Sin and Salvation

Teachinghearts	Sin "Explore the Word. Change the World"	Statistics: Time: 30 minutes Print: 6 pages

Pray First
Resources
Lessons Glossary Doctrines The Colors of God Christ Blessings and Curses

Legal Definition

The Bible describes sin in the following way.
"sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3: 4)

Many people avoid this topic. Some deny that there is sin or a God or some absolute values. Others believe that our values must evolve with the demands of the culture. This makes the Bible unpopular, because the Bible does describe this disease called sin that isolates us from God.

But what is the definition of sin in the Bible?
If you examine the issue, there are at least three definitions. The basis of all of these is that sin is a state of existence that separates us from God. In our lesson on the colors of God, we explore the reasons for these definitions and we concluded that sin is a separation from God, and in practical terms it is demonstrated as separation or rebellion from the works of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Lawless (Separation from the Father). This is the classic definition. Sin is breaking the laws of God.
Lawlessness. Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. (1 John 3: 4)

If you do not have access to all of the law, then sin is disobeying your conscience. The natural sense of right and wrong.
Neglect. Therefore to him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin. (James 4:17 )

If you have access to the law, and then decide to pick and choose what you think you should obey, then this is sin.
Disobedience. For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. (James 2:10 )
Unbelief (Separation from the Son). Sin is not believing in Jesus Christ.
For whatever is not from faith is sin. (Romans 14: 23)
But this seems unfair. How can some people know about Christ if they have never heard of him? This is where God assists us with the Holy Spirit, our conscience and reserves judgment for Himself.
Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. (Matthew 12:32)
So God forgives those who cannot possibly know that they have sinned. But the Spirit speaks to your conscience.
Stubbornness (Separation from the Holy Spirit). Sin is resisting the teachings of the Holy Spirit. Sooner or later, God will expose you to more truth, if you resist or avoid exposure it is sin.
For rebellion is as the sin of divination and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. (1 Samuel 15: 23)

The work of the Holy Spirit is to lead us to Faith in Christ, obedience to the law and repentance.
And He when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see me; and concerning judgment because the ruler of this world has been judged. (John 16: 8-11)

Origin and Consequences
Sin began in the Garden of Eden when our parents disobeyed God. As a consequence, they were separated from God. He no longer met face to face with them. The separation resulted in specific physical changes.

Death. The whole planet began to die.
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6: 23)
Curse (Wrath). The planet was cursed. On our way to death the planet would suffer physical, spiritual and mental impairments that would lead to war, famine, drought and disease.
Contamination. This fatal decision by Adam and Eve was passed on to their children and the creation like a disease.
Therefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. ... For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 5: 12; 3: 23)

How does sin pass from one generation to the next and from one species to another? There are three possible models.
- Infection (Physical). Sin and its effects are passed like a disease.
- Nature and Nurture (Mental). It is passed through our genes and our example and what we see and learn.
- Separation from God (Spiritual). The separation from God creates an environment which is lacking in the ingredients that are needed for our total welfare. We could no longer physically live in the presence of God because we would die immediately. Therefore, everything is degenerating physically, mentally and spiritually because we do not have the total benefits of the presence of God. But why did the rest of the planet suffer?
  
  Since Adam was the legal representative of this planet, the whole creation was subject to this punishment. And, because God intended to rescue him, Adam and his family still needed a place to live. So the whole earth was affected by the separation. But from the creation, God made the heavens and earth so that it could sustain life in this horrible time of separation. We have the sun and moon to give us light. It will not be so in the new earth.

Salvation and Righteousness
So how did God fix this problem? How do we get out of this endless cycle of evil? Different religions propose different solutions.

Reincarnation. This is salvation by education. According to this method, we are born into endless cycles where we are given the opportunity to learn from our past mistakes and improve ourselves for the next cycle. The problem is that education does not seem to civilize nations.
Retribution. At death, you are sent to an intermediate place of torture where you are punished for your sins. Once you have paid, you are sent to Heaven. If you refuse, you are sent to Hell. The problem is that endless torture probably will not teach you to love God. It teaches you to be afraid.
Redemption and Rehabilitation. Salvation is given as a free gift to whoever wants it. The penalty and guilt are paid. This is redemption. You cannot help but Love God.
But God does not leave you in that state where you are no longer guilty but still incapable of doing what is right. He sends His Holy Spirit to rehabilitate us. With our consent, the Holy Spirit shows us what is right and wrong. He helps us to love the Good. With this process He writes the good in our hearts and minds so that we mentally accept them. We achieve this agreement through our own acknowledgement about right and wrong. Confession and repentance.

Jesus Christ: The Solution
God does this redemption and rehabilitation by three distinct processes.

Justification (Past). This restores our spiritual relationship with God. God removes the past offenses by forgiving us and taking the penalty. God, Himself, paid the penalty for all sin. He took our sin and guilt and shame and punishment. He took the death and the curse or wrath of God for us through the gift of Jesus Christ. As the future becomes the past, God justifies us when we repent.

The Free Gift

The free gift of God is offered to us, but for it to become ours, we must believe in it and accept it from God.

The Gift. "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6: 23)
"For by grace you are saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God". (Ephesians 2:8 )

Saved from Death. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3: 16)

Saved from Wrath. "But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." (Roman 5: 8-9)
Sanctification (Present). This changes our mental capacity. We will learn what is good and love it. Since justification only takes care of what we have done, God also made provision for changing us into the people who will be obedient. This is done through the work of the Holy Spirit who came to fulfill a promise. God would make us instinctively want to obey Him.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days says the Lord; "I will put my laws into their minds and write it on the hearts. And I will be their God and they shall be My people (Hebrews 8: 10)

The process of sanctification involves learning and responding to what we have learned. As we apply what we learn so that we are in conformity with the will of God, we become more perfect. We are being sanctified.
Sanctify them in the truth, Your word is truth. (John 17: 17)
Glorification (Future). This changes our physical bodies. Our bodies will change so that we can live forever in the presence of God without dying. This completes the total transformation of the sinner.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, you may be also. (John 14: 3)

God Removes Our Sin
We have a love affair with sin and are commiting adultery against our Creator. Since God hates divorce, He forgives our failures and forgets the past. God restores the relationship by removing or ignoring our sins in several ways. He is either hiding Himself or hides our sins or gets someone else to remove them.

Passover (He Refuses to Look at Them). Passover teaches us that God chooses to walk by and ignore our sins and sweep them under the carpet.
He chooses to be our advocate. Like the sons of Noah, He does everything to prevent Himself from seeing our disgrace so that we are not embarassed. Then He covers our shame with His righteousness.
But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father's nakedness. (Genesis 9: 23)
He turns off the light, covers His face and turns His back.
- Closes His Eyes. He does not see them, especially when we do not know what we are doing.
  And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men every where to repent: (Acts 17: 30)
- Turns His Back. He walks away from our past and turns away from the present.
- Lapse of Memory. God chooses to forget our sins.
  "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (Jeremiah 31: 34)
  For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more. (Hebrews 8: 12)
- Turns Off the Light. He makes it dark so that He cannot see them or see our shame.
- Covers Our Sins (Mercy Seat). He hides our sins by sweeping them under a rug and puts them away.
  How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! (Psalm 32: 1)
  You forgave the iniquity of Your people; You covered all their sin. (Psalm 85: 2)
  Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all transgressions. (Proverbs 10: 12)
- Separates Himself. He hides Himself behind a curtain so that we are not destroyed.
The Goodness of God. God demonstrated His greatness at the cross, when He forgave our sins. At the crucifixion God accomplished all of these during the three hours of darkness. At that time Jesus became sin, and like Moses we stood in the cleft of the Rock as God turned off the light of the sun, turned His back on Jesus, hid His face, shielded us with His hands and declared that He had the right to forgive whomever He pleased.
God Hid Himself in the Darkness At the Cross. Then Moses said, "I pray You, show me Your glory!" And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion." But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!" Then the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen. (Exodus 33: 18-23)
» Seeing The Face of God. What does this mean? Notice that He covers His eyes, we do not cover ours. If we could see the unshielded face of God, then God could see us. The reason death occurs is not because we cannot live if we see something unusual in His face, it is because if He looks at us then He would see our sins. So He covers His face or He covers us with His hand. Either method prevents Him from seeing our sins. Because if He saw us in our sinful state He must respond with death by law. So He chooses not to be an eyewitness.
Pentecost (Cleans Up Our Mess). If He has to confront our sins He dusts, wipes, disinfects and washes away our sins. Since He will not get rid of us, He has to wash us clean. This is the covenant He kept when He sent His Holy Spirit (Hebrews 8: 10).
- Washes Them Away. There is a divine laundry service.
  Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name. (Acts 22: 16)
- Wipes them Away. There is a divine house cleaning service.
  I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43: 25)
  "Come now, and let us reason together,"Says the LORD," Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool. (Isaiah 1: 18)
- Stomps on them with His Feet. He grinds them to dust and disposes of them as garbage.
  He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot ... (Micah 7: 19)
- Throws Them into the Bottom of the Deepest Sea.
  ... You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7: 19)
- Throws Them Far Away. He removes them as far away as possible from us.
  As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103: 12)
- Writes a Prescription to Cure the Infection. With the Holy Spirit as the pen and the blood of Christ as the ink, God writes His law on the pages of our mind.
Sends the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God's great cleaning service and pharmacy.
Yom Kippur (Blames the Deceiver). One day, the pile of sin under the rug will get so big that He cannot ignore it. He sets a day to remove them. He puts the sins back to the root cause, declaring that since they enticed us to sin they are unjust accusers and do not have a right to appear in His court against us.
- Blames Someone Else. The scapegoat ceremony shows that God will place the blame on Satan.
- Challenges Our Accusers. He vigorously defends us.
  No weapon that is formed against you will prosper. And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn this is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me, declares the LORD. (Isaiah 54: 17)
- Covers His Mouth. He does not accuse us. And if we have no accusers then He will not condemn us (John 8: 9-11).
- Covers His Ears. He does not hear our accusers.
- Banishes our Accusers. He throws out our accusers so that He does not have to hear them.
  "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down which accused them before our God day and night." (Revelation 12: 7-10)
The Justice of God. He has not made an excuse for sin, but He has found a way to reconcile Himself with us and forgive us, while making us law abiding citizens again.
Suffers the Consequences Himself. And if all else fails, He takes the blame.
- Puts Them on His Back. He bears our sins. The cross is a symbol of this burden.
- Pays The Price. He purchased us back with His own blood.
- Substitutes Himself. He takes the penalties Himself by suffering and dying.

The Holy Spirit: The Solution
God does not excuse our sins. He has chosen to ignore our sins. But ignoring our problems does not solve them. So God solves the problem of the desire to sin with the Holy Spirit. He changes our desire by teaching us to hate sin and love righteousness.

Prayer of Commitment

Dear Lord Jesus,
I believe You are the Son of God and that you died to forgive me of my sins. I know that I have sinned. I ask you to forgive me. I turn from my sins and I ask you to come into my life as my Lord and Savior. Thank you for saving me. Please help me to live for You. Amen.

Our Response

Repent. We must first acknowledge that we are sinners. Our methods are inadequate. We have no real solutions. We need something or Someone else.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1: 9)
Faith in Jesus. We must accept God's gift. Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation.
"But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:" (John 1: 12)

But what about people who do not know Jesus Christ or who are not Christians? Even these people are saved through Christ, even if they do not recognize Him. Jesus died for all.
Now, the reason why they do not or cannot recognize Christ is a problem for God to solve. This is why God says that we should not judge. He will judge people by the light they have accepted or rejected. We cannot evaluate this.
Submission and Obedience. Having faith in Jesus automatically leads to obedience because of the work of the Holy Spirit.
Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 7: 21 )
Baptism. Baptism is a public sign that God wants us to honor. It is the equivalent of a marriage ceremony. It is the sign to the universe that we have joined into a covenant relationship with God. It is also the sign that we have died to sin.
"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts 2: 38 )
"He who has believed, and has been baptized, shall be saved; and he who has not believed, shall be condemned." (Mark 16: 16)
While outward signs do not save us, we should not ignore them. They usually have an importance that may not be understood until far into the future. The blood of animals could never take away sin. But Israel had to do it. Two thousand years later we see why. If the Jewish people had not obeyed the commandments and had not kept the laws, we would not understand Jesus Christ now. The apostles and the Gentiles would have rejected Him. But they had this body of evidence written down and practiced in their traditions that was a testimony to Christ. Our willingness to be baptized is our testimony that we have subjected ourselves to God.
Communion. While baptism is the sign that Christ has died for us, communion is another outward sign that points to the fact that Christ has suffered the wrath for us.

Who can Forgive Sins?

Sin Law Victim Sinner Victim

False gods, Idolatry, disrespect, break Sabbath First Four Commandments God People God

Steal, kill, covet, lie, adultery, disrespect Last Six Commandments People People

Destruction, neglect Love People

If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained. (John 20: 23).

The Unpardonable Sin

... any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. (Matthew 12: 31)
The unpardonable sin is the sin of rejecting the Holy Spirit. The sin is not unpardonable because it is so vile. It is unpardonable because in rejecting the Spirit we have rejected God's method of removing sin. How does this happen?
The Holy Spirit is only given to those who obey God (Acts 5: 32). Why?
He keeps revealing sin and if we are unwilling to obey there is no point in leading us to further obedience. This continued rejection leaves God with no method of "writing His laws into our heart".

There is no sin that is so horrible that God cannot forgive us.
But there is a cherished sin that is so small that it will separate us from God forever.

One church has used this verse to set up a priestly system by which the sinner comes to them for forgiveness, not to God. In this system, even God cannot forgive a sin if the priest refuses to forgive it.

When any sin is committed there are always two victims, God is the ultimate victim and the next is the person, animal or living thing that is injured. God is the victim because it is His law that we have violated. This process of forgiveness begins with the acknowledgement that all sins are ultimately against God.
Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge. (Psalm 51: 4).
So the Bible teaches that only the victim and God have power to forgive sins. This power does not belong to a third party.

Sin	Law	Victim	Sinner	Victim
False gods, Idolatry, disrespect, break Sabbath	First Four Commandments	God	People	God
Steal, kill, covet, lie, adultery, disrespect	Last Six Commandments	People	People
Destruction, neglect	Love	People

God. Christ has the authority to forgive sins on earth. Ultimately all forgiveness comes from Him.
So that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins (Mark 2: 10).
To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him. (Daniel 9: 9).
The Human Victim. People can forgive each other. God wants us to behave like Him and freely forgive. If we forgive, He will honor our agreement and forgive also. But He added a very noticeable condition on this power. If you do not forgive others, He cannot forgive you.
Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, Just as God in Christ has also forgiven you. (Ephesians 4: 32).
For if you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your father will not forgive your transgressions. (Matthew 6: 14-15).
Do not judge, and you will not be judged, and do not condemn and you will not be condemned; pardon and you will be pardoned. (Luke 6: 37 ).

How Do We Remove Sins?
Through the death of Christ, there are two ways to remove sins. And this power belongs to both the sinner and the victim.

Forgive Sins. If you have been wronged, you have the power to retain sins or not forgive. But if you do not forgive, it is a sign that you are resisting the Holy Spirit, because He leads you to repentance and forgiveness. If you act like that then it shows that you truly do not understand God. So eventually, He has to judge you by your own standards.
Judged By Your Own Standards. Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure it will be measured to you. (Matthew 7: 1-2).
This is not teaching that you can escape the judgment by being so open minded that you agree with the actions of everyone. It teaches that you will be subject to God's righteous standard of judgment, in addition to your harsh standards. So, let your standard be forgiveness.
Our power does not make God powerless or leave the sinner in a state of hopelessness. God can forgive the sins that the victim does not forgive, since He was also a victim. It is just that His preferred solution is for everyone to forgive each other immediately and from the heart.
Ultimately, we must also ask God for forgiveness also. Because all sins are against Him. (Psalm 51: 4).

Retain Sins. God will forgive you of all your sins. But, if you do not forgive sins, then at the judgment you will be found bearing the sins of others that you chose to hang on to. At that point God is no longer in the business of wiping away sins. And only one Righteous Man was capable of bearing the sins of others.
Confess Sins. If you have sinned, confess your sins to God and to the person you have wronged. If you are aware of sins, pray for the sins of others and the nation. God will respond by revealing errors to the sinner. This is not a system to replace confession to God. It is a system of reconciliation to the person wronged.
Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. (James 5: 16).

Feeling Forgiven.
Depending on the magnitude and the effect of your sin, forgiveness may never come with a feeling. Often victims exacerbate this feeling by refusing to forgive and constantly reminding you of your sins. They do not forgive or forget your sins and they never let you forget.
But God forgets. So, even if you do not feel it in your heart, you must know in your mind that you have been forgiven by the one Person who really matters. And He not only forgives, He forgets our sins.
"Come now, let us reason together", says the Lord. "Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool". (Isaiah 1: 18).
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness.
... As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgression from us. (Psalm 103: 8, 12).

Forgiving Yourself.
Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who revere Him. For He Himself knows our frame, He remembers that we are but dust. (Psalm 103: 13-14).
For some reason Christians want to operate from guilt instead of joy. They do not forgive themselves. They are not sure if God has forgiven them, probably because they do not feel forgiven or feel worthy of forgiveness. And with that single attitude they make God a liar and an ineffectual savior. Instead of looking at the Savior and the wonderful gift of God, they look at themselves and their unworthiness.
Here is the reality. If you sinned at anytime in the past and you have asked for forgiveness, then you have been forgiven. If you are ever tempted to look back at the past and to feel unworthy and to be afraid of your status before God, remember this analogy. Dirty Diaper

The Baby and the Bath Water. God is the loving Parent. You, the sinner, are a three month old baby. Sin is everything in your diaper. It is God's responsibility to clean up your mess because you are incapable of doing it. It is His joy to always love you and guide you because You are His beloved child.
God will never say, "I have got to throw out this useless baby with the bath water, because this baby is just too poopy! Honey, let us get a new baby."
So when you continue to agonize over past sins and worry about how God looks at you, you are accusing God of neglect. You are also returning to the garbage can to remove your dirty diaper.

Everywhere more Poop! Now, the nature of sin and sinners is that they keep on sinning. The nature of babies is that they keep on eating and pooping. There are no super babies. Sooner or later babies will learn as their parents potty-train them. Sooner or later you will learn as the Holy Spirit teaches you and your sins no longer have any control over you. Every time you sin, ask God to forgive you and believe that He does. At the Second Coming, you will realize that you have been potty trained.

Study to show yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2: 15
Copyright Updated : April 2, 2005
Credits:
Author: Laverna Patterson. Editor: Patterson (January 2008)