Sin

Sin – An act or omission that causes condemnation.

God used this word 280 times in Scripture: 227 times to Israel in their Masoretic Text Old Testament; 9 times to Israel in their Koine Greek Old Testament (Matthew thru John); 28 times to the Body of Christ in the Dispensation of Grace (Romans thru Philemon); and 16 times to Israel in their tribulation books (Hebrews thru Revelation) … and throughout Scripture, another 208 times in its various forms.

Religion likes to roll everything together for scare tactics.  They convolute meanings so that their following cannot find the truth.  Using fables and superstition, born of ignorance, they create tales of woe to instill fear.  So, in ignorance, the people follow; trying to avoid the consequences of their superstitions and the religious ghost-stories.

Sin is not a magical, mystical, abstract thing … and not everything you do wrong, or fail to do, is a sin. 

Iniquity is not sin, unless it causes condemnation. 

Transgression is not a sin, unless it causes condemnation.

A Trespass is not a Sin, unless it causes condemnation. 

Sin is simply an act or omission that causes condemnation. 

Don’t get me wrong.  Just because the definition is simple does not mean that the consequences are of little concern.  But the consequence of sin depends on who you sin against.  Religion would have you believe that all sins are equal and that all of the consequences are universally the same … but that isn’t true.

God tell us that there are three roots of sin; lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life (I John 2:16).

There are also three arenas of sin: sin against God, sin against self, and sin against others.

  1. Sin against God is the only one that will send a person to hell and the lake of fire; you receive the condemnation and judgement of God for eternity.  The commission of this sin is very simple: when you don’t believe God according to His Word to you in your dispensation, the Gospel of your salvation (Ephesians 1:13). This requires the you believe God Exclusively and Explicitly according to Rightly Divided Scripture. If you don’t, you are calling God a liar (Romans 3:4).
    • You were born condemned; you inherited God’s condemnation from Adam (Romans 5:12).  Without God’s redemption you are already destined for hell and the lake of fire.
    • If you do not accept God’s payment for your redemption, Exclusively and Explicitly according to Rightly Divided Scripture, God will judge and sentence you accordingly (Romans 2, 6:23); an eternity in the lake of fire.
  2. Sin against self is self-condemnation; we are instructed not to condemn ourselves (I Corinthians 4:3-5).  You don’t have the right to condemn yourself; God alone is able and He isn’t judging anyone today.
    • You will not go to hell for committing this sin.
    • Committing this sin will result in you having a miserable life; it is self-inflicted.
  3. Sin against others results in other people condemning you.  This category has two divisions:
    • 1. You were justly condemned … You did something (or failed to do something) and you deserve the condemnation of men. And that Judgement is executed now at the hands of men: God is not punishing anyone today; He has instituted government to do that (Romans 13:1-7).  Take your punishment, you earned it; make amends/restitution and don’t do it again.  The judgement in this arena of sin is also two-fold:
      • 1. You will suffer on this earth at the hands of men, and
      • 2. It determines your level of punishment in hell and the lake of fire for eternity … or the loss of reward in heaven.
    • 2. You were falsely condemned; there is little you can do about it.  Work through it and move on; don’t take it to heart.
      1. You unjustly suffer at the hands of men; but you will not go to hell because of this injustice, and there is no loss of reward in heaven.

See also Hell, Iniquity, Lake of Fire, Transgression, Trespass