What is sin?

[TheOneHeLoves]

I would simply say Sin is anything that does not align with God's commands, boundaries, standards (things that are not pleasing to God).

 

[BlessedPeace]

Paul said this curious statement, "Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I serve the law of God, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin."

There has long been the observation regarding Paul and his Epistles that encompass the majority of the New Testament.

It borders on the question,would Jesus appoint a member of the Pharisees as his spokesperson having labeled them in total, children of Satan. ("You are of your father the Devil.") Especially one who sought out for execution his Apostles. And in the case of Stephen's stoning,even held his cloak.

Also, Paul repeatedly refers to himself as apostle. When only those annointed by Jesus were so. And they never referred to Paul as such. They called him brother.

Lastly, Paul claimed to have encountered Christ as a light on his journey to hunt down and kill other Christians while traveling the road to Damascus.

Jesus did not ascend as a light back to Heaven. He resurrected and ascended bodily. Luke 24,Matthew 28.
Not as a light. Whereas Lucifer is an angel of light.
And what better way to overcome Jesus,as Satan tried repeatedly while Jesus was here,than to lead a Pharisee to presume to tell people Jesus had not finished his ministry? And as such Paul was here to continue it further by not only preaching a different gospel but, by levying a curse upon those who would come with a different one,Jesus' Gospel,after. And this before Paul met Jesus' apostles.


It's an interesting proposition. A man who identified still as a Pharisee, never heard the man Jesus speak,nor laid eyes on him, is granted the majority of space in the New testament that purportedly exists by Jesus' will.

 

[lforrest]

The only thing about the conscience is that while it seems more or less standardized across the board for people, it can vary from person to person, be changed, or be taken advantage of by manipulators. It would seem that even those who were already in the faith can be drawn away or mislead and develop a conscious so desensitized it may as well have been seared with a hot iron.

Perhaps God judges differently based on what people are aware. Jesus said, after all, “If you were blind you would not be guilty of sin. But since you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” Also, "For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

If we are to live by the Spirit as commanded, we should also be like minded. The inevitable conclusion is that not everyone in the church is living by the Spirit.

Peter was rebuked by Jesus for having merely human concerns. And that seems to be the case for many these days.

 

[Bob Estey]

This question is simple and I am interested in what people have to say, but first let me just define sin based on how John put it.

1 John 3​

4Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well. Indeed, sin is lawlessness.​

So sin is basically a transgression of a law. There are numerous references to laws in the Bible. There is the law of Moses, the law of God, the law of Christ, the law of freedom, etc.

In the New Testament, there are laws still given to people that were continued to be taught, such as the 10 Commandments. They can be found here and there throughout the New Testament, and Jesus even listed some in Matthew 19, saying they are necessary to keep in order to enter eternal life.

So we know that sin is a violation of something that has been codified into law, i.e., God's law.

With all of this in mind, why would someone not enter the kingdom of God or be cast into the lake of fire for doing something that wasn't codified as a law and, arguably, isn't actually a sin?

Revelation 21:8 says cowards and sorcerers, get cast into the lake of fire. Is there is a law against being a sorcerer or coward?

Galatians 5:19-21 mentions that those who are impure, practice debauchery, sorcery, hatred, discord, jealousy, rage, drunkenness, etc will not enter the kingdom of God. While I fully know and agree that these things are unsavory and bad, where were they codified as sin?

Is the conclusion here that people can miss out on eternal life without actually being guilty of sin, but rather something that is immoral, distasteful, or otherwise frowned upon?

Sin would be acts of selfishness. The Bible clarifies this for us. There are two great commandments to follow (Mattew 22:34-40). The Ten Commandments help define the two great ones. The rest of the Bible helps define the Ten.

 

[Traveler]

It's an interesting proposition. A man who identified still as a Pharisee, never heard the man Jesus speak,nor laid eyes on him, is granted the majority of space in the New testament that purportedly exists by Jesus' will.

Remember that he did run into Jesus on the road and was later converted. Much the same as the rest of us, We never saw Jesus but all reached a point of conversion.

 

[BlessedPeace]

Remember that he did run into Jesus on the road and was later converted. Much the same as the rest of us, We never saw Jesus but all reached a point of conversion.

He encountered a light that asked, why dost thou persecuteth me?

Paul presumed it to be our Lord.

I think if he was converted he wouldn't have spoken of himself in such terms. Being a Pharisee Paul certainly knew the law and what sin was.