Sin

What does the word sin mean to you?

For most of us, the word has strong negative connotations. Maybe you associate sin with especially heinous crimes like murder or rape. Maybe it calls to mind memories of a preacher or televangelist ranting about hell and damnation. Maybe for you, sin is another name for forbidden fun, or maybe you think the whole idea of sin is outdated and irrelevant.

Which perspective is true?

Whatever your take, our modern understanding of sin comes from the Bible. The Bible describes sin as any thought or activity that goes against God's will. That covers obvious, awful crimes like murder—but it also covers the little ways that we hurt others in our everyday lives. Lying, gossip, jealousy, greed... these are all ways that we do injustice. When you take into account those little things, not a single one of us can say we haven't sinned. Even the holiest person you can think of messes up from time to time.

But there's more to sin than good old-fashioned bad behavior. The Bible teaches us that sin is so ingrained in the human experience that it taints everything we do and see. Mankind's sin lurks in the background everywhere, taking even our most beautiful accomplishments and marking them. Ever wonder why there's so much pain in the world, why after thousands of years mankind hasn't managed to reign in its own worst impulses, why bad things happen to even the best people? It's sin, and it's the backdrop against which we live our lives.

And that's bad news, because sin is exactly what keeps us from connecting with God. God is perfect. He's so perfect that sin simply can't come near him. That means that people who have sinned—people like us—can't get close to him either. It doesn't matter if your sin was big or little—just like even a little pinch of the wrong ingredient spoils the entire recipe, even just a tiny little sin makes you too sinful to meet with God.

Fortunately, that's not where the story ends.

God loves you, despite your mistakes. He wants to be in a relationship with you. But for that to happen, the sin has to go away. You can't make that happen on your own. You can't go back in time to erase past mistakes. You can't scrub away your past sins and guilt by yourself. And no matter how hard you try, you just can't live a life that's free of sin's taint.

This is what has been called "the problem of sin," and spiritually speaking, it's the greatest hurdle any of us will ever face. It's also the central question around which all of Christianity is concentrated. Is there a solution to the problem of sin? Or is it impossible for us to ever know God?

Well, there's a reason that the message of Jesus Christ is called the "good news." Christians say that a Jewish man who lived in 1st-century Palestine holds the answer to our sin problem. Read more about Jesus and his incredible claims.

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