Sin is a central concept of our faith. But, what is sin? How do we define sin? And, what are the consequences for the sinful acts we commit?
Our entire relationship with YHWH rests on identifying what sin is, acknowledging we have sinned, and addressing the penalty of our sin. Without an understanding of sin we will not recognize our need for Messiah, nor will we be able to explain it to others.
Recap
Foundations of the Faith is a series where we examine the basic concepts of our faith in YHWH as recorded in the Bible. This series is intended to be a summarized overview of the faith, which we hope will guide new disciples in the beginning of their study. Throughout this series, we will address such fundamental issues as:
Who is God and how do we relate to Him?
What is Torah (God’s teachings and commandments)?
What is sin and the penalty of sin?
How can the penalty of our sins be resolved?
What do we do after receiving salvation?
What is Sin?
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. (1 John 3:4)
This verse provides the clearest definition of sin in the Bible. Sin is Lawlessness. To fully understand what sin is, we need to go back to the original Greek words translated as “Sin” and “Lawlessness”.
ἁμαρτία (hamartia) — Sin, offense, trespass
Sin means to commit an offense or trespass; it is to miss a mark or standard. But, what is the mark that needs to be hit? What is it that we are offending or trespassing?
ἀνομία (anomia) — Lawless, without law, violation of law
The word translated as “Lawless” is from the Greek word νόμος (nomos), meaning law; and, it has the negative prefix “a”, which negates the word it’s attached to. The proper meaning of anomia is anything against law, contrary to law, or devoid of law.
What the apostle John wrote is: Sin is Lawlessness. We can understand this to mean sin is anything we do to break the Law. And, nomos is the Greek word used to express Torah in the Septuagint (an ancient translation from Hebrew to Greek). Putting it together, the proper meaning of sin is anything we do to violate YHWH’s Torah.
What is the Penalty for Sin?
And YHWH Elohim commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17)
The word used in this passage for “knowledge” is from the Hebrew word ידע (yada), which can express knowledge gained through intimate experience. We see the word yada used this way in other verses such as Genesis 4:1, where Adam “knew” his wife. Adam’s “knowledge” of his wife was a personal, intimate, experience and not merely an academic understanding of the relationship between a man and wife.
The first sin committed by mankind was to violate YHWH’s commandment not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. By breaking that commandment, Adam and Eve gained knowledge of evil by personally experiencing rebellion, guilt, and the fearful expectation of punishment. By contrast, Adam and Eve now knew righteousness (before their disobedience) and lawlessness (after their disobedience); so, they gained an understanding of both good and evil through their action and experience.
And what did YHWH say would be the penalty for breaking His commandment and experiencing evil? Death. The phrase “in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” more directly translates as “dying, you shall die”. Adam and Eve lost out on eternal life; they became subject to aging and death, with an expectation of condemnation on YHWH’s day of judgement.
The penalty for sin is:
Our relationship with YHWH is broken
We are not fit to be in His presence
We have no access to eternal life
We experience mortality
We will cease to be living souls
What About Hell?
We commonly hear that humans have immortal and indestructible souls, which are described as spirit-bodies that separate from the physical body at death. Then, we’re told, our spirit-bodies must “live” somewhere for eternity. Good souls are said to go to Heaven while bad souls go to Hell (Hades) to be consciously tortured forever. This is actually a pagan belief. For more information on the pagan origin of the popular belief in Hell, please see our study People Against God And Nomos.
Biblically, we’re told mankind was denied access to eternal life in Eden (Genesis 3:22-24). YHWH never said the penalty for sin is to be consciously tortured for all eternity, while He sustains us to suffer without being burned up. Actually, torture is a violation of Torah. So, by definition, torture is sin and YHWH never sins. For more information on the Lawlessness of torturing people, please see our study Holy God or Lawless Tyrant.
If we study scripture from beginning to end, we will see repeated language describing the ultimate fate of the wicked as death, destruction, being burned up, and being dispersed like smoke. Here are a few examples:
Return to Sheol/Second Death
The wicked shall return to Sheol,
all the nations that forget Elohim. (Psalm 9:17)
This language of returning to Sheol (the grave) parallels language in Revelation 21:8 that speaks of the wicked experiencing “second death” in the lake of fire. Burning up and being dispersed like smoke fits the imagery of both Psalm 37 and Revelation 21. But, continuing forever as an immortal and indestructible spirit that retains conscious thought and experience…that is not death.
Continuing Forever vs. Vanishing Like Smoke
YHWH knows the days of the righteous,
and their heritage will be forever;
they are not ashamed in the evil time;
in the days of famine they will be satisfied.But the wicked will perish
and the enemies of YHWH,
like the splendors of the meadows,
will vanish into smoke;
they will vanish away. (Psalm 37:18-20)
Again, the language of scripture contrasts the righteous as gaining eternal life while the wicked will perish and be no more. If the wicked live forever in a netherworld of torture then they never truly perish and vanish forever, as the scriptures say.
The Utter Destruction of the Wicked
For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says YHWH of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says YHWH of hosts.
Remember the Torah of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. (Malachi 4:1-4)
The wicked are said to burn like stubble in an oven. This is not a metaphor that describes burning forever and never being consumed. If stubble, or any fuel, were burned in an oven it would ultimately burn up; and, that is the image given in Malachi 4. If the image of something burning up in an oven is used as a metaphor for the fate of the wicked, how can the interpretation be that the wicked never actually burn up?
We are also told the wicked will be left without root or branch. This metaphor tells us the wicked will cease to have any origin or continuance. There is completely nothing left of the wicked, and no hope of rising again.
Finally, the wicked are described as ashes beneath our feet. The complete picture in Malachi 4 is that of the wicked being burned up, consumed, and having nothing remain of them but ashes. And, this is the fate of the wicked repeatedly described throughout the Bible.
What About Here and Now?
If one turns away his ear from hearing Torah,
even his prayer is an abomination. (Proverbs 28:9)
We aren’t merely waiting to pay a price for sin in the future Day of Judgement. The consequences of sin affect us in our daily lives, right now.
1. Sin separates us from YHWH. If we are wicked, living a lifestyle of Lawlessness with no intent to change, then we have no relationship with YHWH. If we are living in abject rebellion against YHWH, He will not hear our prayers or respond to us if we cry out to Him.
2. Sin subjects us to curses. When Adam and Eve were judged in Eden, YHWH pronounced lifelong curses upon mankind: Toiling, laboring, and suffering throughout our lives (Genesis 3). Throughout the scriptures, we’re constantly reminded that obedience brings blessings but sin and rebellion brings curses (see Deuteronomy 28).
3. Sin is synergetic. Because of our sin, we have an evil inclination; we are inclined towards temptation to indulge in sin continuously. The more we give in and choose sin, the easier it is to choose sin again and again…
While the ultimate fate of the wicked is to be destroyed on the Day of Judgement, we suffer consequences of sin in our daily lives as well. Between now and Judgement Day, our sin separates us from YHWH, causes us to suffer curses, and continuously leads us further and further away from YHWH.
We must address our sinful state now, not put it off as tomorrow’s problem.
In Conclusion
Sin is anything we do to violate Torah. And, the penalty for sin is separation from YHWH and a fearful expectation of destruction on the day of His judgement.
In contrast, the scriptures speak of the righteous being restored in relationship to YHWH, healed, receiving eternal life after the coming resurrection, and living forever in YHWH’s blessings.
So, how do we go from death-row to eternal life with YHWH? That will be the topic of our next lesson.
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear Elohim and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For Elohim will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
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