Sin is transgression of God’s divine laws. God is holy, just, and righteous, while mortal man is unholy, unjust, and unrighteous. Unrighteousness means wrongdoing, which is offense against God. The Scripture teaches that all unrighteousness is sin (1 John 5:17). Sin is lawlessness. (1 John 3:4).
William MacDonald makes a very insightful commentary about sin. “Sin is lawlessness (1 Jn. 3:4), the rebellion of the creature’s will against the will of God. Sin is not only doing what is wrong but the failure to do what one knows to be right (Jas.4:17). Whatever is not of faith is sin (Rom.14:23). This means it is wrong for a man to do anything about which he has a reasonable doubt. If he does not have a clear conscience about it, and yet goes ahead and does it, he is sinning.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary p. 1688).
Sin came into the world through one man. 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). Man inherited his sinful nature from Adam who was the federal head and representative of the human race. The nature and practice of sin has been on earth non-stop ever since Adam’s disobedience.
God created Adam and placed him in the Garden of Eden to “work it and keep it.” Genesis 2:16,17 says, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every three 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.”
Adam chose to disobey God’s commands and ate of the forbidden tree. Disobedience is definitely sin. Therefore, Adam’s sin resulted in spiritual and physical death on the earth.
Man commits sin because he is a sinner by nature and by practice. King David said this about himself and it also applies to all mankind from Adam. “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5). This means no human can escape this condition.
The Scriptures clearly teach that God is love. First John 4:10 says “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Not because God is love will he condone or overlook sin in any way, shape, or form. Sin is repugnant to God, hence he provided His only Son—Jesus Christ—to shed His blood and die on the Cross for man’s forgiveness. The Bible 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).
King Solomon, the wisest man, identifies seven specific things God hates. He writes: “There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” (Proverbs 6:16-19). The dreadful results of sin.
Jesus was the only one who could pay the penalty for man’s sin. Jesus was God manifest in the flesh. In order to satisfy God’s divine justice, man’s sin was laid on Jesus when He died on the Cross. Only the shed blood and death of Jesus make man’s forgiveness possible. The Bible says, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” (Hebrews 9:22).
A person can receive God’s forgiveness at any time by repenting of his or her sins and trusting Jesus Christ as Savior. 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 means God declares you righteous when you receive Jesus Christ as your Savior.
It is important to understand and believe ‘Jesus is Lord’ and to accept that God raised Him from the dead. You cannot trust Jesus as Savior and have reservations about Him completely as Lord. Justification is the result of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; not only that He died but also God raised Him from the dead. The Bible says Jesus “was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” (Romans 4:25).
Salvation is God’s free Gift to sinful mankind. Salvation is by God’s Grace alone, through Faith alone, and through the atoning work of Jesus Christ alone on the Cross.
The Scripture clearly teaches “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8,9).
Salvation is not of works, which means it is not something that a person can earn by doing good, having religion, or being morally upright. Neither can a person be saved by faith plus works, as some may believe. It is completely impossible. People are saved through faith alone, and in Jesus Christ alone. Why not now? Why not come to Jesus now? May God help you to do so now. Amen.