Snap Shot
A basic definition of sin: Sin is the transgression (definition—to go beyond imposed limits) of God’s law.
“Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4 ESV).
When one transgresses the law of God it sets His authority aside and elevates the “practice”as the ultimate, yet bogus, authority—and turns from the righteous law to unrighteous lawlessness.
The Genesis of Sin in the World
Genesis 3:1-6 is the accepted account of just how sin entered the world.
“Man’s action should not be governed by the knowledge of good or evil; it should be motivated by a sense of obedience. The principle of good and evil is to live according to what is right or what is wrong. Before Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit their right and wrong were in God’s hand. If they did not live before God they knew nothing at all, for their right and wrong actually were in God. By taking the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they found a source of right and wrong in other than God Himself. Consequently, after the fall men need not find in God the sense of right and wrong. They have it in themselves. This is the result of the fall. The work of redemption is to bring us back to the place where we will now find our right and wrong in God.”
— Watchman Nee, Spiritual Authority
The Result of Sin
“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely 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 ESV). When Adam disobeyed God’s command, the “you shall surely die” literally became “dying, thou shalt die;” or, from the minute you disobeyed, Adam, you began physically dying until the day you die completely.
Death Inherited by All
Thus, Adam’s disobedience produced sin; and sin results in death. Death awaits all of us, because we all inherited Adam’s sin.
“For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:21-22 ESV).
(See Alphabricks—Death for the three kinds of death that results from sin.)
Christ Defeats Sin
It would take obedience to overtake disobedience; obeying the authority of God versus the lawlessness of disobedience to defeat sin. That perfect obedience was found in Jesus Christ, who took Adam’s disobedience and offered whomsoever would an obedient alternative:
“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12 ESV);
“And being found in human form, he [Jesus Christ] humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8 ESV);
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18 ESV).
And because Jesus gave himself for us, to redeem us from all lawlessness, we can become the people of God delivered from the sin and death through our confession and repentance of sin (cf. Titus 2:14).
Conclusion
Paul’s words to the Romans concludes our study succinctly:
“Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:18-19 ESV).
