Sin – Part 2

Sin – By Tom Buckle
Part II
Acknowledging Sin

God recognized that His people needed to be reminded of their waywardness and their temptation to drift from Him. He told Moses to once a year set aside a special day to call attention to the people’s sins. Moses called it “The Day of Atonement” (Leviticus 23:26-32Leviticus 23:26-32
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26 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷ “However on the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ²⁸ You shall do no manner of work in that same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before Yahweh your God. ²⁹ For whoever it is who shall not deny himself in that same day; shall be cut off from his people. ³⁰ Whoever it is who does any manner of work in that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. ³¹Â You shall do no manner of work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. ³²Â It shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall deny yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall keep your Sabbath.”

WP-Bible plugin NKJV). It was a day of “holy convocation” to collectively fast. People were to remain in their houses and treat the day as a Sabbath, remembering that the high priest was entering the Most Holy Place praying for the atonement for the sins of all of Israel’s tribes, whose names were borne on his breastpiece. The Day of Atonement was a good time to prepare for the Feast of Tabernacles that followed a week later.

The Old Testament also speaks of a sin offering and a guilt offering. These two offerings are very similar and both are sacrifices that are offered for the removal of sin. The difference between these offerings is that the guilt offering required restitution. For instance, if a person stole something from his neighbor he would have to return it to his neighbor. After returning the item he would then be qualified to have a guilt offering made for his sin. Both the sin offering and the guilt offering forgave the transgressor of his sin.

History says St. Augustine, Martin Luther and John Wesley all grew up with godly parents who taught and drilled them in the Bible teachings. Although St. Augustine rebelled in his youth and backslid into sin and debauchery, his sense of sin and shame was heavy and he repented of his sins to become one of the great theologians of the early church. Martin Luther and John Wesley both had mothers who taught them the Bible. Each of these men at an early age had consciences with great “sin sensitivity” that helped to deepen their faith in God.

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), the great early American Calvinist, revivalist and theologian was known for making listeners quake with his fiery message, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” The messages of sin and hell were usually proclaimed without any concern for political correctness or worry about making congregants feeling comfortable. Edward’s eminent concern was about the souls of sinners getting right with God. The message against sin was a message about choosing one’s destiny, heaven or hell. The message was not how to find “happiness” but rather on repenting of sins and living a righteously redeemed new life.

I grew up hearing about the suffering and damnation that sin brings on lives and relationships. Those early teachings strengthened my faith and resolve to live for God. It gave me a keen sensitivity between right and wrong. From the pulpit I was taught that the end result of sin is eternal punishment in hell (another subject that seems to be banned from today’s contemporary preaching).

Here’s the solution for sin that I need to repeat. Acknowledge you are a sinner. Repent of your sins and receive forgiveness through Christ Jesus. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9John 1:9
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9 The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world.

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Sin

SIN

-by Tom Buckle

Part I

What Is Sin?

On a Sunday morning I had my eldest grand child with me in worship. He was about four years old and stood close to me during the praise worship time. The congregation was singing a praise song that said something about the Spirit. I was singing heartily when my grandson tugged on my arm. I leaned over to hear his loud whisper, “Grandpa, what does Spirit mean?” Being caught off-guard, I sat down on the pew next to him and tried to whisper an answer about spirit and the Holy Spirit that he might understand.

How would you answer if a friend asked you, “What is sin?” Could you give your friend the right answer according to Scripture? After all, Christ died for our sins so it is important to know the answer.

The Bible talks about sin in a major way. Sin is a deadly spiritual disease that robs us of relationships, spiritual sensitivity and eternal life with Christ. It destroys character and dreams and only holds a mirage to chase. I copied over three and a half pages in small print on the subject of “sin” from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance for quick reference to note the many scripture verses that mention the word sin. The Bible has a lot to say about sin, its destructive power and how we can overcome its barrier to a right relationship with God.

Words for Sin In Scripture

There are many words and terms used to denote sin and its different emphasis that I want to share. Certainly sin is failure, iniquity, error, lawlessness, transgression, trespass and unrighteousness. Sin is evil and separates us from God and His plan for our lives.

The Old Testament uses several Hebrew words for Sin (we will use four of the main words in this article).

1.  Sin—“chattath” means “an offense, sometimes habitual sinfulness, and its penalty, occasion, sacrifice, or expiation”. It is also defined “to miss, to sin, by inference to forfeit, to lack” (Leviticus 4:2-3, 25-35Leviticus 4:2-3, 25-35
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2 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If anyone sins unintentionally, in any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and does any one of them: ³Â if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him offer for his sin, which he has sinned, a young bull without blemish to Yahweh for a sin offering. ²⁵ The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. He shall pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. ²⁶ All its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and he will be forgiven. ²⁷ “‘If anyone of the common people sins unwittingly, in doing any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and is guilty; ²⁸ if his sin, which he has sinned, is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has sinned. ²⁹ He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering. ³⁰ The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. ³¹Â All its fat he shall take away, like the fat is taken away from off of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a sweet savor to Yahweh; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven. ³²Â â€œâ€˜If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish. ³³Â He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. ³⁴ The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. ³⁵ All its fat he shall take away, like the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them on the altar, on the offerings of Yahweh made by fire; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned, and he will be forgiven.

WP-Bible plugin; Psalm 32:1,5; 51:2-5Psalm 32:1,5; 51:2-5
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32 By David. A contemplative psalm. ¹Â Blessed is he whose disobedience is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. ⁵ I acknowledged my sin to you. I didn’t hide my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to Yahweh, And you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah. ²Â Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. ³Â For I know my transgressions. My sin is constantly before me. ⁴ Against you, and you only, have I sinned, And done that which is evil in your sight; That you may be proved right when you speak, And justified when you judge. ⁵ Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity. In sin my mother conceived me.

WP-Bible plugin; Isaiah 53:10, 12Isaiah 53:10, 12
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10 Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Yahweh shall prosper in his hand. ¹²Â Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors: yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

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2.  Transgression—“pawsah” or “pehshah”, meaning “to break away from just authority; trespass, apostatize, quarrel, a revolt (national, moral or religious).” It is often translated “to offend, rebel, revolt, transgression” (Exodus 34:7Exodus 34:7
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7 keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children’s children, on the third and on the fourth generation.”

WP-Bible plugin; Numbers 14:18Numbers 14:18
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18 Yahweh is slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and disobedience; and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation.

WP-Bible plugin; Psalm 19:13; 22:1Psalm 19:13; 22:1
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13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then I will be upright, I will be blameless and innocent of great transgression. ²² For the Chief Musician; set to “The Doe of the Morning.” A Psalm by David. ¹Â My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?

WP-Bible plugin; Isaiah 53:8Isaiah 53:8
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8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who among them considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the disobedience of my people to whom the stroke was due?

WP-Bible plugin; Daniel 9:24Daniel 9:24
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24 Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.

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3.  Iniquity—“avon” or “avown”. It is defined as “perversity, evil” and in scripture it is translated “do amiss, bow down, make crooked, commit iniquity, pervert, fault” (Psalm 52:3Psalm 52:3
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3 You love evil more than good, Lying rather than speaking the truth. Selah.

WP-Bible plugin; Leviticus 16:21, 22Leviticus 16:21, 22
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21 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them on the head of the goat, and shall send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. ²²Â The goat shall carry all their iniquities on himself to a solitary land, and he shall let the goat go in the wilderness.

WP-Bible plugin; Psalm 103:3, 10Psalm 103:3, 10
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3 Who forgives all your sins; Who heals all your diseases; ¹⁰ He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor repaid us for our iniquities.

WP-Bible plugin; Isaiah 53:5, 11Isaiah 53:5, 11
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5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. ¹¹Â He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant justify many; and he shall bear their iniquities.

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4.  Trespass—“asham”, translated “to be guilty” or “a fault”, or “a sin offering” (Leviticus 6:2, 5-6; 7:1-7Leviticus 6:2, 5-6; 7:1-7
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2 “If anyone sins, and commits a trespass against Yahweh, and deals falsely with his neighbor in a matter of deposit, or of bargain, or of robbery, or has oppressed his neighbor, ⁵ or any thing about which he has sworn falsely; he shall restore it even in full, and shall add a fifth part more to it. To him to whom it belongs he shall give it, in the day of his being found guilty. ⁶ He shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh, a ram without blemish from the flock, according to your estimation, for a trespass offering, to the priest. ^{7 1} “‘This is the law of the trespass offering. It is most holy. ²Â In the place where they kill the burnt offering, he shall kill the trespass offering; and its blood he shall sprinkle on the altar round about. ³Â He shall offer all of its fat: the fat tail, and the fat that covers the innards, ⁴ and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, shall he take away; ⁵ and the priest shall burn them on the altar for an offering made by fire to Yahweh: it is a trespass offering. ⁶ Every male among the priests may eat of it. It shall be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy. ⁷ “‘As is the sin offering, so is the trespass offering; there is one law for them. The priest who makes atonement with them shall have it.

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The New Testament defines sin, using several Greek words:

1.  “Hamartia” — a word used in the New Testament fifty-eight times in various forms. Its definition is “to miss the mark”.
2.  “Adikia” — a word used in various forms sixty-six times, translated “injustice or unrighteousness.”
3.  “Paraptoma” — a word that occurs in different forms defines “a falling away or a false step.”
4.  “Anomia” — a familiar word meaning “disobedience to the divine law” or “anti-law”, “iniquity”, “lawlessness”.
5.  “Asebeia” — defined “ungodliness or irreverence.”
6.  “Parabasis” — “a false step, transgression”.
7.  “Paraptoma” —mentioned twenty-three times and translated “trespass”, “offences”, “fall”, “fault”, “faults”, “sins”. It is defined as to fall aside, to fall away or to blunder, as in reference to a deviation or falling away from uprightness and truth (Matthew 6:14, 15Matthew 6:14, 15
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14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you don’t forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

WP-Bible plugin; Romans 4:24; 5:15-20; 11:11, 12Romans 4:24; 5:15-20; 11:11, 12
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24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead, ¹⁵ But the free gift isn’t like the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. ¹⁶ The gift is not as through one who sinned: for the judgment came by one to condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses to justification. ¹⁷ For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; so much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ So then as through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life. ¹⁹ For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one will many be made righteous. ²⁰ The law came in besides, that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly; ¹¹Â I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall? May it never be! But by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy.

WP-Bible plugin; II Corinthians 5:19; Galatians 6:1Galatians 6:1
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6 ¹Â Brothers, even if a man is caught in some fault, you who are spiritual must restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to yourself so that you also aren’t tempted.

WP-Bible plugin; Ephesians 1:7; 2:1Ephesians 1:7; 2:1
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7 in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, ^{2 1} You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins,

WP-Bible plugin; Colossians 2:13Colossians 2:13
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13 You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,

WP-Bible plugin; James 5:16James 5:16
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16 Confess your offenses to one another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective.

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8.  “Agnoema”—used in Hebrews 9:7Hebrews 9:7
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7 but into the second the high priest alone, once in the year, not without blood, which he offers for himself, and for the errors of the people.

WP-Bible plugin and means “errors”. It is defined as an act of ignorance and simply refers to a sin of ignorance. It makes a statement for sin in a slight way without excusing it. It is not a sin of open rebellion.
9.  “Hettema”—translated “diminishing”, “fault”. It is a lessening or a loss to a defect or a flaw, such as the Corinthians loss of their unity (Romans 11:12Romans 11:12
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12 Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness?

WP-Bible plugin; I Corinthians 6:7).
 10.  “Akatharsia”—used to define “uncleanness” or “impurity”. The word is used to describe anything that could cause cultic impurity such as vicious acts and sexual sins.
11.  “Epithumia”—translated “lust”.
12.   “Apistia”—meaning “unbelief,” refusing to accept God’s word by faith is to sin. It is a lack of trust and faith in God.

The Effects of Sin

The James the apostle warns of the effects of sin in yielding to unholy desire when he writes, 14. “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (James 1:14-15James 1:14-15
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14 But each one is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. ¹⁵ Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death.

WP-Bible plugin NKJV). The fruit of sin is death, eternal punishment in hell. It is separation from God forever (see Matthew 25:46Matthew 25:46
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46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

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The great prophet Isaiah, who had experienced an encounter with God and His holiness in the temple, wrote of the effects of sin as separation from God. “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2Isaiah 59:2
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2 but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

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Sin brings you into bondage and the result is you become a slave to sin. “Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin’” (John 8:34John 8:34
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34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is the bondservant of sin.

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The Good News—Forgiveness

The good news is that you need not let sins of the past separate you from God. The guilt, the shame and burden of past sins can be lifted forever. God in Christ Jesus has made it simple. He paid the debt for your sins on the cross. You can accept His sacrifice for your sins and be set free from sin’s bondage.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9John 1:9
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9 The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world.

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