t got any of that anyway!
- Correcting the world’s lies. We don’t condemn those who don’t believe, for they are already condemned by their sin (John 3:18). But we do still need to correct the world’s lies. We need to be honest about the consequences of sin, that all it offers is the certainty of death. To be honest enough to say sin really is as bad as God says it is.
- Sharing the story of the One who overcame sin. The gospel really is good news for the whole world, and it is even better when we realize just how much Jesus overcame to rescue us. Defeating sin, taking on Himself the penalty our sin was due, cost Jesus more than we can ever imagine, but He did it because of the joy set before Him, the joy of seeing His people perfected and this world redeemed forevermore (Heb. 12:2).
Notes: 1. A poor decision is choosing fish over steak at a wedding. Or choosing fish in general. But then, I don’t really care for fish.
This post is adapted from Devotional Doctrine: Delighting in God, His Word, and His World, a new free digital resource from The Gospel Project exploring the essential doctrines of the Christian faith and how doctrine shapes our devotion. Get your free copy here.
Anita Spiller says
I am glad to find this comment area as I have serious questions about the new format of the Fall edition of the adult weekly books which we use in Sunday School. For several years we have used this material and were delighted with the sophisticated context and in depth lessons with so many commentaries on each page of the leaders manual. It had an easy flow of information to follow and share with our classes of adults. Now the format is choppy, broken up by the words saying, “read, say, instruct, explain, interact, etc” as though instructing beginners. Do you have any sequential alternatives which would be more similar to the previous texts? Thank you.
Brian Dembowczyk says
Hi, Anita. Sorry that you are not finding the new format of the Leader Guide ideal, but we hope that in time, as you get used to it, you will find it just as helpful, if not more helpful than the previous version.
The changes in the Leader Guide were made to help groups engage in more meaningful discussion and to equip leaders—less experienced and more experienced—to structure a meaningful group experience. Keep in mind that those prompts (as is the entire Leader Guide) are suggestions that leaders can adapt for their context.
One of the benefits of the new layout is that the group leader portion of the guide is now integrated with the commentary meaning leaders do not have to flip back and forth. Also the content in the Daily Discipleship Guide group time is included so leaders can see what their group members are seeing during a session.
We still provide the same depth of content (with the 99 Essential Doctrines more integrated into the sessions than before) and several additional commentary excerpts are provided at the end of each session for group leaders who want to go deeper still.
Thanks for your feedback, and again, we hope that you grow to appreciate and love the new format.