How Do You Define Sin?

Question

I'm not asking for your Beliefs about Sin, or what the people who wrote the Bible Believed about Sin, I want to Know what you actually Know about Sin. If it's possible to Know what Sin is, why can we not avoid Sinning?

Answer 1

My definition:

Sin is that thought, word or deed committed with the conscious intent of causing harm to God, to another being or to self. Thus when one is instructed on what thoughts, words and deeds DO cause said harm and then thinks, says or does it anyway one has sinned. Most of the time what is considered sinful is determined by a culture and its beliefs, its customs and its rituals.

The earliest form such instruction took was the Code of Hammurabi. The Forty Questions of the Egyptian Judges of the Dead also rule along those lines. And of course, there's the Ten Commandments, in our culture the most familiar and well-known.

For those of curious bent, studying these Commandments and meditating on the possible consequences of breaking those rules will speedily convince all but the most stiff-necked that they are indeed a clear guide to positive results for the obedient and those around them.

For those who have not the time nor the inclination to undertake said study, then simple obedience will produce the same positive result, ie, growth into a finer, better example of a human being.

As for avoidance, it may not be possible to always avoid committing a sinful act, speaking a sinful word, or thinking a sinful thought, but then that is why Christ died for us. To allow us a means to avoid the consequences of such actions.

Why can't we always avoid sinful acts even when we know what they are and are trying to avoid them? Ah... the perils of free will alligned with haste and/or negative emotionalism. A pit into which we all fall with disturbing regularity.

Answer 2

The original definition of sin was actually "missing the mark"...much like when you are shooting a bow and arrow and miss your target. That is what I believe sin is. God gave us our conscience, which allows us to differentiate between what is right and wrong. When we do something that is against our conscience and violate our moral code it is sin. There is actually a verse in the Bible...that talks about what is a sin to one person might not be a sin to another. For example, if I enjoy watching horror movies, I don't feel bad about it, it doesn't disturb me in anyway...but you on the other hand feel totally convicted for watching a horror movie, it makes you feel bad, you feel as though you disappoint God by watching it...that makes it a sin for you, but not for me. This doesn't work for everything, the Bible doesn't say watching horror movies is unacceptable, whereas it condemns sexual promiscuity, murder, stealing...just because you don't feel bad about those things doesn't mean they are acceptable...but in certain circumstances what is a sin for some might not be a sin for another.

Answer 3

From the Greek sin means to miss the mark.

We are not living up to God's standard when we sin.

We are all born with a sin nature.

FYI what the Bible says is God's Word and the people who wrote it wrote it under the divine inspiration of God. So whatever the Bible does say is from God and not merely "what the people who wrote the bible believed".

Answer 4

Q. How Do You Define Sin?

A. Any want of conformity or transgression of the law of God.

Q. If it's possible to Know what Sin is?

A. The moral law of God was written on our heart at creation. People often call this their conscience. Therefore if we know what God's will, is we know what sin is.

Q. Why can we not avoid Sinning?

A. As Adam's children we have a fallen nature, and we want to sin. Sin is not just the act of sin, but also the want or desire to sin.

Answer 5

Sin is any action or inaction, worth, thought or attitude that is contrary to Jesus command to love God with all of your heart, mind, and soul and your neighbor as yourself.

We can try to avoid sinning by being loving towards God and others.

I do not think it is possible to completely avoid sinning, but I hope that I do not sin as often a I used to.

Answer 6

Sin is anything that goes against the will of God- and we cannot know what sin is without the Bible, anymore than we could know the rules of driving a car without a handbook and signs on the street. This may be simplistic but it is true. If you ran a red light, how would you know it is wrong, unless it is law. So therefore, to know what sin is you must see it through God's eyes.

Answer 7

It's like defining love. It can't be answered in just a few words, but allow me to try. To sin against something is to turn away from something, to go against something, to defy or rebel against something. Some might say that sin is the act of turning away, but others would say it is the action you take when you turn away. for instance, sin can be to rebel from GOD's law (i.e. murdering someone). Some would say its the murder itself that is the sin. Others would say that its the act of rebelling from GOD that is the sin, which leads to the murder which is the consequence of sin. Sin is also commited against other people, nature, even ourselves. some say that GOD did not create sin, but others say he did cuz he created everything. This may be an unanswerable question (like 'If GOD can do anything, can GOD make a boulder so big that even GOD can't lift it?") If sin is to turn away from GOD, then there is an element of free will involved. If man chooses to turn away from GOD, then it is man who created the sin.

Answer 8

We cannot avoid sinning because after Adam and Eve ate from fruit of the tree of knowledge we knew what was sin and gravitated toward it because it was exciting, exhilarating and forbidden. Anything can be a sin if it takes you away from church and your family and serving the Lord. Being on the computer can become a sin if you put being on the computer before God. Sin is basically anything that you put before God and serving Him with all your mite.

Answer 9

We cannot avoid sin because we are sinners...we are not perfected yet.

Sin is anything that is destructive or harmful to mankind or any creature or this earth we live on. Having said this, all sin carries the same weight and another, no one is worse or less a sin.

The Ol' Hippie Jesus Freak
Grace and Peace
Peg

Answer 10

Sin creates a proclivity to sin; it engenders vice by repetition of the same acts. This results in perverse inclinations which cloud conscience and corrupt the concrete judgment of good and evil. Thus sin tends to reproduce itself and reinforce itself, but it cannot destroy the moral sense at its root