This subject, even though so simple, has been the subject of a great amount of controversy. What is sin? What does sin do? What are the complications of sin? The Bible explanation of sin is not complicated.
The most common definition is given in I John 3:4, which says, “Sin is the transgression of the law” or “lawlessness,” breaking the law. You can see the same definition in the Old Testament in Leviticus 4 and many other places where it says that anybody sins by doing something contrary to the commandments of God. Simply said, sin is breaking God’s law.
Notice how sin started: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. … He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” I John 3:4, 8.
The great controversy is over sin. The devil sinned from the beginning and rebelled. “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” Isaiah 14:12–14.
The issue that started the controversy was jealousy. Lucifer wanted to be like God, but there are some prerogatives that only God has. We see an example of this when the apostle John was so overcome from what he had just seen, that he said, “I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10. That same experience was repeated: “And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.” Revelation 22:8, 9.
The angels of God refuse to accept worship. None of the servants of God will allow anyone to worship them either.
In Acts 10:25, 26, Luke says, “And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.” The question on worship is dealt with in the first commandment that says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3. Concerning images, it says, “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” Verses 5, 6.
Both the first and the second commandments deal with false worship. The instruction is to have no other god or worship any likeness of God. Lucifer wanted the first commandment changed; he wanted to be like God, and in that way, he successfully tempted and deceived Eve. The devil told Eve, in Genesis 3:3, that she would not die if she ate the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden. In verse 5 he continued, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” He told her she would be like God!
There are religions today that believe you can and will eventually become like God, but that is not what the Bible teaches. We will always be creatures, and we will never be like God in the sense of being the Creator or receiving worship.
Lucifer, before the fall, was the covering cherub, the highest position under the Godhead, and he was used to getting whatever he pleased. But when he made the request to be like God, God said no. He wanted to be included in God’s secret counsels. When God said no, that prompted the great controversy.
The law of God is very near to His heart; it is a transcript of His character, and when that law is attacked, God himself is being attacked.
In the first chapter of Hebrews, the Father is talking to the Son. It says, in Hebrews 1:8, 9, “But to the Son He says, ‘Your throne, O God, [the Father calls the Son, God] is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.’ ” (NKJV)
Concerning Jesus Christ, he loves righteousness. The law of God defines what righteousness is in Psalm 119:172, last part, “All Your commandments are righteousness.” And in verse 142 it says, “Your righteousness … and your law is truth.” (NKJV) The law is the truth. The law is righteousness. Jesus loves righteousness and He hates lawlessness—that is, breaking the law.
If the characteristics of the law and the characteristics of God are the same, then what is the moral law? The law is a description or a transcript of the character of God. If the law is a transcript of the characteristics of God and I violate the law, that places me in a condition where I am contrary to the will and character of God, and I am in a sinful condition.
The law is so short that it is amazing that it covers what it covers. Paul tells us in Hebrews 4:12, “The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (NKJV).
The law of God covers every relationship, not only between human beings but also with God himself. For example, the first, second and tenth commandments regulate human desires. One way that word desires is translated is covetousness. To covet means to want something, to have a desire for something. In the New Testament it is also translated as lust—to have a strong desire for something.
The third and the ninth commandments regulate our words. The fourth commandment regulates our time. The fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth commandments regulate our actions. Any action a human being can do, any word that a human being can speak and any desire that a human being can have is regulated by the law of God.
The awful thing about sin is that when you transgress (break) the law of God, you place yourself in a condition that is contrary to the will and character of God, and that causes you to be in a sinful condition. Notice what this sinful condition involves: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear: For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue has muttered perversity.” Isaiah 59:1–3 (NKJV). This chapter goes on to describe the awful spiritual condition of the people. This is the sinful condition—separation from God. The separation from God is not the sin itself; it is the result of sin. This sinful condition can be transmitted, and is universally transmitted, to our children so that even if the child has not sinned on its own account, he has inherited a sinful nature so that children are born with a propensity to sin. A child can be born with a propensity to drink alcohol, to smoke tobacco or to have a violent temper. Ellen White says a child can be born with a perverse temperament. (See Testimonies, vol. 4, 499.)
Some people do not believe that this is true. We are told that, “Adam was required to render perfect obedience to God, not only in his own behalf, but in behalf of his posterity. God promised him that if he would stand the test of temptation, preserving his allegiance to the Creator during the great trial to which he would be subjected; his obedience would ensure his acceptance and favor with God. He would then be forever established in holiness and happiness, and these blessings would extend to all his posterity. But Adam failed to bear the test. And because he revolted against God’s law, all his descendants have been sinners.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 9, 229.
If Adam remained faithful, his posterity would inherit these blessings of holiness and happiness, but because he failed, all of his descendants have been sinners. So that nobody will get confused, Adam was not the father/progenitor of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ had a different father.
Ellen White goes on to say, “God’s law had once been written in the hearts of men and women. But their cherished sins dimmed and nearly effaced that writing. The impressions made by sin gradually wore away the impressions of the law. …
“But we must be assured of the malignity of a disease before we feel our need of a cure. Those who do not realize the sinfulness of sin are not able to appreciate the value of the atonement and the necessity of being cleansed from all sin.” Ibid.
People don’t recognize that when they commit any sin, they are placing themselves in violation of and in a contrary position to the government and character of God and to God himself, because the law is a transcript of His character. Since God is the only Lifegiver, when they place themselves in opposition to Him or contrary to Him, they are in a position as Jesus said in Proverbs 8:36, “All they that hate me love death.”
“Many have tried to prove that there was some peculiar quality in the tree which called for this prohibition, but this was not the case. The fruit of the tree of knowledge was not in itself injurious. It was used merely as a test of their obedience to God. Will they be obedient to God’s requirements, or not? We find that Satan came then, just as he comes today, with temptations upon the point of appetite.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 9, 232.
“Adam and Eve found that they had met with terrible loss, and so will everyone in our world who yields to the temptations of the enemy to indulge appetite, find that it is a fearful loss to them.
“The transgression of our first parents was the cause of woe to our world. We have had to labor under the oppressive load of sin ever since that sin. But a provision was made for the fallen race.” Ibid., 233.
“Why is there so much misery and suffering in the world today? Is it because God loves to see His creatures miserable? Oh, no! It is because the immoral habits of man have weakened his physical, mental, and moral powers. We mourn over Adam’s transgression, and seem to think that our first parents showed great weakness in yielding to temptation. But if Adam’s transgression were the only evil that we had to meet, this world would be in a much better condition than it is. There has been a succession of falls since Adam’s days.” Ibid., 234.
The “immoral habits of man” refers to a habit that is contrary to the Ten Commandments—remember, the Ten Commandments are the moral law. So why is there so much misery? Because “there has been a succession of falls.” Adam fell, and after he fell, his posterity fell, and their posterity fell. There has been a succession of falls through the generations, causing misery in the world today.
“Well, then, what was the matter with Adam? Adam ventured to transgress one prohibition of God, which was the test that God gave to man to try his loyalty and obedience. There was nothing in the fruit of the tree of knowledge that was a point in itself, but the point was in Adam’s listening to Satan, and venturing to transgress. Here was Eve listening to the voice of the tempter. ‘Ye shall not surely die’ [Genesis 3:4]. God said, ‘If ye eat of it, ye shall die’ [Genesis 2:17]. Whom shall we believe?” Ibid., 235.
Whom shall we believe? God’s law requires obedience to the Law Giver. That is the first commandment. When man fell, Adam and Eve could not, by themselves, realize how serious it was in what they had done. Ellen White writes about this: “Until the requirements of the holy law were applied as the rule of life, fallen man could not understand his own guilt, nor realize his condemned, lost condition. Jesus made application of the law directly to the soul, and laid under its jurisdiction the will and desires and works of man. Wrongdoing and all thoughts and feelings condemned by the law are to be overcome.” Ibid.
I have heard some very godly people make statements that are directly contrary to the following, and I will not make comment about it, but you can study it on your own. “Parents have a more serious charge than they imagine. The inheritance of children is that of sin. Sin has separated them from God. Jesus gave His life that He might unite the broken links to God. As related to the first Adam, men receive from him nothing but guilt and the sentence of death [we are born under the sentence of death]. But Christ steps in and passes over the ground where Adam fell, enduring every test in man’s behalf. He redeems Adam’s disgraceful failure and fall by coming forth from the trial untarnished. This places man on vantage ground with God. It places him where through accepting Christ as His Saviour, he becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Thus he becomes connected with God and Christ. Christ’s perfect example and the grace of God are given him to enable him to train his sons and daughters to be sons and daughters of God.” Ibid., 236. Through that commitment we can bring our life into harmony with the character of Christ.
This helps us to understand how important it is for all to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. If you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, you are under the condemnation of death. It says, “The inheritance of children is that of sin,” as related to the first Adam. Men received from him nothing but guilt and the sentence of death. You are under the death sentence, and the only way you can get out from under that is through Jesus Christ.
That is an interesting statement made about “broken links.” If you are hanging on to a chain and one link is broken, you will go down. Every link does not need to break, but just one.
“It is by teaching them, line upon line, precept upon precept, how to give the heart and will up to Christ, that Satan’s power is broken. ‘As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name’ (John 1:12). This is the work, the grand and holy work of parents. They are to keep before their children the great and vital work of receiving Christ, of believing on Christ as their Redeemer, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is the instruction they are to give to their children. All who will accept Christ by living faith will take His life as their pattern.” Ibid. They will become like Him in character in this present world.
This quotation is especially talking to parents concerning children and how Satan’s power can be broken.
So after Adam fell, Christ instructed him about these things. “After the fall Christ became Adam’s instructor. He acted in God’s stead toward humanity, saving the race from immediate death. He took upon Him the office of mediator. Adam and Eve were given a probation period in which to return to their allegiance, and in this plan all their posterity were embraced.
“In the fullness of time Christ was to be revealed in human form. He was to assume the position of head of humanity by taking the nature, but not the sinfulness of man.” Ibid., 237.
Sin is a dreadful, dreadful evil. One of our greatest dangers as Christians is that we will not realize how sinful, how dreadful, how awful, and how terrible sin is and by not realizing that, we are not being prepared to resist it and overcome it.
As a result of sin the devil became God’s enemy. Concerning the devil’s sin, Ellen White writes: “Implacable hatred against God fills Satan’s mind. Persistently he has used his influence to efface from the human family God’s image, and in its place to stamp his own satanic image. His effort to deceive our first parents was successful. Made in the image of God, the human family lost their innocence, became transgressors, and as disloyal subjects began their downward career. Satan gained control of man’s power of action. Through the senses he influenced the mind.
“Thus it has been from the beginning of the world. Instead of remaining under God’s influence in order that he might reflect the moral image of his Creator, man placed himself under the control of Satan’s influence, and was made selfish. Thus sin became a universal evil. And what a dreadful evil is sin!” Ibid., 237.
“What a dreadful evil is sin!” This evil that began in the Garden of Eden has extended through every generation down through the ages. Adam and Eve’s own family became divided. The older son killed the younger. Because of the consequences of sin, we can never redeem ourselves; we can do no good thing of ourselves. There is no way to escape other than Christ, and it is only by accepting Him as our personal Saviour that we can be uplifted.
“Beware of any theory that would lead man to look for salvation from any other source than that pointed out in the Word. Only through Christ can men, sunken in sin and degradation, be led to a higher life. Theories that do not recognize the atonement that has been made for sin, and the work that the Holy Spirit is to do in the hearts of human beings, are powerless to save.” Ibid., 239.
That is quite a statement. It is easy sometimes as Christians, when trying to teach somebody else, to spend a lot of time studying doctrines. It is not bad to study doctrines. But unless you make a commitment to Jesus Christ, to surrender to Him, choose to follow Him, and ask Him to give and send the Holy Spirit to change your heart, you are hopeless. You can know all the doctrines and know all about theology, but you cannot get yourself out of the pit of sin. We all have a sinful nature, and we cannot escape ourselves unless the Lord provides a way of escape, and the Holy Spirit comes in and gives us a new heart and a new mind.
Ellen White wrote a similar letter to John Harvey Kellogg at a time when he was all mixed up with Pantheism. She said, “As we see the condition of mankind today, the question arises in the minds of some: ‘Is man by nature totally and wholly depraved?’ The answer comes: ‘He is hopelessly ruined by his refusal to do the will of the Lord.’
“Men have sold themselves to the enemy of all righteousness. They cannot redeem themselves. Of themselves they can do no good thing. But there is a way of escape. When man sinned, Christ offered to stand as his substitute and surety, in order to provide a way whereby the guilty race might return to loyalty. The Son of the living God took humanity, and passed over the ground where Adam stumbled and fell. Without swerving from His allegiance, He met the temptations wherewith man is beset.
“Only by accepting Christ as a personal Saviour can human beings be uplifted. Beware of any theory that would lead men to look for salvation from any other source than that pointed out in the Word. Only through Christ can men, sunken in sin and degradation, be led to a higher life. Theories that do not recognize the atonement that has been made for sin, and the work that the Holy Spirit is to do in the hearts of human beings, are powerless to save.” Ibid., 240, 241.
What an amazing statement! If the theory does not teach them to put their trust in the merits of Christ’s atonement and to understand the work that the Holy Spirit does in the heart to bring a transformation or change in the character, she says that it is powerless; there is no hope. Jesus said, “There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 (NKJV).
In reference to Adam’s fall, we are told, “In what consisted the strength of the assault made upon Adam, which caused his fall? It was not indwelling sin; for God made Adam after His own character, pure and upright. There were no corrupt principles in the first Adam, no corrupt propensities or tendencies to evil. Adam was as faultless as the angels before God’s throne. These things are inexplainable, but many things which now we cannot understand will be made plain when we shall see as we are seen, and know as we are known.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 1, 1083.
“Intellect, position, wealth can never, never take the place of moral qualities. Clean hands, a pure heart, and noble, earnest devotion to God and the truth the Lord esteems above the golden wedge of Ophir. An evil influence has a perpetuating power. I wish I could set this matter before God’s commandment-keeping people just as it has been shown me. Let the sad memory of Solomon’s apostasy warn every soul to shun the same precipice. His weakness and sin are handed down from generation to generation.” Ibid., vol. 2, 1031.
Astonishing statement! Solomon’s weakness and sin was handed down from generation to generation. In another statement, she says, “The human heart is naturally inclined to idolatry and self-exaltation.” Ibid., 996.
“Christ received His death wound, which was the trophy of His victory, and the victory of all who believe in Him. These wounds annihilated the power of Satan over every loyal, believing subject in Jesus Christ. By the suffering and death of Christ, human intelligences, fallen because of the sin of Adam, are through their acceptance of Christ and faith in Him, elevated to become heirs of immortality and an eternal weight of glory. The gates of the heavenly Paradise are thrown open to the inhabitants of this fallen world. Through faith in the righteousness of Christ, rebels against the law of God may lay hold upon the Infinite, and become partakers of everlasting life.” Ibid., vol. 7A, 466, 477. [Emphasis author’s.]
It is a wonder why God decided to pay such a price to save a world of rebels, but that is just what He did. Paul says, “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:7, 8. Notice that it was while we were yet rebels, Christ died for us.
We do not need to continue in the way of sin being enslaved by the sinful nature. The Son sets us free from our bondage.
Everybody does not engage in every kind of sin that there is, but everybody does have a besetting sin. It is impossible to get free from that besetting, entangling sin, unless the Son sets you free. We have a desperate need, because without Him we are stuck in bondage, and there is no way we are ever going to get ourselves free.
Jesus came to set us free. He said that whoever commits sin is the servant of sin, and the servant does not remain in the house, but the Son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed (John 8:34–36).
Pray to the Lord, saying, “I want to be set free from sin.” Sin is what we have inherited. It has come down through every generation. Jesus has promised to wash us from sin and to set us free from sin.
We are not going to receive holy flesh in this life so that we have no inward temptations. Martin Luther explained it this way: “You can’t stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can stop them from making a nest in your hair.” (<www.christianitytoday.com/iyf/2004/janfeb/> November 2010.) The Lord can set you free from the power of sin in your life so that you do not need to go on sinning even though you have temptations from without and from within.
This teaching about sin is the difference between the true and the false theology in Adventism today. This is the difference between the easy religion and what is called legalism in the Christian world today. There are a lot of people who believe that you can just go on, live like the devil and live in sin, and Jesus will just forgive you. New Testament religion is not just forgiveness from sin; it is being set free from sin so that you do not live the same way as before. What we need is the religious experience that Jesus will acknowledge when He comes. Having the wrong idea about sin puts your eternal salvation at risk. We must be set free from sin if we are going to be saved, and this is a condition to be praying about every day. We are told, in Gospel Workers, 53, “For three hundred years Enoch had been seeking purity of heart, that he might be in harmony with heaven.” We do not have 300 years. We need to follow His example as long as we are in this world. We need to be seeking purity every day. We need to be praying and acting on the belief that the Lord is going to set us free.
Most want an easy religion. They think that all you have to do is confess your sin, be forgiven, and you are saved. If you are saved by grace, this grace is the work in your life so that you live a new life, a life overcoming sin. Salvation is promised only to the overcomer.
We must realize that sin places us in a position contrary to the character and government of God. In this position, we cannot be saved unless we yield our heart and life to Jesus Christ.
Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by e-mail at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.