The Doctrine of Sin…

Listen to the Blog - The Doctrine of Sin

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It is said that all have sinned. It is said that is truth. That is the truth for the

“all” that comes by seed. However, that is not the truth for the “all” inclusive

of life. The truth is Jesus. And Jesus did not sin. It was not in his nature for

he is not of the seed of man, and he in no way comes short of the glory of

God. So, the truth is all have not sinned. There are untold numbers of the

unfallen worlds beholding the “all” of mankind. All means the entirety of the

whole of every whatever that is not distinguished by contrast of things

spiritual or celestial having capability without exception, omitting nothing,

incapable of adding anything considered.

Man calls it an accident; God calls it an abomination. Man calls it a blunder;

God calls it a blight. Man calls it a defect; God calls it a disease. Man calls it

a chance; God calls it a choice. Man calls it an error; God calls it an enmity.

Man calls it a fascination; God calls it a fatality. Man calls it an infirmity; God

calls it an iniquity. Man calls it a lavishness; God calls it a leprosy. Man calls

it a liberty; God calls it lawlessness. Man calls it a trifle; God calls it a tragedy.

Man calls it a mistake; God calls it a madness. Man calls it a weakness; God

calls it a willfulness. It is man missing the mark!

What is this mysterious thing, so downplayed and on occasion actually

denied by man, but utterly denounced by God? The holiness of God is

governed by his understanding of the exceeding sinfulness of sin. There

must be no construct of agreement whatsoever between the purity of the one

and the perversion of the other. However, there remains an interaction in

time between both. Sin will bring down the full wrath of a holy God upon the

political, religious, and economic systems of this entire world. Say the word

and we hear the very viciousness of the viper. Sin…the sound of hissin. It is

this deadly and damnable thing that is so hated by God and so harmful to

man. But there was one man born by the determination of God which taketh

away the sin of the world.

Sin is missing the mark, badness, rebellion, iniquity, going astray,

wickedness, wandering, ungodliness, crime, lawlessness, transgression,

ignorance, and a falling away. If it is not right, it is sin. Sin is lack of conformity

to the moral law of God, either in act, disposition, or state. Sin is a

transgression of, or want of conformity to the divine law. Sin can be defined

ultimately as anything in the creature which does not express, or which is

contrary to, the holy character of the Creator. And when we reason with

God’s purpose - sin is a restless unwillingness on the part of the creature to

abide in the sphere and limitation in which the Creator, guided by infinite

wisdom, had placed him. Sin is not eternal. Sin is not merely the absence of

good, sin is real. Sin has no standard of its own. Sin must derive its

measurements from that which is positive or good. Evil cannot exist apart

from good. By its very nature sin, evil, must oppose and pervert something

good. Every sin is, in reality, a perversion of some good principle. Point to

the deceptive tactic of the enemy of God and sin must not only disguise itself

as the good, but must also actually connect itself to the good. In itself sin has

no unifying power. It must be powered by deception. Sin powered by

deception means that the very nature of sin is to mislead and trick people

into committing acts that are harmful or morally wrong, essentially using false

promises of pleasure or benefit to entice individuals into actions that

ultimately lead to negative consequences; it highlights the deceptive nature

of sin, where it often appears appealing on the surface but hides its

destructive potential. Sin often presents itself as something that will bring

happiness, fulfillment, or excitement, while in reality, it leads to pain, guilt,

and negative consequences. Here sin may be likened to a virus.

Sin is the greatest evil in the universe. It is the parent of all other ills. All

manner of evils draws their bitterness from this fount of wormwood and gall.

Sin, embedded in man’s choice, turned every blessing into a curse. Even

Christ was made a curse. It was necessary because that the law could not

give the blessing of salvation, for since all had broken it, all that the law could

do was to curse. But, Jesus is the only man to claim that he has continued

in all things that are in the law. Christ Jesus, the representative man, alone

can deliver us from the curse which the law brought upon us. It is certain

beyond a doubt that the salvation and justification of a sinner cannot be by

the works of the law, but altogether by the grace of God through faith which

is in Christ Jesus. And since works do not connect us with Christ, faith is the

uniting bond, faith becomes the way of salvation. Since faith is the hand that

lays hold upon the finished work of Christ, which works could not and would

not do, for works lead us to boast and to forget Christ - faith becomes the

true and only way of obtaining justification and everlasting life. And in order

that such faith may be nurtured in us, God the Holy Spirit leads us into the

depths of the great work of Christ.

There is no evil like sin. Satan himself cannot hurt us, except as he is allowed

to be armed with the poisoned arrows of sin. We ought not to pray so much

against sickness, or trial, or temptation, or even against death itself, as we

pray against sin. Sin holds a great reigning power over those who are

servants of sin. But to the people of God, we must cry daily for the grace of

God. Even we that have been born again, and are, in a measure, sanctified

by the Spirit of God; even we have a fleshly nature, whose tendencies are

susceptible to evil, whose desires may draw towards sin. How much we need

to be held up! To God’s people, the deceitfulness of sin is a very important

matter; for in the deceit of sin lies our main danger. If sin comes to us as sin,

we are instant to hate it, and strong to repel it, by the grace of God. When

we are walking with God, we only need to know that an action is forbidden,

and straightway we avoid it; we shun the evil thing when it is plainly evil. But

sin puts on another dress, and comes to us speaking a language which is

not its own; and so, even those who would avoid sin as sin, may, by degrees,

be tempted to evil, and deluded into wrong. It is well when sin carries its

black flag at the masthead; for then we know what we are dealing with. The

deceitfulness of sin is most ruinous. We have grave cause to watch and pray

against secret sins, veiled sins, popular sins, fascinating sins, deceitful sins.

Sin has a singular power to deceive. We need only look back to the Garden.

Eve’s faculties were well balanced. Her mind had no natural depravity, yet

overcome by suggestions. Go back even farther to when Lucifer entangled

the pure spirits of heaven. This deceiver was the covering cherub of God,

once swift for good, now prompt for evil. Secondly, sin deceivableness has

a hardening influence upon the soul. We must resist sin spiritedly. We must

never doubt its penalty. Doubt to but one truth of God is as a drop of sinful

distrust of God’s Word and can poison all the thoughts of reasoning with the

word of God. Sin has not the substance that faith offers. Sin commonly

comes as a bare suggestion, as an imagination, as an airy thing. Man gives

too much pleasant thought toward sin. And once fascination hits the thought,

evil begins its deadly assignment. Thought is reduced into desire, and desire

grows to purpose, and purpose becomes fully grown into an undertaking.

Satan knows more about us than we know about ourselves. He knows our

raw places, and our weak points, and in what joint there was a breakage in

our youth. Sin is deceitful in its object, for the object which it puts before us

is not that which is its actual result. We are moved to do evil under the idea

that some present good will come of it. The deceit - man thinks, when he

yields to sin, that he shall enjoy an additional pleasure, or shall gain an extra

profit, or at least shall avoid a measure of evil, and escape from something

which he dreads. He does the wrong for the sake of what he hopes will come

of it. Evil does not lead to good, and sin is of no profit to us. In many cases,

man does not commit the sin with the design of breaking the law of God, and

defying his Maker, but because he fancies that something is to be gained;

and, in his judgment, he better understands what is good for him because

even the enticement of sin makes us believe we are wiser even than the Lord

God, by whose wisdom we ought to be guided. Eat the fruit, sin, we will be

like God…erred judgment!

Sin’s source of strength is deceit, and it works to dethrone grace. The mind

is to guide, direct, choose, and lead; and if the light that is in us be darkness,

how great is that darkness. It is true that sin entangles the emotions, and this

is troublesome, but when it deceives the mind, this is dangerous. When the

mind is thoroughly deceived by sin, the impact on the person is devastating.

Deceit consists in presenting unto the mind, things otherwise than they are,

either in their nature, their causes, their effects, or present respect unto the

soul. This is the general nature of deceit, and it prevails many ways. It hides

what ought to be seen and considered, it conceals circumstances and

consequences, it presents what is not, or things as they are not….it is a

representation of a matter under disguise, hiding that which is undesirable,

proposing that which is indeed not in it, that the mind may make a false

judgment of it. Deceit throws the mind into error and hides the fact of ultimate

spiritual and eternal ruin. The mind is to keep the whole soul in a frame of

obedience, ready to follow the Lord in every particular act. We must be

discerning of sin’s enticements. The mind is to ensure that all our particular

duties before God are performed in accordance with God’s purposes, that is,

all acts of obedience are done in the proper time, manner, and season. Every

sin is a forsaking of the Lord our God. If the heart know not, if it consider not,

that it is an evil thing, deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked and

a bitter evil in itself, bitter in its effects, fruit, and event, - it will never be

secured against the power of sin. This “due” and “constant consideration” of

sin’s vileness can only be achieved by those who walk humbly, in the fear of

the Lord. Sin attempts to abuse the word of God. Sin urges us to go beyond

the boundaries God has set for us that we desire mercy. And mercy is

desired when we sin. Sin does not want us to contend against temptation.

God’s pardon is true, but it does not lead to lawlessness. Evil and sin are not

the same though they may be aligned in context. “Evil” is considered a

broader concept representing the absence of good, while "sin" is a specific

action or choice that goes against moral principles, meaning that sin is

considered a manifestation of evil. Committing a sinful act is considered an

expression of evil intent or behavior. The evil of sin is what God created. Evil

is the calamitous consequence of sin. A disastrous natural event is an evil

thing, it is not a choice and it is not sin. God does not create sin.

Sin is the greatest contagion on earth. One individual, the first of the human

creation, committed one sin and that sin being apparently so innocuous men

are prone to ridicule the thought that God would notice it at all; yet that one

sin is, according to divine estimation, sufficiently evil to cause the

degeneracy and depravity of the unfallen person who committed the sin, and

to cause uncounted millions of his posterity to suffer in the flesh and die, and

the vast majority of them to spend eternity in the realms of woe. The Son of

God suffered to an infinite degree and died on the cross because of sin.

There was no other way whereby redemption could be secured. However,

had there never been but that one sin committed in this world, the same

depths of suffering and death by the Son of God would have been required

as a righteous ground for divine forgiveness of that one sin and the

justification of that one sinner.

Sin dulls the ear of man. It darkens the eye of understanding. Sin diverts the

feet from the path of right. It defiles the tongue. Sin deceives the heart. It

devours the intellect. Sin dooms the soul. Sin is a representative determinant

that runs through the entire range of human life. God allowed sin to show His

love for us in His creating man a free moral agent of His likeness to choose.

God allowed sin to display His grace given us. God allowed sin to exist to

forever secure eternity from its affect and effect ever again. We realize from

experience that sin is harmful to our lives, that it brings pain and destructive

consequences to us and to others affected by it. But to define sin as failure

to conform to the moral law of God, is to say that sin is more than simply

painful and destructive - it is also wrong in the deepest sense of the word.

It signifies a deviation from what is morally right, implying an action or belief

that is considered inherently bad, unjust, or harmful, often with a connotation

of causing significant negative consequences or violating ethical principles.

In a universe created by God, sin ought not to be. Sin is directly opposite to

all that is good in the character of God, and just as God necessarily and

eternally delights in himself and in all that he is, so God necessarily and

eternally hates sin. So, let’s make this statement – the only thing in God that

sin can meet is judgment. There can be no eternally existing evil power in

the universe similar to or equal to God Himself in power. The holiness of God

and the wicked evilness of sin are two incomparable powers. Sin can

challenge holiness, but omnipotence rules all things. God's power is infinitely

greater than the power of sin; while sin can exert a strong influence on

individuals, God's power is absolute and can overcome any and every sin.

All sin is ultimately irrational. It really did not make sense for Satan to rebel

against God in the expectation of being able to exalt himself above God. Nor

did it make sense for Adam and Eve to think that there could be any gain in

disobeying the words of their Creator. These were unwise choices. The

persistence of Satan in rebelling against God today is still a thoughtless

choice, as is the decision on the part of any human being to continue in a

state of rebellion against God. Though people sometimes persuade

themselves that they have good reasons for sinning, when examined in the

cold light of truth from every source possible on the last day, it will be seen

in every case that sin ultimately is in direct conflict with any reasoning.

Sin comes to life when the human subject of God becomes the object. It is

then no longer the person committing the sin, rather now sin is at work within

the person. Even the law is powerless against sin. Sin makes humanity a

victim. When we consider the love of God and the power of the word, sin is

just a personified deed. The ultimate sin is individual self-reliance. The

attitude attempting to earn righteousness through works of the law. This

attempt to attain life by one’s own effort reveals the deceitfulness of sin. Man

trying to live out of his own strength loses his self – his life, rushing toward

death. This is the domination of sin.

Because we live in a sinful world and have done so all our lives, it’s hard for

us to realize that the ongoing struggle between good and evil - the great

controversy - is really only a “brief” interlude between the sinless perfection

that existed in the universe before Lucifer’s rebellion and the sinless

perfection that will exist after the rebellion is ended forever. It’s important that

we have a big picture understanding of how God is handling the problem,

and the fact that we are each purposefully involved in the outcome. Only then

will we be able to successfully carry out our role in the great controversy.

Only then will God be able to deal with the sin problem in a way that will put

it to rest forever. Vindicating God’s character is our purpose. And what a love

will be demonstrated! The entire universe will see that God all along was

handling the problem in love. To cause all to see this we must show the

reality of the faith of those chosen by God. These chosen were real people,

not characters in a play. The outcome of the story was predetermined, but

they had a terrible struggle…as we will also. We learn great truths through

their struggle…through their faith. We must help others see the need for God

to deal with Satan and sin in a way that not only redeems lost human beings

but also settles the sin problem so that sin will never arise again; better

understand how faith and obedience are related and how this relationship

needs to be expressed in their own lives; and rededicate themselves to serve

God not only with the head, but also with the heart as was the purpose for

their being born. According to the new covenant and the grace of God we

will be the Israel of witness to the world.

We cannot ignore the reality of sin. Sin is, in this last day, a human condition.

But we cannot reduce sin to a matter of nature overwhelming reason. What

propels us into sin is not the flesh, but the spirit. Sin is not the spirit’s

perversion by the flesh, but the spirit's self-perversion. The sinful person

refuses to submit to the authority of God’s moral law. We may want to call

someone who chooses to disregard what morality demands evil. But if we

call evil an action where the body with its desires just overwhelms the

individual’s freedom and reason, it becomes difficult to hold the supposedly

evil person responsible. That we do hold someone responsible presupposes

that we think that he chose to act on his private desires, that he freely chose

the evil life. This understanding of evil and sin that is entered into by human

beings by virtue of appetitional consciousness factors into man’s

potentialities for community corrupt themselves and are not corrupted by

anything outside themselves. The ever-present perverseness in human

nature indicates the manner in which man tries to put the blame on some

factor outside himself. Evil is blamed upon the force of darkness in the world

which holds men’s souls captive. Sin is regarded as a necessary stage of

development of the spirit leading to virtue and is made into something

external or beyond the limits of the personality as such. The human condition

of sin wants to argue that man, being both bound and free, both limited and

unlimited, is in a state of anxiety. Although anxiety is not a sin, it is the

precondition of a triggered human emotion. The spirit depraves itself by itself.

It turns in upon itself to love itself from no external suggestion. Sin is real

and it is a human condition, and it is causeless. We must realize this truth –

the evil of unsettled spirits, which leads astray the good of nature, arises from

itself. We hear and understand why and how Jesus could say the enemy has

nothing in him. Nothing in common with him, nothing that belonged to him,

no power over him. Sin within pollutes us.

The perfect expression of our being responds to the God givenness of the

nourishment of His divine grace. By this we may repudiate sin. Sin destroys

the community of man and sunders all responsible relations with one’s fellow

men. This life force of sin throws one into the abyss of isolation and

separation in which man ceases to be man. Sin destroys all that is human; it

makes man not into a mere beast, but into something far more sinister – it

converts man into a satanic spirit only held in check by the gift of

creatureliness which identifies the reality of our station in God’s economy.

God is not a creature, God is God, holy, other, Alpha and Omega, eternal

with no beginning or end. We are creatures created by God for worship to

God and each other.

The principles of sin are true. The potentialities of man for the good are

rooted in the image of God; the potentialities of man for evil are rooted in the

possibility of destruction of that image. What makes sin so devastating is that

we are both a corporeal and spiritual being. Bound to the external world, we

also transcend it. Besides being a bodily creature, as a spirit we are a person.

But with sin in us, we can be evil to a degree far exceeding the purely nature

of our being. We are today observing persons becoming sin par excellence;

conceited, prideful, boastful, malicious, deceitful, self-esteeming, self-

worship. One who ramps and raves. Who seeks openly to command others

so as to show his power. These are destroyers of the community of men.

Negation of love and annihilation of grace claiming henceforth is justified by

the deepest of all sins…the lie. Sin is self-corruption. It is the denial of God.

Sin has the characteristic of rebellion. Nevertheless, the usual definition of

sin as rebellion tends to lose the subtlety of sin. All sin is not rebellion. Sin

can be measured as any indifference to God and to others. Sin can have a

silent and quiet path or an open or violent one. Sin, in every situation will

lead to aloneness – that of a spiritual death and death is the loneliest

experience of humanity. Sin leads to judgment that voids the life from God.

Emptiness, absence, separation from God. Iniquities separate us from our

God; our sins hide his face from us. Sin creates a barrier not only between

humans and God, but also between people themselves. When people sin, it

can lead to a lack of trust in others, creating barriers in relationships. Sinful

actions often stem from a self-centered perspective, making it difficult to

truly connect with others. When individuals act out of sin, it can lead to

arguments, disagreements, and division within communities.

Sin can cloud our ability to fully understand and relate to the struggles of

others. A distraction, a delusion, a pretense…sin diverts the soul from God.

Sin is the nothing of nothing. It is the fear of fear. Sin is a living death. The

aloneness spoken of is spiritual aloneness. Sin seeks self. Christ, on the

cross, shattered this closedness. He was forsaken on the cross as sin. His

death to sin opens life to all who are of the faith of Jesus. By him we live.

In man, sin has brought forth a primary difficulty…the relation of man to God

is barred by ignorance. How ignorant is man before the silence of God?

When man chooses sin, he is not only alone, but he also lives in the

unknown. When man chooses to sin the secrets of God remain hidden. Sin

will cause man to imagine God as angry. He thinks his misfortunes are the

results of God’s active punishments. Wrath is the consequence and effect of

human sin. It is the punishment of sin upon itself. This is not falling into the

hand of God to be punished; it is rather falling out of His hand while sin works

toward its own desolation. Sin punishes itself and brings about its own

retribution. Sin will reap its own harvest.

The same bargain process will be carried over into religion. Men try to

placate the God of wrath which they have constructed in their darkened

minds. They try to bind Him and bargain with Him. In their “merit” scheme of

salvation they manifest a total lack of faith. Theirs is a false assertion of

virtue. This is man’s attempt to flaunt some merit before the decisions of the

divine election. They do not trust the Elector! People of faith, without

exception, accepts the absolute preveniency of God’s election. We can

accept it without fear because we have heard His word. We know that His

election will be just. His love has driven out fear. Work reward as a merit is

just another barrier man constructs between himself and God and other men.

Man, even looks to the cross in a new law to be obeyed. Man falls into these

errors because sin alienates him from God rendering man alone. Self-

confidence is the bottom of a sinful attitude. If man could bring himself to

salvation what need of Jesus? Sin will prove to be a false fabrication of a

trumped-up lie dissolved by the Word of God.

Sin destroys spiritual freedom. It bounds man in hopelessness. Sin is an

intense experiment that defies reason. It is that event of lying in exposure

before the Word of God. Revelation is the word of God speaking to us. It is

God’s presence bursting into the aloneness of sin. It is God revealing His

love toward those who expose their sin. God acts justly, man is torn open in

his betrayal. God wants to save. The openness of God and the closedness

of man are set side by side in hope that the contrast will dissolve the pride

opted in sin. The spirit of man perceives with penetrating clarity its own

sinfulness and likewise perceives the everlasting goodness of God. God’s

love is put in contrast with the depravity of the self. God lets our own sin

judge us. It is in the presence of our own sin in contrast to the mercy of God

which condemns. God, by showing Himself to us in His perfect goodness,

forces our own sin to judge us within ourselves. It is the presentation of love

and mercy that constitutes this most stinging of all judgments. Thus, it is that

judgment and mercy are closely interwoven. It is mercy and not wrath which

is the most powerful condemnation of all. Therefore, God obliges us to judge

ourselves by His own judgment of love and mercy. The givenness of God’s

love judges, redeems, and binds together. Before His givenness, there is not

one who can be too thankful. Before God judges, He calls. God’s call is not

a call to praise…it is the call to repentance. There is in this revelation the

achievement, the full meaning, and the contrast of both sin and faith. Christ

is the revelation of the word, and the cross is the symbol of the word. We

must reveal the answer to the word, the acceptance of the word, and the life

in the word. We must be so against sin as to dissolve it by restoring faith. We

are to accomplish and fulfill the intention of God’s word showing what has

gone before and what is to follow. The Word of God resting on the border

consciousness of our thoughts, giving us bounteous faith, mercy and grace,

elected us from whom no secrets are hid. Sin cannot help but be destroyed

before the grace of the Word. It has no hiding place. God’s givenness is

manifested in His chosen election. This is the character of the womb of the

everlasting gospel.

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