Simple Theology: Sin
How would you describe sin in one word? Some churches talk a lot about it, while others barely mention it. Discover the core meaning of the word and how to have a balanced understanding of it.
Transcript
Welcome to our current series Simple Theology. And our goal for each of these topics is to summarize a theological concept with one word. And at the end of the sermon, we’d love to have you reflect on these 4 questions. Today our topic is sin and I’m going to summarize sin with the word, rebellion. To rebel simply means to resist, to be in opposition to, or be against someone or something. When I came across this word, I had mixed emotions. On one hand, I love the concept of rebellion because I love the idea of not conforming to whatever the general population conforms to. Rebellion reminds me of movies like Star Wars, The Matrix, and The Hunger Games where the main characters rebel against evil empires that are unjust. I’d like to think that I have a little rebellion in me, that I’m not willing to conform. But on the other hand, when I think about rebellion as sin, it feels troubling. In 2 of the 3 theology books I read, sin was defined as a lack of failure to conform to the moral law of God. And this made me think about why rebellion feels so appealing and discomforting at the same time. So let’s dive into sin as rebellion and understand what this means. And I think the best way for us to understand sin as rebellion begins when we ask these 3 questions:
What is sin?
How does it affect us?
What do we do about it?
WHAT IS SIN?
What is sin? The Bible uses words relating to archery that describes sin as an arrow missing its target. Sin is simply missing the goal or failing to meet a goal that God has for us. And God’s goal for us is to love God and love others. So when we sin, we rebel against God’s goal, which is to love God and love others. This rebellion first occurred in Genesis 3 in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command to not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil. Their rebellion began with mistrust when they believed the serpent’s doubts regarding God’s goodness. The serpent suggested that God’s command was withholding good from them causing Adam and Eve to desire more leading them to ultimately disobey God. Desire is a natural part of our life, but to an extreme, causes us to sin. Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God had huge consequences because it did not reflect God’s goodness and the consequences of their rebellion made a lasting impact on the rest of humanity. So how does sin affect us?
HOW DOES IT AFFECT US?
The biggest consequence of Adam and Eve’s rebellion is that we all inherit the nature to rebel against God. It’s universal and we’re all deeply steeped into it. Rebellion against God isn’t simply that we do bad things, but it is nature, our preference to do things for our benefit and no one else’s. Now, it might sound unfair that we inherit this nature to rebel against God because it was Adam and Eve’s decision, not ours. In some ways, it’s like how we inherit physical characteristics and personality traits from our parents whether we like them or not. We also inherit this nature to rebel against God because Adam is a representation of all of us. We may think that we would’ve acted differently than Adam, but our desires would’ve led us to the same decision. With a nature that causes us to rebel against God in every way, there are four ways that sin affect us according to Stanley Grenz and they are:
Alienation
Condemnation
Enslavement
Depravity
Let me explain each one to you.
Alienation:
Rebellion alienates and separates us from God’s community that he created us to be in. We no longer experience a harmonious relationship with God, others, and creation. There is competition with others. Instead of seeing ourselves as creative beings under God, we seek to be the creator, to control nature and enslave it to serve us.
Condemnation
When someone breaks a law and they are caught and found guilty, there is a punishment. Punishment can result in a fine, community service, or time in jail. Similarly, when we rebel against God and break His commands and laws, there is a punishment too. Breaking God’s commands and laws causes us to be guilty of failing to meet His goal so there’s a punishment. Condemnation simply means when we rebel against God, we are guilty and deserve punishment.
Enslavement:
When we rebel against God, the spirit of rebellion keeps us in its grasp. The desire to rebel isn’t just a one-time decision, it becomes an addiction and habit. When things become a habit, we are likely to deny that it’s a problem. We might even become insensitive to our habits and consider them to be harmless.
Depravity
Depravity is being completely corrupted by sin. Rebellion against God causes us to be completely corrupted by sin. So much so that everything we do is motivated by our own selfishness to honor ourselves instead of God. Even when we think we aren’t being unselfish, there are selfish motives. This is a place that we can’t remove ourselves from. Sin is a serious issue, so it needs a serious solution. We can’t rely on our own ability or power to change our situation, instead, we need a power greater than ours.
This leads us to our last point, what do we do about it?
WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT?
If rebellion against God is as serious as it is, what do we do about it? The solution is Jesus. I know we hear about this all the time, but the whole point of why we’re here and why we exist hinges on Jesus. Jesus comes to earth to bear the effects of sin. He takes on our alienation, condemnation, enslavement, and depravity and replaces it with his right standing with God. When we believe in Jesus, the effects of sin are no longer in effect. We are no longer separated from God. Romans 8:38-39 says,
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. “
We are no longer condemned. Romans 8:1 says,
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”
We no longer enslaved. Romans 6:6-7 says,
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
And we are no longer depraved. We are no longer corrupted by sin. Instead, we are reborn as children of God without the inherited sin nature. John 1:12-13 says,
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Earlier, I mentioned how it feels unfair that we inherited this rebellious nature from Adam, but we must consider this perspective that Wayne Grudem offers.
“If it’s unfair for us to be represented by Adam, then we should also think it is unfair for us to be represented by Christ and to have his righteousness imputed (or credited) to us by God.”
Thank God that even if we were to think it’s unfair that we inherit this nature of rebellion from Adam that he graciously and generously gives us Jesus who takes our nature of rebellion and exchanges it for his nature of being right with God so that we can experience his love and peace for us. Let’s pray.