What is So Bad About Sin?

  Many people today are unaffected by the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ because, in their mind, sin is no big deal.  In the post-modern culture we are living in, the Biblical teaching on sin has been obscured by the concepts of relativism, psychological excuses, New Age thought, and Liberalism in the Church.  All of these approaches downplay sin, calling it bad habits, poor choices, victimization, and so on.
   The truth is that sin is the self-willed rejection of God’s will that is manifest in rebelliousness, disobedience, and obstinate opposition to the truth, and sin must be judged by God.
   It is not popular in today’s culture to tell people that they are sinners because that is being judgmental and it will hurt their feelings.  The lie being perpetuated is that we should win people to the Lord by telling them how much He loves them.  But, people also need to know the truth about their sinful condition; that they have sinned against God and therefore are facing judgment and eternal confinement in the Lake of Fire (Rev. 10:11-15).
   The Greek words that are most commonly translated as sin in the Bible are hamartano  and hamartia.  Both of the words convey the idea of “missing the mark’, or the “falling short of the goal.”  It denotes a failure to measure up to God’s standard of righteousness.  Chata, the Hebrew word most commonly translated as sin the Old Testament carries the same idea of missing the mark.  Sin is as anything that violates God’s absolute righteousness and/or holiness.  Sin, then, is any action, thought, or failure to act that is a violation of God’s law, disobedience to God’s command, or the failure to do what is right.  Briefly stated sin is any thought, word, or deed that is contrary to the holy nature and will of the God who created you.
   A vitally important fact that we must always remember is that all sin, whether perpetuated against one’s self or against others, is first and foremost against God personally.  And we must also remember how awful sin and its results are.  Sin is such an affront to God’s righteousness and its consequences are so horrible that the only remedy capable of nullifying its effects and reconciling man was the death of His own absolutely sinless and holy Son.
   Through the Prophet Jeremiah we learn that the heart of man is “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9).  The writer of Hebrews warns against being hardened to the things of God “through the deceitfulness of sin” (see Heb. 3:12-13).  The Apostle Paul reminds sinners that because of their sinful ways, “cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 5-6).  But, in spite of these, and many other warnings found in Scripture about the reality of sin and its consequences, many are deceived, self-deceived by their own lustful thoughts.  When tempted, even though they know it’s wrong, everyone in capable of telling him or herself one or more of the following lies in order to justify the actions they decide to take:
   You’ll gain by it, You’ll get away with it, no one will ever know; You’ll not be ensnared or addicted by it; You have no other choice; It can’t be helped; It’s just the way I am; You might as well, after all everybody else is doing it; It really isn’t a big deal, no one will be adversely affected by it; There won’t be any lasting consequences, repercussions, or scars.
   These are all horrible lies that people choose to believe in order to justify their sin in their own mind, but sin cannot be rationalized away and it cannot be hidden from God.
   Dear sinner, you are on your way to Hell if you die in your sins.  Deep in your heart you know that this is true.  But, do you know that Jesus Christ paid the penalty for your sins so that through faith in Him you can be forgiven and receive the gift of eternal life (Rom. 5:8; 6:23).