Whatever happened to Sin?

The subject of sin has been around in my field of vision for the last few days. Our young people's group discussed it on Sunday evening, and it came up in a discussion I've been having with an anonymous blog-responder about suicide. (See the posting called Blessed are the Cheese makers - below).

Sin has got itself a bad name recently. It has come to be associated with only the very worst things that human beings do to one another (or themselves). I well remember a funeral preparation, a couple of years ago, when the family I was trying to support strenuously denied that their deceased relative could in any way be described as a 'sinner'. That was because they, like many people, associate sin with murder, child-abuse and the like.

The trouble is - that's not what the Bible says...and as it is the Bible which gave us the word 'sin' in the first place, it might be a good idea to remind ourselves what it actually means.

Over the years I have come to a personal definition of sin which has stood me in good stead (based on the Bible's definition of course!). Essentially it is this: Sin may be described as any behaviour or action which is less perfect than the way God would behave or act.

To arrive at that definition, I take the Bible's view that God is perfect. He is the ultimate measuring stick, against which everything in heaven and earth has to be measured. The Bible also says, in so many words, that sin creates a blockage between us and God. God simply cannot be in the presence of sin; it offends God. It is, if you like, too painful for him to bear.

Another problem is that there is nothing we can do to earn our own way to God (contrary to what Islam, Judaism, and many other faiths believe). You see, all efforts at being good, and trying to 'earn' our place in eternity through good deeds are ultimately floored by the fact that no matter how good we are, there is always some part of us that is less than the perfection of God. And that imperfection - that 'sin' - prevents us from being in God's presence.

So, there is a problem. God is perfect, but cannot be where imperfection is. That means that we who are not perfect (and, let's face it, none of us are) cannot be where God is. Unless God does something about the problem!

All mainstream Christians believe that Jesus' death had the effect of bridging the gap - the sin gap - between us and God. There are a whole range of metaphors which the Bible (and theologians) employs to try to get us close to what Jesus was doing. You will have heard some of them: atonement, redemption, ransom, penal substitution. I don't want to get hung up on those here (but email me if you want to know more about them!).

Suffice to say, the Bible holds out the promise that the problem of sin, and the separation it causes between us and God, has been dealt with by Jesus on the Cross. That above all, is the heart of the Gospel (a word which means ' good news').

Pretty good news I'd say.