What Is Sin? Series

I was talking to a man who is a member of the Holiness Church. He said his church was a split off

from the Free Methodist Church. When I expressed my surprise by saying that I thought the Free

Methodist were a very fundamental group, he responded by saying, "Yes, but what was sin 50 years

ago is still sin today. If something has been preached against for years, it is wrong to start accepting

it as alright now." I didn't ask what the specific sin was that he had in mind, but it was clear that

here was a group of Christians who had been divided because of their views of sin. Apparently they

could not agree on just what sin is.

One group says that sin is sin, and what was a sin will always be a sin. The other group

apparently believed that what use to be a sin is no longer a sin. It is easy to understand how sin can

split a church, but when the problem is over defining sin, this seems even more tragic. Christians

cannot seem to agree on just what sin is. As the conversation continued, the 16-year-old son of the

man indicated he had been to the singspiration we had in our church. I was again surprised and said,

"I didn't know the Holiness Church was involved." He said, "It isn't. My dad goes to that church,

but I don't." I did not feel it was proper to probe for details, but clearly there was a generation gap in

that home, and the issue of what sin is was evidently a problem there as well.

I had already agreed with the father that sin was sin, but is suspected that it was important to

note that though sin does not change, man's understanding does. I didn't know whether or not the

man was like some of the old Puritans who believed it was a sin to laugh on Sunday. A pastor of an

old Scotch Presbyterian Church was once called before a council because he skated across a lake

from the parsonage to the church. The issue was not the skating, but whether or not he enjoyed it. It

was considered a sin to have fun on Sunday. Sin hasn't changed, but the thinking of men on what is

sin has changed. I pointed out in the conversation that Catholics were taught for years that it was a

sin to eat meat on Friday. Now all this has changed and they can eat it with a clear conscience. This

is not a change on what sin is, but only a change in man's definition of what sin is. For those who go

by the Bible it never was a sin in the first place. Man made labels can and do change.

Men have labeled the use of almost every new device as a sin. Cars, trains, radio, TV, etc. As

these things become universal and owned by everyone they cease to be sinful, at least in the mind of

the majority. This has led to confusion in minds of both those in the church and in the world as to

just what sin is. Add to this the fact that what was sin in the Old Testament is no longer sin in the

New Testament. It use to be a sin for a believer to eat pork, or work on the Sabbath, and there were

numerous ways to sin ceremonially in the Old Testament that have all been abolished by the new

covenant in Christ. This has also been confusing to the minds of many believers who do not see how

what was once wrong can now be right. The result is that many still strive to live according to the

laws of the Old Testament, as do the Mormons and Seventh Day Adventists.

Sin is not as simple a subject as it seems, and so it is important that Christians do some serious

thinking about what the Bible says about sin. Proper understanding of the nature of sin is essential

for salvation and sanctification. I have selected Psalm 51 for the basis of studying sin. It has been

called the sinners guide. It uses all the basic biblical terms for sin, and it is a Psalm that grows out of

the actual experience of saint who has fallen into sin. This is David's great song prayer for mercy

after he was convicted of his sin of adultery and murder.

This is a Psalm which is so complete in its dealing with the issues of sin, repentance and

forgiveness that it is on the level of New Testament revelation. It has been one of the favorite

Psalms of all ages. Luther wrote in the 1500's, "There is no other Psalm which is oftener sung or