Rebellion against God; any failure to conform to, or transgression of, any law of God.
- From scripture:
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. (1 John 3:4 ESV)
…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…. (Romans 3:23 ESV)
- From the Westminster Larger Catechism:
Question 24: What is sin?
Answer: Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, any law of God, given as a rule to the reasonable creature.
- From Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof, page 232:
Sin always has a relation to God and His will. The older dogmaticians realized that is was impossible to have a correct conception of sin without contemplating it in relation to God and His will, and therefore emphasized this aspect and usually spoke of sin as “lack of conformity to the law of God.” This is undoubtedly a correct formal definition of sin. But the question arises, Just what is the material content of the law? What does it demand? If this question is answered, it will be possible to determine what sin is in a material sense. Now there is no doubt about it that the great central demand of the law is love to God. And if from the material point of view moral goodness consists in love to God, then moral evil must consist in the opposite. It is separation from God, opposition to God, hatred of God, and this manifests itself in constant transgression of the law of God in thought, word and deed. The following passages clearly show that Scripture contemplates sin in relation to God and His law, either as written on the tablets of the heart, or as given by Moses….
- From Daily Doctrine by Kevin DeYoung, page 116:
Sin is another name for that hideous rebellion, that God defiance, that wretched opposition to the Creator that crouches at the door of every fallen human heart. Sin is both a condition, inherited from Adam (Rom. 5:12-21), and an action, manifesting itself in thought, word, and deed, which, when full-grown, gives birth to death (James 1:15).
In simplest terms, sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4). It means we have broken God’s commands and have fallen short of his glory (Rom. 3:23). But sin goes deeper than merely missing the mark. Sin is idolatry (Col. 3:5; 1 John 5:21). It is worshiping false gods, whether these deities are overt and physical, of more subtle and internal. Sin can also be considered adultery, a spiritual whoring after other lovers and other sources of satisfaction and meaning (Ezek. 16:15-42). Sin is pollution (James 1:27). Sin is pervasive (Rom. 3:9-20). And sin is the problem in the universe.
Learn more:
- Got Questions: What is the definition of sin?
- Don Stewart: What Is Sin?
- Tim Challies: The Essential: Sin
- R. C. Sproul: What Is Sin?
- Tom Schreiner: What Is Sin?
- Paul Carter: What Is Sin?
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