What is the definition of sin? | GotQuestions.org

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What is the definition of sin? We're going to answer that question. You can also discover more on GotQuestions .org.

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Sin is described in the Bible as transgression of the law of God and rebellion against God.

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Sin had its beginning with Lucifer, the most powerful and beautiful of the angels. Not content with his position, he desired to be higher than God.

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And that was his downfall, the beginning of sin. Renamed Satan, he brought sin to the human race in the

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Garden of Eden, where he tempted Adam and Eve. Since that time, sin has been passed down through all the generations of mankind.

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And we, Adam's descendants, have inherited sin from him. Through Adam, we became sinners by inherent nature.

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Adam's inner nature was transformed by his sin of rebellion, bringing to him spiritual death and depravity.

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The wages of sin is death. We are sinners not because we sin, rather we sin because we are sinners.

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This passed on depravity is known as inherited sin. Just as we inherit physical characteristics from our parents, we inherit our sinful natures from Adam.

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King David lamented, Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

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Another type of sin is known as imputed sin. Used in both financial and legal settings, the

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Greek word translated imputed means to take something that belongs to someone and credit it to another's account.

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Before the law of Moses was given, sin was not imputed to man, although men were still sinners because of inherited sin.

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After the law was given, sins committed in violation of the law were imputed, accounted to them.

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All humans from Adam to Moses were subject to death not because of their sinful acts against the

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Mosaic law, which they did not have, but because of their own inherited sinful nature.

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After Moses, humans were subject to death because of inherited and imputed sin.

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God imputed the sin of believers to the account of Jesus Christ who paid the penalty for that sin, death on the cross.

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God treated Jesus as if He were a sinner, though He was not, and had Him die for the sins of the entire world.

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It is important to understand that Jesus did not inherit sin from Adam. He bore the penalty for sin, but He never became a sinner.

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In exchange, God imputed the righteousness of Christ to believers' accounts just as He had credited our sins to Christ's account.

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A third type of sin is personal sin, that which is committed every day by every human being.

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Because we have inherited a sin nature from Adam, we commit individual, personal sins, everything from seemingly innocent untruths to murder.

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Those who have not placed their faith in Jesus must pay the penalty for these personal sins, as well as inherited and imputed sin.

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However, believers have been freed from the eternal penalty of sin, hell, and spiritual death.

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But now we also have the power to resist sinning through the Holy Spirit. If we confess our sins,

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He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

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We are all three times condemned due to inherited, imputed, and personal sin.

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The only just penalty for this sin is death, not just physical death, but eternal death.

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Thankfully, all three types of sin have been crucified on the cross of Jesus. We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace.

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That answers the question, what is the definition of sin? On our website, GotQuestions .org, you'll find a deeper discussion and recommended resources.

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