What about this word "sin"? Most people who hear the word probably think of it as something bad. Some people may be afraid of it. The use of that word may make some people angry. Some may think there is not such thing as "sin". But from a religious perspective, from God's perspective, what is "sin"?
The English word "sin" comes from the Latin sons which means "guilty". So the English word carries the idea of being guilty of violating some law or standard. In the Old Testament the English word "sin" is a translation of the Hebrew word chata which has the meaning "to miss" or "to go wrong". In the New Testament it is a translation of the word hamartia meaning "to miss the mark" or, in an ethical sense, a fault or a failure. The root word was regularly used in ancient times of an archer missing the target. From a Biblical perspective, then, sin is the failure of human beings to live up to God's standards.
The above statement raises all kinds of questions. What are God's standards? Why does he set standards at all? Why can't we be free to do what ever we want? I'm using the word "standard" here instead of "rule" or "law" because I feel like the latter two words may be viewed as too negative in our culture. I want to suggest that God's standards are intended to be a positive benefit to human beings and to the physical world we live in. The are intended to guide human beings to a peaceful and productive life.
The Fall
Bible scholars and theologians (theos "God", logia "study of") often call the events of Genesis chapter 3 as "the fall" because those events describe how the first two human beings on earth fell short of God's standards. What do we observe as these events unfold?
Freedom
First, we can see from these events that human beings are "free moral agents". That is, we are free to make choices as we live our lives. Even though God and our government establish standards of behavior, we are free for the most part to live by those standards or to violate them. God set a standard that was intended to be beneficial to Adam and Eve and they chose to violate the standard.
Responsibility
Second, there is a third party involved. The Bible says that the devil appeared to Eve in the form of a serpent and deceived and seduced her with subtle lies and half truths into doing something God has told her not to do. When Adam and Eve were confronted by God, they were ready to absolve themselves of any responsibility for their actions by playing the blame game. Note what Adam said, "The woman whom you gave me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it." Basically he is saying, "it's not my fault; it is your fault, God, because you gave me the woman", and, "its not my fault; she gave it to me." And Eve's response: "The serpent tricked me, and I ate." Basically, she is saying, "It's not my fault; it is the serpent's fault because he tricked me." The fact is, however, that Adam and Eve each made a free moral choice and they are responsible and accountable, regardless of the part played by a third party.
Death
Third, the concept of death is present in this scripture. In the previous chapter, God tells Adam that if he eats from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he will die. In chapter three this comes up in the conversation between the serpent and Eve. But what exactly is death? We have become conditioned to view death as the end of life, but Biblically speaking death for human beings is separation: physical death is the separation of the body which decays from the spirit which continues to exist in anticipation of the resurrection; spiritual death is the separation of the person from God.
Theologians sometimes debate whether the "death" mentioned here in Genesis chapter three is physical death or spiritual death. I think it refers to both. They were spiritually separated from God immediately: after they ate the fruit they heard God in the garden and hid from him because they were afraid. They eventually died physically as well.
Our Hope
Just like Adam and Eve, all human beings have fallen short of God's standard, but I want to end this post on a hopeful note. Anyone who humbly turns back to God, acknowledging Jesus Christ as the Son of God, can be returned to spiritual life and a relationship with God.
Paul says in Ephesians 2:4-7:
But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even though we were dead in offenses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you are saved!— and he raised us up together with him and seated us together with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, to demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
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Scripture quoted by permission. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2016 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.
This post is the result of my studies based on the book by Mark E. Moore, Core 52: A Fifteen-Minute Daily Guide to Building your Bible IQ in a Year, published by WaterBook (Penguin Random House)
Trade Paperback ISBN 978-0-525-65325-7
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