How Does the Bible defined Sin?

[Hal]

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Does the Bible defined Sin?

I have a couple of verses in mind that I'd like to look at concerning sin and I imagine that some of you have others that we can discuss.

1 john 3:1-9 HCS
1 Look at how great a love the Father has given us, that we should be called God's children. And we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn't know Him. 2 Dear friends, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure. 4 Everyone who commits sin also breaks the law; sin is the breaking of law. 5 You know that He was revealed so that He might take away sins, and there is no sin in Him. 6 Everyone who remains in Him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen Him or known Him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you! The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 The one who commits sin is of the Devil, for the Devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the Devil's works. 9 Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because His seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God.

I highlighted verse 4 because it leads one to believe that you must break the law to sin. What about the time before the law, the time before Moses?

Romans 5
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned. 13 In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to one's account when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression. He is a prototype of the Coming One.

So basically what we see here in verse 13 is that the law was necessary to be able to charge an individual with a particular sin. But this did not mean that people escaped from sin prior to the law being given, as we see in verse 14.

Rom 5:17 Since by the one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. 18 So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is life-giving justification for everyone. 19 For just as through one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

It also appears that sin can be inherited make it impossible for any person to be sinless due to Adam's transgression.

So how about infants were they stand in this, is there an age of accountability? Or does an infant become charged with the sin of Adam upon birth?

[Bess]

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I don't understand how you get that we must break the law to sin? verse 4 is definig sin.The apostle John writes that “everyone who practices sin is also practicing lawlessness, and so sin is lawlessness” (1Jo 3:4); also that “all unrighteousness is sin.” (1Jo 5:17) The apostle Paul, on the other hand, speaks of “those who sinned without law.” He further states that “until the Law [given through Moses] sin was in the world, but sin is not charged against anyone when there is no law. Nevertheless, death ruled as king from Adam down to Moses, even over those who had not sinned after the likeness of the transgression by Adam.” (Ro 2:12; 5:13, 14) Paul’s words are to be understood in context; his earlier statements in this letter to the Romans show that he was comparing those under the Law covenant with those outside that covenant, hence not under its law code, while he demonstrated that both classes were sinful.—Ro 3:9.
During the approximately 2,500 years between Adam’s deflection and the giving of the Law covenant in 1513 B.C.E., God had not given mankind any comprehensive code or systematically arranged law that specifically defined sin in all its ramifications and forms. True, he had given certain decrees, such as those given to Noah following the global Flood (Ge 9:1-7) as well as the covenant of circumcision given to Abraham and his household, including his foreign slaves. (Ge 17:9-14) But concerning Israel the psalmist could say that God “is telling his word to Jacob, his regulations and his judicial decisions to Israel. He has not done that way to any other nation; and as for his judicial decisions, they have not known them.” (Ps 147:19, 20; compare Ex 19:5, 6; De 4:8; 7:6, 11.) Of the Law covenant given Israel it could be said, “The man that has done the righteousness of the Law will live by it,” for perfect adherence to and compliance with that Law could be accomplished only by a sinless man, as was the case with Christ Jesus. (Ro 10:5; Mt 5:17; Joh 8:46; Heb 4:15; 7:26; 1Pe 2:22) This was true of no other law given from the time of Adam to the giving of the Law covenant.

[Bess]

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“THE Romans’ greatest . . . bequest to those who succeeded them [was] their law and their sense that life should be lived according to law.” (Dr. David J. Williams of the University of Melbourne, Australia) However valid that might be, there is a bequest or gift of far greater value. This gift is a divine means to have an approved and righteous standing with God and the prospect of salvation and everlasting life.  There were legal aspects to how God made this gift available. In Romans chapter 5, the apostle Paul did not present these aspects as a dry, legalistic treatise. Rather, he began with this thrilling assurance: “We have been declared righteous as a result of faith, [so] let us enjoy peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Those who receive God’s gift are moved to love him in return. Paul was one. He wrote: “The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy spirit.”—Rom. 5:1, 5.
Through Adam sin has spread to us all.  He did not have children before he disobeyed so we inherited sin from him Romans 5:12 states that “through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned.” (Compare 1Jo 1:8-10.) Some have explained this as meaning that all of Adam’s future offspring shared in Adam’s initial act of sin because, as their family head, he represented them and thereby made them, in effect, participants with him in his sin. The apostle, however, speaks of death as ‘spreading’ to all men, which implies a progressive rather than a simultaneous effect on Adam’s descendants.
Additionally, the apostle goes on to speak of death as ruling as king “from Adam down to Moses, even over those who had not sinned after the likeness of the transgression by Adam.” (Ro 5:14) Adam’s sin is rightly called a “transgression” since it was an overstepping of a stated law, an express command of God to him. Also, when Adam sinned, it was of his own free choice, as a perfect human who was free from disabilities. Clearly, his offspring have never enjoyed that state of perfection. So, these factors seem out of harmony with the view that ‘when Adam sinned, all of his as yet unborn descendants sinned with him.’ For all of Adam’s descendants to be held accountable as participants in Adam’s personal sin would require some expression of will on their part as to having him as their family head. Yet none of them in reality willed to be born of him, their birth into the Adamic line resulting from the fleshly will of their parents.—Joh 1:13.

[Hal]

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Hello Bess

Do you consider the ten commandments a covenant? I only see a promise attached to one of the commandments.

Scripture tells us that the law, referring to the ten commandments not the Moses law, is written on the hearts of the gentiles.

If the law is a covenant then what people is the covenant with?

If there are, as your say people outside of this covenant then and they break the law are they accountable?

[Fat]

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Hello Bess

Do you consider the ten commandments a covenant? I only see a promise attached to one of the commandments.

Scripture tells us that the law, referring to the ten commandments not the Moses law, is written on the hearts of the gentiles.

If the law is a covenant then what people is the covenant with?

If there are, as your say people outside of this covenant then and they break the law are they accountable?

Bess is from the Watchtower!

“The Romans’ greatest . . . bequest to those who succeeded them [was] their law and their sense that life should be lived according to law.” (Dr. David J. Williams of the University of Melbourne, Australia) However valid that might be, there is a bequest or gift of far greater value. This gift is a divine means to have an approved and righteous standing with God and the prospect of salvation and everlasting life. In a sense, there were legal aspects to how God made this gift available. In Romans chapter 5, the apostle Paul did not present these aspects as a dry, legalistic treatise. Rather, he began with this thrilling assurance: “We have been declared righteous as a result of faith, [so] let us enjoy peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom. 5:1) Those who receive God’s gift are moved to love him in return. Paul was one. w11 6/15 2:1, 2

[Hal]

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Bess is from the Watchtower!

Her profile says she's Presbyterian! Can't Presbyterians be JW's? 

[Moss]

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Bess is from the Watchtower!

Hey Phat, it took you over 2 hrs to catch the lie! Then again it may be a sign the the Presbyterians are in big trouble.

[clark thompson]

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Sin is failing to do God's will.

[biblebuf]

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How Does the Bible defined Sin?

Yes and you proved it 

Everyone who commits sin also breaks the law; sin is the breaking of law.

[Francis Drake]

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Hello Bess

Do you consider the ten commandments a covenant? I only see a promise attached to one of the commandments.

Scripture tells us that the law, referring to the ten commandments not the Moses law, is written on the hearts of the gentiles.

If the law is a covenant then what people is the covenant with?

If there are, as your say people outside of this covenant then and they break the law are they accountable?

No way. the Ten commandments are never written on the hearts of the gentiles. If that were true, as the civilised expanded we would have been constantly finding those who celebrated the Saturday Sabbath, and various other vestiges of the law in their cultures.

When scripture talks about having the law written on our hearts, it doesn't mean any of the scriptures as such. It is referring to our consciences. It is a righteous conscience that is in touch with God via the Holy Spirit. That is what is in the heart, and it is that which defines the difference between right and wrong.

[Hal]

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No way. the Ten commandments are never written on the hearts of the gentiles. If that were true, as the civilised expanded we would have been constantly finding those who celebrated the Saturday Sabbath, and various other vestiges of the law in their cultures.

When scripture talks about having the law written on our hearts, it doesn't mean any of the scriptures as such. It is referring to our consciences. It is a righteous conscience that is in touch with God via the Holy Spirit. That is what is in the heart, and it is that which defines the difference between right and wrong.

That is what is in the heart, and it is that which defines the difference between right and wrong.

Little bit confused here, is sin related to the difference between right and wrong? Can a sin be right? Do the Gentiles have some special list of sins which supersede the 10 Commandments? Can a Gentile violate the 10 Commandments, any of the 10 Commandments, and be doing right?

[Granpa]

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A person might think its going to rain but God would know it might rain. God is always knowing. That is why God never misses the mark. People are not always knowing. That is why people occasionally miss the mark they set for themselves. Sin originally meant to miss the mark but has come to mean all bad. So bad that you deserve to burn in hell for eternity. Nothing is all-good or all-bad

[Fat]

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A person might think its going to rain but God would know it might rain. God is always knowing. That is why God never misses the mark. People are not always knowing. That is why people occasionally miss the mark they set for themselves. Sin originally meant to miss the mark but has come to mean all bad. So bad that you deserve to burn in hell for eternity. Nothing is all-good or all-bad

Slippery slope you're on my friend.
2 Tim 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.