SIN AND DEATH
THE ever mention of sin in man’s relationship with God makes it necessary to throw some light here on what “SIN” is: “Sin” (Heb. “hatach” rendered “harmartia” in Greek means; “a falling away from” or “missing the right way”). There are also numerous other Hebrew words which are thus translated. Generally, the underlying idea of sin is that of law and lawgiver, that is God, hence sin is everything in opposition to the purpose, and the conduct of moral creatures that is contrary to the expressed will of God (see Rom. 3:20; 4:15; 7:7; James 4:12). The sinfulness of sin lies in the fact that sin is against God, even when it is committed against others or oneself (see Gen. 39:9; Ps. 51:4).
And in Rom. 3:23, Apostle Paul says “… for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”. The often and common reference of this passage to the fall of man in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-8) is not intrinsically in relation to the act of disobedience committed by the human progenitors — Adam and Eve — being carried over and down to the succeeding human race. It rather relates to hereditary propensities of offsprings behaving true to type, (in this instance disobedience) and not necessarily that the succeeding generations of mankind are being held guilty of the same sinful event committed by Adam and Eve. There is no doubt that Adam’s sin marred the divine image of man, and ever since then, all of Adam’s descendants have continued to sin in like manner – disobedience to the expressed will of God. Man has continued to fall short and be destitute of the image and glory of God. The continuing impact of the principal reference in this passage is emphasised by the use of the Greek word “hustereo” rendered “come short”, is used elsewhere with the meaning “to suffer need” as in Phil. 4:12 “to be destitute” as in Heb. 11:37; “to be in want” as in Luke 15:14. In the account of the marriage feast at Cana in John 2:3 “hustereo” is used to report that the supply of wine had failed. In this passage (Rom. 3:23) the word indicates that up till now, sinful man still continues to fall short and connotes the awareness of the lack of the glory of God by the sinner; indicating that man has consciously continued to fall short of the glory of God.
In Rom. 5:12 Apostle Paul further emphasises the point that: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered the world: and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned”. This passage has been regarded as the most difficult passage in the New Testament, if not in the whole Bible. However it appears the difficulty is largely in the attempt to apply it to purposes other than those intended by the apostle whose main purpose seems to be, to emphasise the far reaching results of the works of Christ, by comparing and contrasting the consequences of His justifying act (verse 15) with the effect of Adam’s sin (verse 12).
The effects of Adam’s sin have been passed upon all men, that is the principle of power and death have been transmitted to all descendants of Adam. Even though men had but a dim knowledge of God’s will as revealed to them by nature and conscience (Rom. 1:20), men having continued in the sins of Adam have also some measure of guilt for their sins. And, despite possible degrees of individual guilt, death reigned equally over all, even infants were under its dominion.
Taken with verse 15 of Rom 5; and skipping the parenthetical verses 13 and 17; one arrives at the inevitable emphasis of comparison that as sin and death, as principle and power, proceeded from Adam to the whole human race, so righteousness and life, as a counteracting and conquering principle and power, proceeded from Christ to all mankind. And as death has been passed to all those who sin like Adam, so life is passed to all those who participate in the righteousness of Christ. However, it must be noted that this parallel is not perfect. For though the participation in Adam’s type – sin is universal, the participation of the righteousness of Christ is limited to believers. Again, all men are sinners, but though the righteousness of Christ is equally universal in power and purpose, not all men are believers, in fact not all who pose as Christians are true believers. Moreover, what has been gained through Christ is far greater than what has been lost through Adam. Apostle Paul puts this more succinctly in Rom. 5:20-21: “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord”.
Before sin entered, God had warned Adam that death would be the result of sin (Gen. 2:7). After sin, God pronounced the death sentence on Adam: “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Gen. 3:19.). Now, this raises the question: what kind of death? The Bible speaks of three kinds of death:
i. Spiritual death:- A state of the unregenerated, lacking the living principles essential to growth and energy. (Eph. 2:1;
John 6:53; 1 John 5:12; 1 John 3:14).
ii. Temporal death: This is the first death described by Jesus as “sleep” in John 11:11-14. This is physical death in which there is a permanent state of unconsciousness, no activity nor device, nor knowledge nor wisdom (see Rev. 2:10). The first death ends human life temporarily for which there is a resurrection both for the “just” and “unjust” in which the righteous become immortal (1 Cor. 15 : 52 – 55).
iii. Eternal death is the second death – the final extinction of sin and sinners, and from it there can be no resurrection (Rev. 2:11; 20:6, 14; Matt. 10:28). This is the death that comes to the wicked after the close of the one thousand years, to receive their punishment and to die eternal death (Rev. 20:14; 21:8). They are destroyed both body and soul in hell (Matt. 10:15). In Rev. 2:14 an utter and final end is made of death and hell in their personified rendition “…cast into the place of fire” representing an end of death and the abode of the wicked dead. Never will they have part in the new earth; they are mortal phenomena that belong only to this earth. (Rev. 2:8, 27).
From the forgoing, the first or temporal death is the inevitable death to all, being the death that accompanied Adam’s sin and transmitted or passed on to all mankind. However the eternal or second death can only be avoided through acceptance, repentance (of Adam’s type – sins) and faith in the Messiah – Jesus Christ who out of unparalleled and inestimable love gave His life in final sacrifice for the salvation of man from the second or eternal death. The spiritual death may be avoided by all here on earth by adherence to God’s laws and obedience.
The Being and the law of God are perfectly harmonious in “God is love”. The sum of all the commandments likewise, is1ove. Sin thus in its nature abounds in self-conceit and selfishness. Self is put in the place of God (Rom. 15:3; 1 Cor. 13:5; 2 Tim. 3:1,2; 2 Thess.2:3,4). Selfishness (not pure self love, nor the exerggeration of it) is the root of all disobedience, and it manifests as hostility to God when it comes into collision with His commandment. All sin has a positive character, and the distinction between sins of commission and omission is only upon the surface, both being actual disobedience (see Matt. 23:23).
It is necessary to look at the three other English words for sin:
(a) Transgression Heb. “pesha” meaning “revolt” and rendered “parabasis” in Greek meaning “violation” is often used in the distinctive sense of violation of the law either in ignorance or wilfully (see Ex. 37:7; Rom. 4:15). All sin is transgression; but all transgression is not sin in the sense of incurring guilt. Trespass also comes under this definition.
(b) Iniquity in ordinary sense signifies absence of equity, wickedness etc. This word in the Bible is found to be common translations of the following Hebrew words which mean different stages or levels of sin. (1) Heb. “awon” meaning “perversity” “depravity” as in Gen. 4: 13 where the AV renders it “punishment”. It denotes guilt contracted by sinning in Ex. 20:5 etc.; anything unjustly acquired as in Hos. 12:8; penalty of sin as in Isa. 5:18; calamity, misery, as in Ps. 31:10. (2) Heb. “ewe!” or “awalah” is used in II Chro. 19:7 for “perverseness” (3) In the New Testament the Greek translated iniquity include “adikia” rendered “unrighteousness” “wrong” and “that which is not just” (Matt. 7:23). Greek “Anonia” and “paranornia” mean “without law” and “transgression of law” (Mat.23:28; II Thess. 2:7;Peter 2:16) while “ponoria” signifies “depravity”, “wickedness”, “malice”. (Matt. 22:18; Luke 11:39; Rom. 1:29; 1 Cor.5:8 etc.).
(c) Guile suggests self-deception. The Greek equivalent of guile “dolos” literally means “bait” such as for catching fish; the word figuratively used connotes “trickery” “treachery” “false pretence” just the kind that the hypocrite applies to convince men that he is better than he really is. In all the senses, guile is sinful, as in John 1:47 where our Lord referred to Nathaniel “an Israelite without guile”; II Cor. 12:16 where Paul used guile to denote “craftiness” deceitfulness of the Corinthians.
Each of the four words (sin, transgression, iniquity and guile) denotes a moral offence and is cared for in God’s mercy and forgiveness. (II Cor. 5:19).
Sin is one of many mysteries of the gospel.
(To be continued next week)
