What is sin?

[WandererAtHeart]

My best friend and I were having a conversation today about spiritual matters and especially spiritual matters relating to non-believers and how Christians often expect them to have Christian values even if they don't believe in God; and she asked me the question "What is sin?" and went on to elaborate by asking if I were to try to explain sin to an unbeliever who doesn't believe in God or doesn't believe the Bible, how would I explain it? I never really thought about what sin is, apart from any action that disobeys or dishonors God. She also mentioned that what is wrong to some believers may not be wrong to others, i.e. what we we eat or what we believe about things like tattoos or styles of clothing or what we can listen to or watch - and sometimes we put those opinions in the category of sin if they are different than ours.

But I couldn't really come up with a direct answer for how I would explain what sin is to an unbeliever. And certainly, I don't think we should hold unbelievers to our standards whatsoever. That means I don't think we should be shaming unbelievers for what our definition of sin is - because they don't have the moral compass that we do.

So how would you answer this question?

 

[Nic]

My best friend and I were having a conversation today about spiritual matters and especially spiritual matters relating to non-believers and how Christians often expect them to have Christian values even if they don't believe in God; and she asked me the question "What is sin?" and went on to elaborate by asking if I were to try to explain sin to an unbeliever who doesn't believe in God or doesn't believe the Bible, how would I explain it? I never really thought about what sin is, apart from any action that disobeys or dishonors God. She also mentioned that what is wrong to some believers may not be wrong to others, i.e. what we we eat or what we believe about things like tattoos or styles of clothing or what we can listen to or watch - and sometimes we put those opinions in the category of sin if they are different than ours.

But I couldn't really come up with a direct answer for how I would explain what sin is to an unbeliever. And certainly, I don't think we should hold unbelievers to our standards whatsoever. That means I don't think we should be shaming unbelievers for what our definition of sin is - because they don't have the moral compass that we do.

So how would you answer this question?

In a concise way, anything not of God is sin.

 

[Edward429451]

I think you are over thinking it. You know darn good and well what sin is. You have a conscience and it will attack you when you think about sinning or doing something wrong, don't do that, it would be wrong, and they hear it too. . So everybody knows the difference between right and wrong.

That's just the logical view. Bigger than that, we know as believers that we were all created for God's glory. So anything that we do that does not bring glory to God, is sin. One doesnt even have to steal or rob or murder to sin. People sin with their mouth every day.

Does speaking gossip open the door to gossip demons? There's a distinct possibility that it does. So we can not hold unbelievers to our standard. We do not have a Standard! We are all under God's Standards.

Sometimes some gay sympathizer somewhere will explain to me that I should be a loving Christian and love and accept the gays for who they are, because God loves gays too! It's only Christian!

That's when I ask them, if God loves gays so much, then why did He Blow Sodom & Gomorrah off the Map?!! And they understand it because they have a conscience too.

But, we are not supposed to judge them, we just, know their lying. We are charged to Diligently Guard our Heart against such deceptions.

 

[Lamb]

My best friend and I were having a conversation today about spiritual matters and especially spiritual matters relating to non-believers and how Christians often expect them to have Christian values even if they don't believe in God; and she asked me the question "What is sin?" and went on to elaborate by asking if I were to try to explain sin to an unbeliever who doesn't believe in God or doesn't believe the Bible, how would I explain it? I never really thought about what sin is, apart from any action that disobeys or dishonors God. She also mentioned that what is wrong to some believers may not be wrong to others, i.e. what we we eat or what we believe about things like tattoos or styles of clothing or what we can listen to or watch - and sometimes we put those opinions in the category of sin if they are different than ours.

But I couldn't really come up with a direct answer for how I would explain what sin is to an unbeliever. And certainly, I don't think we should hold unbelievers to our standards whatsoever. That means I don't think we should be shaming unbelievers for what our definition of sin is - because they don't have the moral compass that we do.

So how would you answer this question?

I guess I would start off with the definition of sin as "miss the mark". Then I'd explain how God is good and Holy and probably bring in the 10 commandments, since even unbelievers are somewhat familiar with the Christian commandments. I would want to find something that could help them understand, something a little relatable.

 

[jswauto]

Remember this TV show: The Way of the Master

 

[Frankj]

In its simplest form, I would say sin is standing in opposition to God instead of cooperation with him.

If that is accepted then the question shifts to how do we know when, or if, we are doing this?

Of course, this requires acknowledgment that God exists, at least in some form, in the first place.

 

[Edward429451]

Romans 1:20
20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God..../NLT

People do know the difference between right and wrong, good and evil. If they say different, then they are either lying or have deceived themselves.

 

[BruceLeiter]

My best friend and I were having a conversation today about spiritual matters and especially spiritual matters relating to non-believers and how Christians often expect them to have Christian values even if they don't believe in God; and she asked me the question "What is sin?" and went on to elaborate by asking if I were to try to explain sin to an unbeliever who doesn't believe in God or doesn't believe the Bible, how would I explain it? I never really thought about what sin is, apart from any action that disobeys or dishonors God. She also mentioned that what is wrong to some believers may not be wrong to others, i.e. what we we eat or what we believe about things like tattoos or styles of clothing or what we can listen to or watch - and sometimes we put those opinions in the category of sin if they are different than ours.

But I couldn't really come up with a direct answer for how I would explain what sin is to an unbeliever. And certainly, I don't think we should hold unbelievers to our standards whatsoever. That means I don't think we should be shaming unbelievers for what our definition of sin is - because they don't have the moral compass that we do.

So how would you answer this question?

@WandererAtHeart, Jesus said in Mat 5:48--"You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Anything that we do, say, or think that is not perfect is sin. It boils down to putting ourselves first in our thoughts, feelings, and decisions instead of God.

However, an unbeliever will probably never bring up the subject of "sin." On the other hand, most unbelievers will agree that nobody's perfect. We should approach people in terms that they understand, not our jargon, until they want to know more about the Christian faith.

 

[Edward429451]

@WandererAtHeart, Jesus said in Mat 5:48--"You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Anything that we do, say, or think that is not perfect is sin. It boils down to putting ourselves first in our thoughts, feelings, and decisions instead of God.

However, an unbeliever will probably never bring up the subject of "sin." On the other hand, most unbelievers will agree that nobody's perfect. We should approach people in terms that they understand, not our jargon, until they want to know more about the Christian faith.

Your post reminds me of a Cherokee Proverb.

A Cherokee Proverb
A young boy came to his Grandfather, filled with anger at another boy who had done him an injustice.

The old Grandfather said to his grandson, "Let me tell you a story. I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down, and hate does not hurt your enemy. Hate is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die.

I have struggled with these feelings many times." "It is as if there are two wolves inside me; one wolf is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offence when no offence was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.

But the other wolf, is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper." "He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, because his anger will change nothing.

Sometimes it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, because both of the wolves try to dominate my spirit." The boy looked intently into his Grandfather's eyes and asked, "Which wolf will win, Grandfather?" The Grandfather smiled and said, "The one I feed.".../

That is the battle that is inside every one of us. The battle is between our Soul and our Spirit. They fight over who are you going to side with in your mind when you make your decisions that control your flesh body.

So scripture says be led by the spirit and overcome the flesh (with your spirit). The spirit must dominate the flesh (and soul!) to control the flesh body.

Now the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit, so our spirit always knows what is God''s will. So we feed our spirit the word of God, and discipline ourselves to do the right thing, the better thing about whatever it might be.

If we listen to our soul and pursue soulish things, our soul only wants things according to our 5 senses and pleasure and worldly entertainment ...scripture says it leads to death.

It pays to do the right thing! Can the readers go 24 hours without sinning?
I can do it. It isn't that hard. But we're (technically) in peacetime right now so that makes it easy I think.

 

[jswauto]

Morality is a broad term that generally describes the adherence (or lack of adherence) to a set of standards or norms for behavior. In that understanding, everybody practices some form of morality. An atheist may not believe in God, but will still have an internalized sense of right or wrong as well as a set of expectations for himself and others. There has never been a universally agreed set of moral standards. Different people, different cultures have a variety of moral understandings and ways of discussing what it means to be “moral.”

“Sin” is a word that is used frequently in a wrong manner. Popularly it is used either to denote moral infractions (breaking the rules), or, religiously, breaking God’s rules. Thus when someone asks, “Is it a sin to do x,y, z?” what they mean is, “Is it against God’s rules to do x,y, z?”

 

[Nic]

Morality is a broad term that generally describes the adherence (or lack of adherence) to a set of standards or norms for behavior. In that understanding, everybody practices some form of morality.

Agreed.

An atheist may not believe in God, but will still have an internalized sense of right or wrong as well as a set of expectations for himself and others.

Agreed.

There has never been a universally agreed set of moral standards. Different people, different cultures have a variety of moral understandings and ways of discussing what it means to be “moral.”

This appears to illustrates the issue of the source of the law. The source of the law, that is most clearly defined, is found in God's word. Whereas when the law is derived from people's hearts, this tends towards less clarity. I believe this accounts for the various differences you mention. Have you considered this or do you have an alternative view that explains this better?

“Sin” is a word that is used frequently in a wrong manner. Popularly it is used either to denote moral infractions (breaking the rules), or, religiously, breaking God’s rules. Thus when someone asks, “Is it a sin to do x,y, z?” what they mean is, “Is it against God’s rules to do x,y, z?”

I believe it's fair to say if you sin against man you sin against God. Every sin appears to have at least two characteristics; breaking the first commandment and covetousness. Thank you for your reply.

 

[Lamb]

I believe it's fair to say if you sin against man you sin against God. Every sin appears to have at least two characteristics; breaking the first commandment and covetousness. Thank you for your reply.

That's what I was taught...when we sin, it's against God ultimately.

 

[WandererAtHeart]

I think you are over thinking it. You know darn good and well what sin is. You have a conscience and it will attack you when you think about sinning or doing something wrong, don't do that, it would be wrong, and they hear it too. . So everybody knows the difference between right and wrong.

That's just the logical view. Bigger than that, we know as believers that we were all created for God's glory. So anything that we do that does not bring glory to God, is sin. One doesnt even have to steal or rob or murder to sin. People sin with their mouth every day.

Does speaking gossip open the door to gossip demons? There's a distinct possibility that it does. So we can not hold unbelievers to our standard. We do not have a Standard! We are all under God's Standards.

Sometimes some gay sympathizer somewhere will explain to me that I should be a loving Christian and love and accept the gays for who they are, because God loves gays too! It's only Christian!

That's when I ask them, if God loves gays so much, then why did He Blow Sodom & Gomorrah off the Map?!! And they understand it because they have a conscience too.

But, we are not supposed to judge them, we just, know their lying. We are charged to Diligently Guard our Heart against such deceptions.

No need to come at me in a condescending way saying about how I "know darn good and well what sin is". *I* do know what sin is, but I never really thought about it in depth beyond "sin is doing the wrong thing" or "doing something against God's will". The whole purpose of asking the question was to go deeper than that, for the purpose of explaining it to unbelievers who may ask and also to think about it on a deeper level for myself and my own walk. Yes, my conscience will get me - but sometimes, there are gray areas of things, that some will say are sins and some will say are not sins. What is sin to us believers is not sin to unbelievers. So how do we explain that they need to be saved from their sin, unless we explain what sin is and why it is so egregious?

 

[Edward429451]

No need to come at me in a condescending way saying about how I "know darn good and well what sin is". *I* do know what sin is, but I never really thought about it in depth beyond "sin is doing the wrong thing" or "doing something against God's will". The whole purpose of asking the question was to go deeper than that, for the purpose of explaining it to unbelievers who may ask and also to think about it on a deeper level for myself and my own walk. Yes, my conscience will get me - but sometimes, there are gray areas of things, that some will say are sins and some will say are not sins. What is sin to us believers is not sin to unbelievers. So how do we explain that they need to be saved from their sin, unless we explain what sin is and why it is so egregious?

Sorry about that. I didn't realize that I was speaking to a female when I wrote that. So let me apologize for talking to you like a man. I know full well how sensitive the girls can be and easily find offense where there is none intended. That's just how men talk, it's nothing personal. Lighten up. I will be sure to add plenty of sugarcoat for you next time.

 

[Lamb]

Sorry about that. I didn't realize that I was speaking to a female when I wrote that. So let me apologize for talking to you like a man. I know full well how sensitive the girls can be and easily find offense where there is none intended. That's just how men talk, it's nothing personal. Lighten up. I will be sure to add plenty of sugarcoat for you next time.

Whoa! That's enough of that.

If you continue down this path like you've been doing toward members as well as myself, you could get a time out from this site for a while. There is absolutely NO need to be so condescending! It's not Christ-like behavior. Please reconsider how you post toward others. Do not address people personally, just stick to the topics and there won't be a problem.

 

[WandererAtHeart]

Sorry about that. I didn't realize that I was speaking to a female when I wrote that. So let me apologize for talking to you like a man. I know full well how sensitive the girls can be and easily find offense where there is none intended. That's just how men talk, it's nothing personal. Lighten up. I will be sure to add plenty of sugarcoat for you next time.

Interesting....because I knew I was speaking to men when I posted what I did and I also knew that I was speaking to a man when I responded to you but I didn't treat you in a condescending way, even though I have been severely abused by men in the past. Regardless of whether I am a woman or a man, if you name the name of Christ, then part of walking the walk is not treating your fellow brothers and sisters as subordinates or incompetent humans compared to you. It's one thing if someone is walking in sin and you call them out on their sin - it's another if you're just being rude and condescending because, of all things, I'm a woman. I can assure you that God would not approve of your attitude towards women, just as in the past God did not approve of my attitude towards men. There are no excuses, including "Men just talk that way". Men do not have to talk in a way that is condescending towards others. I don't need to lighten up. You need to be kinder.

 

[BruceLeiter]

No need to come at me in a condescending way saying about how I "know darn good and well what sin is". *I* do know what sin is, but I never really thought about it in depth beyond "sin is doing the wrong thing" or "doing something against God's will". The whole purpose of asking the question was to go deeper than that, for the purpose of explaining it to unbelievers who may ask and also to think about it on a deeper level for myself and my own walk. Yes, my conscience will get me - but sometimes, there are gray areas of things, that some will say are sins and some will say are not sins. What is sin to us believers is not sin to unbelievers. So how do we explain that they need to be saved from their sin, unless we explain what sin is and why it is so egregious?

@WandererAtHeart, when I share the gospel with unbelievers who are unfamiliar with the word "sin," they will agree with me that nobody's perfect. However, I go on to say that God expects perfection but that Jesus' perfect life, death in my place, and resurrection is the perfection the Father sees for me, even though I'm imperfect. Then, he enables me to make progress in becoming more like Jesus throughout my life.