Sin is transgression, it means stepping over the divine boundary that God has placed between good and evil. Not one person alive can understand what good or evil is outside of the Word of God, our moral constructs vary from country to country, even between cities, and they are always based on man’s ideology of what is perceived as either good or bad, right or wrong. Rarely if ever do they hold any truth when compared to the Scriptures, and many who profess Christ are living in a sort of grey, in between area in this construct, for they are not students of the Scriptures.
Solomon did not ask the Lord for wisdom as many have misunderstood, it was added unto him when he asked the Lord for “An understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad.” (1 Kings 3:9) The knowledge of good and evil is what caused the fall of all mankind, disobedience to the will of God, our first parents transgressed the commandment. We now and will forever understand what it means to sin, but only those who have asked Christ to be their Lord, those who have submitted their existence to the will of God, have been forgiven of those sins, and are the only ones who have been given the opportunity to continuously seek His mercies through 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6) All have missed the divine mark, no law of man, no moral obedience to any human precept, whether it be in and of the world, or in the context of any religious organization or church tradition can bring a man to salvation. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” (Eph. 2:8) There is absolutely nothing that you can do to earn your way into the kingdom of God, accepting what Christ has already done on the cross is the only way to salvation.
Self-will is sin. If you are truly saved, then you have been crucified with Christ, (Gal. 2:20) you no longer live, but Christ lives in you. Self-will in any form is a transgression against God, it is a sin, for we are trying when we do so to place ourselves in authority of our lives, we place ourselves on the divine throne of our lives, we say, “My will, not thine.” Self-will is pride, it says I do not need to be obedient in this area, I can choose how to serve, the sin of self-will desires to lead, not follow, it is spiritual rebellion, it is the path that Satan choose for himself.
Unbelief is a sin, not only in the lost who have denied the authority of Christ, but in the life of the believer who does not trust the promises of the word of God. Not the momentary doubts that come upon all of His children, but the lingering worries, the “What ifs,” the lack of trust that we are safe and secure in His hands, no matter the circumstances, no matter the visible or unseen outcome. Sin is not trusting in the Sovereign Lord of all creation to abide by His promises, sin is doubt.
For the lost, sin will incur eternal death and separation from the Most Holy One, they will know His wrath and fury without pity forever. For the believer, sin will seperate us from a continuing fellowship with the Lord, our prayers will go unheard until we repent, until we turn from that sin. (Prov. 28:9) “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Gal. 6:7) If you determine to live in transgressions against Him, in no matter what form you allow it to take in your life, you will not be heard by God until it is addressed. Those who think they can feed the poor, yet live in a constant state of worry and doubt about their own provisions from the Lord offer prayers to the Lord that go no higher than the ceiling.
Willful disobedience to the will and Word of God is sin, whether it be by action or inaction. “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17) The born-again believer is to be Christ-like in all His attributes, not just the ones they have decided to emulate, the “best parts” of Christ, our Lord had no bad attributes. He healed the sick, and called out the false religious teachers of the day, He caused the blind to see, and rebuked those who were following Him only to receive another meal. You cannot be Christ-like and portray only the parts of His life that you see as pleasing in your own eyes. You cannot tell people about the love of God for us through Christ, but withhold from them the truths of what awaits them if they die in their sins.
The wickedness of the unrighteous is easy to see, those who hold enmity towards God is quite clear to all who will but look upon them, but to be able to spot those who only profess Christ with their lips is more difficult, they are adept at blending in with the born-again believers. It can sometimes take a traumatic event for them to become visible, and that event is approaching fast. The moment after the rapture (Matt. 24:21) they will know for a fact they were deceiving themselves, and soon after, the Lord will send upon them a strong delusion, (2 Thess.2:11) no second chance will be given.
All of these attributes of man define what sin is, but one of the ones that stands out amongst the rest is that of the man or woman whose lips alone praise His Holy name, but their hearts are far from Him. We are known by our works, the works and fruit that the Holy Spirit has done through us for the glory of God should be clear for all to see, and to every man that asks of us at any time we should be ready to give an account for the reason of our faith. (1 Peter 3:15) You must be sure my friends, you must be absolutely sure that you are indeed a child of Almighty God, for there will be no second chances.
