---

Topical Studies | Angels | Anger | Anxiety | Baptism | Communication | Confession | Contentment | Covenant | Discipleship | Envy | Evangelism | Faith | Faithfulness | Fasting | False Teachers | Fellowship | Generosity  | Grace | Gratitude | Holiness |  Hospitality | Hypocrisy | Marriage | Money | Making Vows | Peer Pressure | Persecution | Rest | Resurrection | Self-control | Service | Spiritual Gifts | Sin |

---

What is Sin? – A Topical Bible Study

---

Every Person Is a Sinner

Romans 3:23 — “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

This means that everyone is guilty. As God is the Creator of the universe and the giver of life, it is God’s right to take away life when and how He sees fit. He is the giver and the taker of life. The wages of sin are death. Death is actually an unnatural thing. All death can ultimately be traced back to the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned against God.

Genesis 2:15-17 — “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 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.'”

God told Adam and Eve that if they ate the fruit, they would die. They ate it. God didn’t tell them when they would die. He could have killed them immediately, but he didn’t, because of his mercy. Because of our sin, we all deserve death. This applies to every man, woman, and child in existence. God could rightfully execute anyone at any time because of our sin, but God is actually patient with us, holding off on this judgment for the sake of giving more time to people to repent.

From Psalms 51:5, we know that even babies are born with sin. This is called original sin and is why children are selfish without anyone teaching them to be selfish and is why they lie without anyone teaching them to lie.

Sin separates us from God.

Isaiah 59:2 – But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.

The only way to deal with our sins and be restored to relationship with God is through Jesus.

— From our Bible study on Exodus 12

Dead in Sin

Paul describes the Ephesians’ former life prior to their conversion. Being “dead in sins” describes their spiritual condition. There was no spiritual goodness and no life. A dead person does not just need a change of scenery or extra motivation. He is completely helpless. Prior to salvation, people have no ability to please God in any way. Even the good that we do is as “filthy rags” in God’s sight. A new birth is needed. A mere change in trajectory is insufficient.

Also, a spiritually dead person cannot see or understand the things of the Spirit. Neither can he take initiative to seek after God.

Romans 3:10-12 — “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Application — Our salvation is not due to ourselves. Did Lazarus take credit for his resurrection? A dead person gets no credit. Our salvation and life transformation is completely due to God’s grace in our lives. Therefore we should be humble. We should give Him the glory.

Satan has dominion over this world. His kingdom is equated with the “ways of the world,” and Paul says that he is working in those who are disobedient. The lesson is clear. Satan is active in this world, leading (misleading) it against God. He makes use of every tool at his disposal: the internet, television, print media, newspapers, magazines, and academic institutions. This is not to say that these are all Satanists or 100% working for him all the time. It is to say that he is working through these outlets to spread his lies, temptations, and doctrines.

Application — Believers must be wary. We need to understand that Satan is active and using these resources to undermine Biblical truth. Therefore we must always practice discernment. Whatever we hear must be compared to Scripture. And those things that disagree with Scripture must be discarded no matter how many people support it.

Gratifying our sinful natures. By nature, this is what we did prior to following Christ. We sought to satisfy our own desires. Pleasing ourselves was the rule of the day. Jesus talked about the broad way that leads to destruction. The gate is wide and the way is broad. A person entering the broad way never needs to deny himself. He never needs to say “no” to his own desires. And on the broad way, he can do what he likes. However, when a person comes to Christ, he has a new nature and a new Master. He is on the narrow way. The born-again believer seeks to please his heavenly Master rather than satisfy his own flesh.

Application — What is an area where your new nature is battling the old? In what area is it difficult for you to please God instead of yourself? What do you need to do in order to get victory?

— From our Bible study on Ephesians 2:1-10

There Is No Darkness at All in Him

Are you familiar with the Yin/Yang symbol? This is a Taoist concept. It is an ambiguous symbol, but one meaning is that in all bad there is a little good and in all good there is a little bad.

While this is sometimes true of lost humanity it is not true of God.

1 John 1:5 — “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

There is no bad, no sin, no darkness, no imperfection, no mistakes in God, not even a little. He is pure light, pure good, pure holiness, pure perfection. Think about that for a minute.

One sad thing about many world religions is that their gods are somewhat like people since people made them up. One result of this is that their gods have many flaws. Maybe it is lust or greed. Their gods make mistakes and their gods may even sin. But not God. We can worship and follow Him with absolute confidence knowing that He is perfect and will never disappoint us. This is a comforting thought.

Verse 6 clearly teaches that a real relationship with Christ will affect how we live. We can not walk in darkness and have a relationship with Christ at the same time. This doesn’t mean that we never sin. We will see in verse 9 that everyone sins, but then confession brings restoration. The word “walk” shows a continual thing, a habit.

Reflect — Is it a habit for us to tell the truth or to lie? Is it a habit to be diligent or to be lazy? Is it a habit to be on time or to be late? Is it a habit to speak kind words to others or to tear them down?

Here is once again that extremely powerful word, “but.” There is hope. We were all walkers in darkness at one point. The blood of Christ, however, can change all that. His blood cleanses us from all sin. Because of it we can have true fellowship with one another and with God.

— From our Bible study on 1 John 1

None Is Righteous

God is faithful to the Jews even when they were unfaithful. He is always preserving a remnant. God will be faithful to and patient with us even when we are unfaithful to Him.

Man’s sin highlights God’s righteousness even more. A diamond will shine out more brightly against a black surface. If man never sinned, we would not have a contrast point with God. Even our own sins can work to accomplish God’s ultimate will and bring about His plans and even glorify Him. This in no way excuses us from our responsibility. We are still responsible for our actions. We must not sin to let God’s grace abound.

Neither group is intrinsically better than the other group by nature. All are under sin, i.e. totally depraved.

Romans 3:10 — “None is righteous, no, not one.”

This verse is very clear. No person in all the world is good! Everyone is born a desperate and depraved sinner in need of a Savior. In the end the law shows us our sin so that we will be without excuse. No one can keep the law. We all fall short. It acts as a measuring stick, which when our lives are measured against shows clearly our faults.

One of God’s chief attributes is righteousness or holiness. This is the base for His judgment. God hates sin. We must hate it just as He does. We are freed from sin in two steps. The first is already complete when we are redeemed. At that point we are no longer slaves to sin. We are new creatures and we need to walk in the Spirit. God gives us the power to have victory over sin. But as Paul did we still struggle between our old and new nature. Therefore God will finally wipe away our sin once we get to heaven. At that time we will be holy as He is holy.

— From our Bible study on Romans 3:1-20

Out of the Heart of Man

Mark 7:20-23 — “And he said, ‘What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.'”

Jeremiah 17:9-10 — “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ‘I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.'”

Our problem is a heart problem. Some think that babies are born with a clean slate. Their sin is caused by the environment. This idea doesn’t explain why children tell lies on their own, even when parents tell them not to. We could be put alone in a dark room, and still we would sin. Sin comes from within us. It is the result of Adam’s choice to rebel against God at the fall.

What we need is not a system of rules but a new heart. The good news is God promises to give us just that.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 — “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

Jesus came to give us a new heart. Because we cannot obey God’s rules on our own, He gives us a helper. The Holy Spirit convicts, strengthens, and guides us so that we can obey the Lord from a heart of love.

Application — Spend time in prayer and ask the Lord to renew your heart. Ask Him to take away the dirt and make you clean from within.

— From our Bible study on Mark 7:14-23

Sin Spreads Like a Disease

Hebrews 3:12-13 – Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

The sins of a few do affect many. Sin should not be tolerated. It is dangerous.

Application — As Barney Fife on the “Andy Griffith Show” always used to say, “We have to nip it in the bud!” Sin is like a bacteria which spreads exponentially. The only way to stop it is to do so very early. Is there a sin in your life or your family you need to stop? Don’t tolerate it. Don’t wait. Don’t let it go and deal with it later. Deal with it now before it grows. Sin is like a weed with an insidious root. You can take the top off, but if you don’t deal with the root, it will come back.

We should be mindful of every area of our Christian life. That means we should watch ourselves. We should continually evaluate ourselves. If we have any sins or sinful tendencies, we must confess them quickly before they can grow and spread. Sin is like a cancer and must be cut out mercilessly.

Believers who are walking faithfully with God wouldn’t typically wake up one day and then decide to commit heinous sins. It is often a gradual process. So when can unbelief start to sneak in? Not getting what we want in prayer. Facing a difficult trial. Not keeping a close relationship with Him.

The world is under a curse and has been since the fall of man in Genesis 3. It is rotting and decaying from the inside out under the influence of sin.

Application — Sin is like a virus which multiplies over and over again. It keeps growing until it finally kills its host.

Believers are subject to a new reality. We are no longer of the kingdom of this world, but have transferred our citizenship to a heavenly kingdom. Sin is no longer corrupting us, decaying us from the inside. Instead, our sins have been forgiven and we are washed white as snow. After salvation, sanctification is a process. Instead of the sin multiplying in and taking us over, the fruit of the spirit is growing and becoming more evident!

— From our Bible study on Joshua 22, Hebrews 3, and 2 Peter 1:12-21

Sin Affects Everyone Around It

Joshua 7:1 – But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.

When Achan took the gold that was under the ban, he never considered that this sin would affect others. In his mind, it was a personal thing. Perhaps he even justified it with the common excuse to sin, “It won’t hurt anybody. Nobody will know.” But it did hurt others. Not only did his own family pay the cost, but now the entire nation was paying the cost.

Adam and Eve’s sin affected the entire human race. Saul’s sin cost his sons their kingdom and lives. Ahab’s sin cost the lives of many Israelites. The list goes on and on. When we think, “my sin won’t hurt anybody” we deceive ourselves.

Application — The next time you think, “this sin won’t hurt anybody,” think again. It will not only hurt you, but it may influence and hurt those around you as well in the group which you represent, albeit family, church, or company.

God tells Joshua the reason for their defeat. Someone had broken his commandments. The effects of sin had insidiously spread throughout the camp. The only solution was to get right with God by getting rid of the sin.

Achan believed that his sin was secret, that nobody knew. However, these things have a way of revealing themselves. God often works to bring these deep, dark secrets to light. Some people live in fear afraid that their skeletons in the closet will be discovered. So they try to bury them deeper and deeper. Build a stronger door. Get a bigger lock. These methods only delay the inevitable. The solution is to not have the skeleton in the first place. However, if you already have done some things you are ashamed of, then hope is not lost. Come forward. Proactively repent of it.

Although the Bible is clear that authorities are not to directly punish someone for other people’s sin, it is still nonetheless true that sin does negatively affect others. It can pull everyone around into a vortex. I knew a man who was deported because of a crime. His entire family ended up leaving. Their business was lost and their lives drastically changed. Sin is deadly and it reaches far.

— From our Bible study on Joshua 7

One Sin Stacking on Another

2 Samuel 11:4 – So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house.

David was not the only one to blame for this entire situation. His messengers were culpable because they didn’t stand up to his sinful instructions. Bathsheba was also responsible. Instead she gave in to either fear or flattery.

Bathsheba conceived and sent a message to David telling him she was pregnant. Evidently both of them were hoping that no one would discover their sin and the news that she was pregnant panicked both of them. Here was a chance for David to come clean, accept responsibility and confess. Instead we will see he keeps stacking one sin on top of another to try to “solve” this problem.

David attempted a cover up. He was hoping that Uriah would go back to his home, sleep with his wife, and then that he would think the child was his own. Even if David succeeded, he and Bathsheba would both have to live perpetually with the guilt of their adultery.

David’s first attempt to talk Uriah into going back to his house and sleep with his wife didn’t work. So in his panic David tries another method. This time he gets Uriah drunk. His hope is that Uriah will lose his self control and in his drunken state forget his stated principles. Uriah does not forget. Even drunk he still stayed at the palace.

Once again, David does not confess his sin. His flesh is firmly in control. David is desperate to cover up his sin no matter what the cost. In his desperation, he comes up with the worse plan yet. He is going to arrange the battle in such a way that Uriah would die.

David was not repentant. Uriah’s death did not wake him up. He instead continued to excuse his sin and offer the justification that death in battle happens.

Before this phrase it looks like the story is over. Uriah was gone. The sin had remained secret. David’s plan seemed to have worked. But here the author adds a very important observation. God knew what David had done. And God was not pleased by it.

Application — God is always watching. God sees whatever we do. We may be able to fool the people around us. We may even be able to fool ourselves. But we will not fool God. He will not fall for our excuses or justifications because He sees the truth. He sees our secret intentions and motivations exactly as they are. Whenever we face temptation, we should remember that God is watching and we cannot keep anything secret from him.

— From our Bible study on David and Bathsheba, 2 Samuel 11

Slaves to Sin or to Righteousness

Romans 6:16 — “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”

We can be either slaves of sin or slaves of righteousness. It means we can have only one Master, either Christ or Satan/self. If we have Christ as our Master we will do righteous deeds, but if we have Satan/self as our master our lives will be governed by sin.

If we are slaves of sin the desire of our heart is to do evil. In fact we love the evil. We cannot rest or live without it. We are completely under its sway, completely under its power. But when we trust in Christ He sets us free. He does it by His power. We don’t set ourselves free. Our heart has a complete reversal of direction. No longer do we desire and covet sin. Instead we despise sin. If we make a mistake and do sin we hate it, feel miserable and desire to repent.

Romans 6:23 — “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The result of the two courses. More lawlessness and then death. Sanctification and eternal life. We really do have two courses of life we can choose from, two possible masters. One results in death, the other in eternal life. Also, this eternal life is not in a vacuum. Although it is a free gift, we still need to make Christ the Lord, to be slaves of righteousness, and to change the way we live.

Reflect — What benefit do we get from sin? What benefit do we get from righteousness?

— From our Bible study on Romans 6:15-23

The War Within

In these verses Paul shows us inside his mind and tells us how he feels about sin. The basic idea here is that Paul is facing a continuous battle to do right. The old nature is strong and Satan, the flesh, and the world want to tempt us to sin.

Romans 7:15 — “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”

Paul could be writing the thoughts from my own mind! I have thought these same things to myself many times before. I love God; I want to put Him first; I want to serve Him with my life; I know sin is wrong and I hate to do it. But why, WHY do I keep doing it!? Every time I sin I immediately regret it afterwards and feel guilty. It doesn’t bring joy or happiness. It makes no sense to do sin, but many times I do it anyway.

Reflect — What is your attitude against sin? Do you hate it? If you don’t hate sin that is the first problem and that problem is HUGE. I think that is one of the first signs of a Christian. A true Christian will hate sin.

There are three steps or phases that a true believer will take. The first is when we are born. At that time we are slaves of sin and enemies of God. But after we trust in Christ we take the second step and enter a new stage. At this time Christ forgives our sins and comes into our heart. In this second stage we are no longer slaves of sin! We can have victory in Christ. But the old sin nature is still with us because of the curse that God gave to Adam. So we have this old nature until we die. This second stage is the stage Paul was in. It is the stage each of you and I am in. We wish to do good; we joyfully want to follow God’s law; but there is still evil.

So this is a problem. What is the answer? How do we reach the goal of victory over sin?

Romans 7:24-25 — “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Jesus Christ is the only answer. He is the one that sets us free from the body of death. Now He gives us victory over sin, but in the future He will bring us into the third stage. When we enter heaven God will give us a new body, a perfect one, that won’t be cursed and that will have no sin and no temptation. So what is the answer for us now? While we are waiting for Christ to return we must grow closer to Him everyday through prayer and reading His word and use His strength and His power to defeat sin in our lives.

— From our Bible study on Romans 7:13-25

The Deeds of the Flesh

Galatians 5:19-21 — “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.”

Paul says that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

1 John 3:9 — “Anyone having been born of God does not practice sin, because His seed abides in him, and he is not able to continue sinning, because he has been born of God.”

If you belong to God, He has freed you from the power of the sins listed above. The chains are off. This is not to say that you will never struggle with these or never sin, but your attitude toward them will change. You will begin to hate sin. If you belong to Christ, you will experience victory more and more.

Application — Look at the above list. Consider which work of the flesh you still struggle with. Start by confessing it to God. Then write a plan for how you will avoid that sin the next time you are tempted. A wise person once said that the definition of insanity is to repeat the same thing again and again and expect a different result. If you have failed over and over, your past methods don’t work. You need a new battle plan.

— From our Bible study on Galatians 5:16-26

Putting Sin to Death

Colossians 3:5 — “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

Our lives have been transformed. We have a new identity in Christ. We have been born again. So live like it! We must not use our body or mind sinfully to please our own flesh. All of these sins are a type of idolatry. When we commit them we are saying that our own momentary pleasure is more important than the commands of God.

Every believer was like this prior to being born again. Every one of us needed to be born again. The prodigal son lived a wicked and wild life. But when he came back to his father he left that lifestyle behind.

Reflect — Have you left your sinful habits behind you?

As believers we must actively reject this previous lifestyle and the sins that come with it. Our tongue is one of the most difficult members of our body to control. The tongue quite often reveals our true thoughts or attitude of the heart. To be victorious we must be changed from the inside out.

We are dead to sin. We are no longer to be slaves of sin. We are freed from the power and consequences of sin. This is the doctrinal truth. You don’t have to sin. Sin is not necessary. It is beatable. We can be victorious. You don’t have to give in to your old bad habits. You cannot say, “I had no choice.” You cannot say, “I couldn’t help it.” We do have a choice and we can help it. To some extent a beggar has to beg for money. That is who he is. But a prince doesn’t. Don’t settle for mediocrity.

We learn a negative and a positive. The negative is to not allow sin to reign in our body or present the parts of our body as instruments of unrighteousness to sin. This implies first of all that we have a choice. God sanctifies us, but He doesn’t free us from human responsibility.

Application — So what should we do to ensure that sin is not reigning in us? Is any sin reigning in your life? Think about what area you just can’t seem to surrender to God’s control. We need to be merciless towards sin just as Samuel was to Agag. Kill it before it can grow and spread and infect other areas of our lives.

We are to present the very best that we have to God each and every day.

— From our Bible study on Colossians 3:5-10 and Romans 6:1-14

We hope you enjoyed this Bible study on sin. May God use His Word to speak into your life and give you strength to follow it. Please take some time to reflect on the questions below and consider leaving a comment with your key takeaway or insight.

Reflection Questions

• What is an area where your new nature is battling the old? What do you need to do in order to get victory?
• Is it a habit for us to tell the truth or to lie? Is it a habit to be diligent or to be lazy?
• Is there a sin in your life or your family you need to stop? Don’t wait. Deal with it now before it grows.
• What benefit do we get from sin? What benefit do we get from righteousness?
• What is your attitude against sin? Do you hate it?
• Have you left your sinful habits behind you?
• Is any sin reigning in your life? Think about what area you just can’t seem to surrender to God’s control.