Chapter Seventeen – How the New Testament Defines Sin

The Bible states that you have at least one thing in common with every man, woman and child who has ever lived: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). God’s Word also states that when (not if) you sin, you automatically earn the penalty of death (Rom. 6:23). But what is sin—what have you done to earn death?

God declares that your sins separate you from Him (Isa. 59:1-2). This is serious; in fact what could be more serious? He cannot hear your prayers, He cannot speak to you through His Word, unless you first repent—change your life—from the way of sin!

But what is sin—what have you done to separate yourself from God? While this was covered briefly at the beginning of the book, it is now critical to take a detailed look at what the New Testament says about the topic.

When asked to define sin, most people stammer about, searching their thoughts for an answer, before falling back on the cliché, “Well, Christ died for our sins.”

Yes, Jesus Christ did sacrifice His innocent, sinless life for the sins of mankind—but this does not tell us WHAT sin is!

When further pressed to give the biblical definition of sin, the same people will stick to their original answer: “Christ died for us!” Many simply cannot comprehend the question, nor do they understand that God’s Word clearly defines sin.

Do not accept human interpretation or personal opinion! The Bible’s definition of sin can be known to those with open minds, to all who truly want to know the mind of God! When people say, “Christ saved us from our sins,” shouldn’t they—shouldn’t you?—know exactly what is it that caused the death of an innocent, eternal God-being? To say “He died for sin” comes way short of understanding what Christ died for. Whatever it is, it must be very big, very SPECIFIC, to require the death of a divine Saviour.

Even people who have never opened a Bible are familiar with John 3, verse 16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Most understand that God willingly allowed Jesus Christ to suffer arrest, false accusations, humiliation, and endure brutal torture and public execution—sacrifice—all so that His shed blood would pay the death penalty, which each of us have earned. In other words, Christ had to die because of the sins of all human beings—including you!

Once again, just what is sin—what have you done to sentence Christ to death?

When a leading American statesman was caught in a sex scandal, his defenders tried to excuse his actions. They paraphrased Christ, in John 8:7, saying, “He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone.”

Actually, Jesus was speaking to the scribes and Pharisees, who had brought before Him a woman they had caught committing adultery. Testing Him, they wanted to see whether Christ would follow Old Testament law and condemn her to be stoned.

Most people who quote John 8:7 do so in order to justify wrong actions. But they fail to read the rest of the scripture: “And they [the scribes and Pharisees] which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up Himself, and saw none but the woman, He said unto her, Woman, Where are those your accusers? Has no man condemned you? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn you: go, and sin no more” (Jn 8:9-11).

This is vital. Christ commanded her to stop sinning—but what did He mean?

The Bible Definition

Many religious leaders teach that Christ died for our sins. They teach that His shed blood cleanses us from sin. They preach about being set free from bondage to sin. But they also preach about freedom from keeping God’s Law and have you noticed that they never define what sin is—that they never challenge people to look into their Bibles to see how God defines sin?

If they did, they would have to tell you to read I John 3:4, where the apostle John wrote, “Whosoever commits sin transgresses [breaks] also the law: for sin is the transgression[breaking] of the law.” Do not miss this point! When you sin, you break the law!

When the Bible says, “For all have sinned,” it means that everyone has broken God’s Law. When it says, “the wages of sin is death,” it means that your lawbreaking automatically earns you the death penalty. When God says that your sins separate you from Him, He’s talking about you breaking His law. Sin is breaking God’s law!

But what law?

The apostle Paul wrote, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law” (Rom. 7:7). God’s Law reveals sin. But what law was Paul writing about? It is important to review the following passage in light of the chapter’s title.

“…for I had not known lust, except the law had said, You shall not COVET” (same verse). This is the Tenth Commandment, found in Exodus 20:17 and Deuteronomy 5:21. The law that Paul and John referred to was the Ten Commandments. Both apostles taught that when you break these commandments, you sin.

John also wrote, in I John 5:17, “All unrighteousness is sin.” Since God’s commandments are righteousness (Psa. 119:172), then unrighteousness—sin!—must be the opposite. It is breaking God’s commandments.

The apostle James expanded upon this. He taught that “whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend [sin] in one point, he is guilty of all. For He that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if you commit no adultery, yet if you kill, you are become a transgressor of the law [a lawbreaker]” (James 2:10-11). James was obviously referring to the Ten Commandments.

Even though it is possible for people to go through life without ever physically committing a murder or adultery, or stealing or lying, nevertheless, all have sinned. How can this be? Because although one can obey the letter of the law, he can still break the spirit of the law—and this is also sin.

Christ magnified and expanded the letter of the law, revealing its spiritual intent. “You have heard that it was said by them of old time, You shall not commit adultery: but I say unto you, That whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matt. 5:27-28).