(16 minute read)
What is sin?
Sin is breaking God’s law— an act of disobedience or rebellion against Him; lawlessness.
It is missing the mark — falling short of God’s glory, His perfect standard of righteousness— His perfect measure of moral and ethical behavior that reflects His own nature. Sin is an offense to God’s holiness.
In fact, all unrighteousness (all things that aren’t right with God) is sin. If God is perfect and we are not— that’s sin.
Sin is not just simply wrongdoing, it is a chronic, fatal disease we all suffer from and there is only one cure for it—grace, through genuine repentance and saving faith in Jesus Christ who paid the penalty of sin for us.
Without these you remain lost and condemned.
Sin involves your thoughts, attitudes and actions— what you think, say and do— your behavior. Thoughts originate in the mind and attitudes are ingrained in the heart.
Actions are what you to say, how you say it, and what you do— acting out your thoughts and attitudes.
Here is the standard concerning the thoughts, attitudes and actions of the born again believer:
Are they Christlike? Do they please God and bring Him glory?
Upon salvation, the Holy Spirit lives within you to help in these matters and will always convict you of your sin and help you overcome them.
Do not quench (ignore) Him or grieve (disappoint) Him.
The Holy Spirit is Christ in you — by His Spirit. That is a powerful reality.
Jesus used God’s law (known as “The Ten Commandments”) to show the rich young ruler his sin. Read Mark 10:17–22.
In fact, He gives us the law just to prove to us that we can’t keep it. We can’t keep it. Nobody can. Get that through your head.
Have you ever lied? Have you ever stolen— anything? Have you ever taken God’s name in vain? Have you ever dishonored your parents? Have you ever committed sexual immorality of any kind—even in your heart through lust?
That’s just five of the ten. The obvious answer to the questions? We all have.
Why? Because we are not perfect. That’s the point.
Only God is!
It proves that you are guilty before God’s perfect standard. It only takes one sin to be sinner.
You say, “That’s not fair!”
You gave up your right to fairness when you committed your first sin.
And it wasn’t fair that Jesus Christ had to willfully shed his blood, suffer and die on the cross to save you from yourself. He died to pay the penalty for your sin, so you wouldn’t have to die yourself and spend eternity in a fiery pit.
But even the 10 commandments don’t get to the real issue which was articulated by Jesus who said,
“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18)
In other words, Jesus said, “You’re gonna get condemned because you don’t believe in me.”
Sooner or later you’ve got to get past the 10 commandments and get to the great sin of all sins, the ultimate sin, which is rejecting Jesus Christ.
Though all of us are wretched, vile sinners (man, that’s hard to say, isn’t it?), cursed by our violation of God’s law and sinful by nature, Jesus emphasized that the fatal, unforgiveable, and eternal sin that ultimately damns people to hell is our unwillingness to believe in Him as the Messiah, the Christ and the Son of God.
In truth, all other sins can be forgiven if this one is repented of. (from John 8:24 and 16:9)
God is far more righteous than you think He is and that you are far less righteous than you think you are.
So, with these things in mind, there two things that are absolutely true if you have not yet repented and surrendered your life to Christ and put your faith and trust in Him:
You are a sinner and need a Savior!
Paul’s teaching in Romans can be summarized into these categories:
- Sins against God: idolatry, unbelief, rejecting God’s truth, refusing to honor Him.
- Sexual sins: sexual immorality, lust, fornication, adultery, impurity, homosexual behavior, transsexual, and all the philias; pedophilia, etc.
- Sins of the heart: pride, envy, greed, selfish ambition, malice, hatred.
- Sins of the tongue: gossip, slander, deceit, cursing.
- Sins against others: murder, strife, disobedience, lack of mercy.
- Religious sins: hypocrisy, self-righteousness, judging others while practicing sin.
- The root sin: suppressing God’s truth and refusing to believe and submit to Him.
The overarching message of Romans is not merely to catalog sins but to show that every person stands guilty before a holy God because of just even one sin, making the gospel of Jesus Christ the only hope. As Paul writes in Romans 3:23–24:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
The Consequences of Sin
There are real, eternal consequences for sin. Your sin provokes God’s wrath, the powerful and just anger of a holy God, and brings His rightful judgment.
Even one sin brings spiritually death. A holy God must reject all that is unholy.
Because God makes the rules and sets the standards in the perfect world He created, the wages for sin, the price that pays, is death— both spiritual and physical— and eternal punishment.
“For the wages of sin (the price that sin pays) is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” — (Romans 6:23); emphasis added.
“Therefore, just as through one man (Adam) sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned…” — (Romans 5:12); emphasis added.
Because of sin, you will die. We all will— a spiritual death and separation from God in Adam, a physical death one time on the earth (for everybody), and then a second death when Jesus returns in judgment for those whose name is not found in the Lamb’s book of life; those who physically died in their earthly lives who had refused to repent and accept God’s pardon of sin through Christ. Warning: You do not want to die a second death.
Eternal Punishment Described
“But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will repay to each according to his works” (Romans 2:5-6).
How the Bible describes the eternal punishment for sin:
A horrendous, but rightful judgment for sin against a Holy God, an eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons (Matthew 25:41).
It is a place where there will be a fully informed conscience— relentlessly accusing the sinner forever— causing anguish, weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth. He cannot deny it or escape it.
It is a place where the ungodly will never escape the conscience in the end. It can not longer be ignored— never-ending fiery torment and conscious suffering where “their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.” (Mark 9:48)
The lake of fire is the final hell, “the second death” (Revelation 20:14)—a place of eternal punishment for all unrepentant rebels, angelic or human (Revelation 20:10, 15), where “the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night” (Revelation 14:11). It burns with “fire and brimstone” (Revelation 21:8), an endless sea of molten judgment where light reveals no hope and darkness offers no hiding place. The stench of sulfur chokes the air as waves of flame crash again and again, yet never consume. Here, mercy is gone, justice is final, and it is conscious, unending, and without escape.
“And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” — (Revelation 20:15)
The book of life contains the names of all those who will inherit eternal life.
- Born once (physically), die twice (physical and spiritual death).
- Born twice (physically and spiritually — “born again”), die once (physical death only).
You do not want to die twice!
God’s justice for sin is just what we deserve—and just what Jesus saved us from.
God promised in Genesis 2:17 that sinners “shall surely die” unless a substitute dies in their place. That substitute had to be truly God and truly human and without sin (the perfect lamb):
No one met that standard. Not one…
Until Jesus!
Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, took our place, paid our penalty, and rose again—offering eternal life to all who believe.
The gospel only makes sense when you understand God’s divine judgment.
And you have to know the consequences of violating the law of God for which Jesus shed His blood and died for you.
The wages of sin, the price that sin pays, is death! — spiritual death and separation from God in Adam, physical death one time on the earth (for everybody),and a second death on the Day of the Lord for those who die without faith in Christ.
What Are You Going To Do About Sin?
The Life of a True Believer
Genuine Christians strive to live according to God’s moral standards, loving others, and pursuing holiness.
Occasional sin? Met with conviction, confession, and repentance (1 John 1:9). Believers still struggle with sinful thoughts, attitudes, habits and desires. Rely on the Holy Spirit for help.
Unbroken pattern of sin? Indicates a heart not fully surrendered to God. (1 John 3:6) It is those who do not struggle with it- those who deliberately and eagerly revel in their sin who need to have their false sense of security shaken.
An “unbroken pattern of sin” means living in a continuous, habitual lifestyle of sin without genuine repentance or change.
It is not about someone occasionally stumbling (because all believers still sin at times), but rather about a person’s life being characterized by ongoing disobedience to God, showing no evidence of turning away from sin or being transformed by the Holy Spirit.
True believers cannot habitually practice sin.
Read: Why Christian Won’t Habitually Sin
“By this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.” — 1 John 3:10
No one can be both.
The Conscience
Everybody has a moral awareness called the conscience. You were born with it. It is a marvelous gift from God- a warning system that goes off when His law is violated that warns you about the danger of sin.
It bears witness to God’s moral law written on the heart of every human being, not just believers, but everyone, and thus everybody knows the difference between right and wrong even when they refuse to acknowledge it.
The conscience either accuses or defends a person’s thoughts, motives and actions. It accuses by condemning you of saying or doing wrong (Romans 2:15). It defends you by affirming your behavior as right.
It produces conviction, guilt or peace, depending on whether one acts in harmony with God’s truth (Romans 9:1; 1 Timothy 1:5). It must be trained by God’s Word and cleansed by Christ’s blood (Hebrews 9:14; 1 Timothy 1:19).
The World We Live In
Post-modernism is a philosophical and cultural movement that developed in the mid-20th century, reacting against modernism.
Modernism (18th–early 20th century): put confidence in reason, science, and progress; believed truth was discoverable, objective, and universal.
Post-modernism (mid-20th century onward): questions whether there is any absolute truth at all. You might ask others, “Is it absolutely true that there is no absolute truth?” Their theory falls apart with that question, but the belief still exists in most of the culture we live in.
Our post-modern, anti-belief culture is one where truth is considered relative, all claims to absolute truth are resisted, and belief in God or moral absolutes is often rejected or ridiculed. It is skeptical, relativistic, and feelings-driven. For Christians, this means our task is to clearly, lovingly, and courageously proclaim the objective truth of the gospel into a world that says “there is no truth.”
This is a violation of what people know as a moral law which is written in their hearts. It sets off the conscience, beleaguering them with guilt, doubt, fear, anxiety, shame and dread.
2 things have to happen in order for you to be successful sinner: 1) You must rewrite the moral system by getting rid of the one you were given by birth and replace it with one that aligns with your sins. 2) The culture tries to change the moral law.
Contemporary psychology has redefined man as good instead of as a sinner falling short of God’s perfect standard of righteousness. When he does wrong, he’s a victim; it’s not his fault. It’s somebody else’s fault. Nothing is right or wrong. It’s all gray… dark gray.
Each individual gets to define what is right and wrong and good or bad. Anything and everything goes and you must not let anyone make you feel guilty, much less your own conscience. It’s whatever makes you happy. There is either no God, no Creator of the universe or it’s the god of your making… perhaps that god is even you.
There is not a happy ending here. There will be death, both spiritual and physical. There will be God’s rightful judgment. There will be justice for sin. And the penalty for sin is eternal punishment in hell. You can deny it all you want, but it will happen.
One thing’s for sure. Hell is real and it will be a place where there will be a fully informed conscience for every condemned person- relentlessly accusing the sinner- forever, with never ending torment characterized by the anguish of weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth. The conscience which was ignored in our culture will not be silenced there.
“The conscience which should have been the sinners curb on Earth, becomes the whip that will lash the soul in hell. That which was the seat and center of all guilt now becomes the seat and center of all torment that never ends.” (John Flavel, Puritan pastor, theologian, and writer in 17th-century England)
The Greatest Commandment
When asked which commandment was greatest, Jesus replied:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength… and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” — Mark 12:30–31
The first four of the Ten Commandments summarize loving God.
The last six summarize loving others.
We all have broken these greatest commandments over and over.
The Law’s Purpose — Revealing Our Guilt
The Law, given by Moses, was not a display of God’s Grace but God’s demand for holiness. Holiness refers to being set apart by God and for God — separated from sin, dedicated to His purposes, and reflecting His character. God designed the Law as a means to demonstrate the unrighteousness of man in order to show the need for a Savior, Jesus.
The reality or full truth toward which the Law pointed came through the person of Jesus Christ.
Have you kept the commandments? Can you stand before God uncondemned?
The honest answer to both: No. Thinking otherwise is self-righteousness—which is also a sin.
The Ten Commandments Test
Read Mark 10:17–22 (The Rich Young Ruler).
Jesus used God’s law to show man his sin.
- Have you ever lied? ✅
- Have you ever stolen? ✅
- Have you taken God’s name in vain? ✅
- Have you dishonored your parents? ✅
- Have you committed sexual immorality—even in your heart through lust? ✅
Those are rhetorical questions. A rhetorical question is a question that’s asked not to get an actual answer, but to make a point, emphasize something, or provoke thought.
The answer? ✅ We all have. Nobody’s perfect. It proves that you are guilty before God’s perfect standard. It only takes one sin to be sinner.
But the 10 commandments don’t get to the real issue which was articulated by Jesus who said, you’re gonna get condemned because you don’t believe in Me (paraphrasing John 3:18).
“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18)
Sooner or later you’ve got to get past the 10 commandments and get to the great sin of all sins, the ultimate sin, which is rejecting Jesus Christ. And you have to know the consequences of violating the law of God for which Jesus shed His blood. The wages of sin, the price that sin pays, is death!
Though all of us are wretched, vile sinners, cursed by our violation of God’s law and sinful by nature, Jesus emphasized that the fatal, unforgiveable, and eternal sin that ultimately damns people to hell is our unwillingness to believe in Him as the Messiah and Son of God. In truth, all other sins can be forgiven if this one is repented of. (from John 8:24 and 16:9)
What you ultimately must understand is that God is far more righteous than you think He is and that you are far less righteous than you think you are.
So, with these things in mind, there two things that are absolutely true:
You are a sinner and you need a Savior!
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
Confession of sin characterizes genuine Christians (someone who has been truly born again—not merely in name, belief, or outward profession, but in heart and life), and God continually cleanses those who are confessing. Rather than focusing on confession for every single sin, John has especially in mind here a settled recognition and acknowledgment that one is a sinner and in need of ongoing cleansing and forgiveness. (Ephesians 4:23; Colossians 2:13)
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