What is sin?
People throw the word around: “It’s a sin.” “We all sin.” But what actually makes something a sin, and why does God take it so seriously?
Sin is anything we think, say or do, or fail to do, that goes against God and His ways. “Sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4): breaking what God has said. The main Greek word for sin in the New Testament, hamartia, means “missing the mark,” like an arrow that falls short of the target. And it isn’t only the bad things we do: “Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin” (James 4:17). In plain words: sin is living my way instead of God’s way. Every one of us has done it (Romans 3:23), it separates us from God, and Jesus died to pay for it.
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The first sin
God gave Adam and Eve a perfect garden and one boundary: don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The serpent came with a question, “Did God really say…?”, and then a lie: “You will not surely die.” Eve looked, wanted it, took it and ate, and gave some to Adam. Immediately they felt shame, sewed fig leaves together, and hid from God among the trees. God came looking for them anyway: “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:1–9). Sin always makes us hide. God always comes looking.
Three kinds of sin, in plain words
Doing what God said not to do: lying, stealing, sex outside marriage, hatred (Exodus 20:13–17).
Not doing what God said to do: not loving, not forgiving, not helping when you could (James 4:17; Matthew 25:41–45).
Sin on the inside: lust, envy, bitterness and pride, even when no one else sees it. Jesus said these come out of the heart (Mark 7:21–23; Matthew 5:28).
Where sin came from
Sin started with Satan’s pride (Isaiah 14:13–14) and entered the human race through Adam: “sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). That is why no one has to teach a child to lie. We are born with a pull toward ourselves.
Why sin is a big deal
Sin isn’t just breaking rules. It is breaking a relationship. It separates us from a holy God (Isaiah 59:2), it hurts people, it enslaves us (John 8:34), and its wage is death (Romans 6:23).
What God did about it
“But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Jesus paid for sin on the cross. When you confess, God forgives: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). And the Holy Spirit gives you power to say no to sin day by day.
What the Bible says
- 01
Sin is lawlessness.
“Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well. Indeed, sin is lawlessness.”
1 John 3:4 - 02
Knowing and not doing.
“Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.”
James 4:17 - 03
- 04
How it entered.
“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.”
Romans 5:12 - 05
The wage and the gift.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:23 - 06
Confess and be cleansed.
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:8–9
Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.
Tonight, pray Psalm 139:23–24 and ask God to search your heart. Confess what He shows you, and thank Him that it’s forgiven.
Common questions
Are some sins worse than others?
Every sin separates us from God, but some do far more damage to ourselves and others (1 Corinthians 6:18; John 19:11). Every sin can be forgiven through Jesus.
Is temptation a sin?
No. Jesus was tempted and never sinned (Hebrews 4:15). Temptation becomes sin when we give in to it (James 1:14–15).
What is the unforgivable sin?
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: a hard, final rejection of Him. If you’re worried you’ve committed it, you haven’t.
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