Sin

Read Romans 3:23-24

23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God freely and graciously declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. (NLT)

We have a problem with sin. Not just the fact that we do sin and thus displease God,but also in the way the word is understood. Many see ‘sin’ as doing something especially bad. One or more acts that are morally objectionable,especially involving sex.

The Bible begs to differ. Sin is not just various improper acts. It is an ongoing tendency we have to go our own way independently of God. It is a falling short of his standard of perfection that is universal and inevitable in the human race. It is an attitude of mind before it is a series of actions.

As our text says,it is common to us all,not just the ‘bad’ people. It covers pride as well as adultery,envy as well as violence,arrogance as well as drunkenness. And all such sin,radical or ‘respectable’ is able to be forgiven if we trust in what Jesus did on the cross when he took the guilt of it all on himself.

It may be unwise,in certain contexts,to use the word ‘sin’ given its misunderstandings. But we dare not ignore the reality behind the word. To deny the painful and ugly reality is to also deny the comforting and wonderful reality of the remedy. Which is the grace and mercy of a God who longs to see us as his children and not mere ‘sinners’.

Blessings
David Reay