The dictionary describes sin as an “immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law.” God’s Word— the Bible — says this about sin. “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4 NKJV ).
Sin is transgression — an overstepping of the law; the divine boundary between good and evil. Sin also violates the revealed will and purposes of Almighty God.
William MacDonald makes this commentary: “Sin is lawlessness. It is insubordination to God, wanting one’s own way, and refusing to acknowledge the Lord as rightful Sovereign. In essence it is placing ones own will above the will of God. It is opposition to a Living Person who has the right to be obeyed” (Believer’s Bible Commentary, pg. 2316 Thomas Nelson Publishers).
Sin actually originated with Satan, who said, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:14). And sin entered the world through Adam. The Bible says, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).
Adam’s sin was his disobedience. When God created Adam, He placed him in the garden of Eden. And God commanded Adam, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16,17).
Subsequently, Adam chose rather to disobey God, and as a result sin came into the world. Sin leads to death; and the Scripture says, “death spread to all men because all sinned.”
Because of sin, man has missed the mark by his failure to meet the divine standard of God. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” All have sinned means all mankind without exception. No human is guiltless, because everyone is born with the “sin nature,” or “adamic nature” which we inherited from Adam.
The apostle Paul in Romans 6:6 refers to the sin nature as the “old self.” It means all that man was in Adam, both morally and judicially; the corrupt human nature, the inborn tendency to do evil in all humanity.
C.I. Scofield said, “Sin may be summarized as threefold: (1) an act, the violation of, or want of obedience to, the revealed will of God; (2) a state, absence of righteousness; and (3) a nature, enmity toward God.”
In his confession and repentance for the sin he committed, King David said, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). Iniquity means lacking moral or spiritual principles. The Scripture says, “Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God” (Isaiah 59:2).
Because of what sin is and what it does, and the fact that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23); all mankind is condemned and doomed to a “lost eternity.” That is, without God and without hope. The Scripture describes this condition as being “dead in the trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).
In today’s society the seriousness of sin seems to be ignored, or treated as a minor problem, or as a way of life one has to live with. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sin is so serious because it is rebellion against God, and what He says. First Samuel 12:15 says, “But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you.”
However, It was not God’s intent for man to remain in such a hopeless condition. Therefore, God’s unconditional love, His mercy and grace, have provided the only way to restore the relationship man once had with God before it was subsequently lost in Adam when he sinned.
The only way is found in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s only Son who declares: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John. 14:6).
Those who believe and preach there’s more than one way to get to heaven is the devil’s lie. There’s absolutely no evidence of that in God’s Holy Word. Notice the definite article “the” in the text before way, truth, and life, meaning the particular thing is unique; unlike anything else.
The Bible also says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
The seriousness of sin caused Jesus Christ to go to the Cross and take the judgment and punishment you deserved in order that you may be forgiven and subsequently go to be with Him in heaven. With this in mind, why not ask Jesus to come into your heart and save you right now. There’s absolutely no time like the present.
Here’s how to do that. The Bible says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Romans 10:9,10).
The word justified in the text means by an act of God’s divine grace, and your faith in Jesus Christ, God declares you as being righteous, just as if you had never sinned.