What is sin?

Kyle Bartholic   -   September 26, 2025

Why is the world so broken?

 

Why are relationships so hard and prone to fracture and strain?

 

Why can’t I just will myself into a state of utopia, harmony, and constant happiness?

 

The Bible offers us a singular answer, sin.

 

Simple, right? Too simple? No, not when we understand what sin is and how deep it extends in our hearts, minds, and world.

 

The Bible begins by telling us the story of creation. It tells us that there was a God who is good and he created the earth, the heavens (the stars and galaxies), and humanity. Because he is good, he pronounced his creation to be good. That goodness extended to everything that God made, but there was something unique about humanity. God made them in his image and after his likeness and then pronounced them to be “very good.” There was peace and harmony between God and humanity, and humanity and creation. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t stay that way. Humanity rebelled against God, and sin entered the world. This rebellion (sin) wasn’t a temporary or one-off wrong action. It was an act of eternal defiance and cosmic insurrection where humanity claimed to usurp God’s authority, sovereignty, and majesty. From that point on, sin would dominate the human condition and be the source of the brokenness and evil that all people would experience. We, like Adam, are sinners by nature (hardwired) and by choice (willingly choose). Thankfully, we don’t have to stay that way. We can be set free from the dominion and dominance of sin by faith in Jesus. That is wonderful news! And to understand just how good it is, we need to understand the very thing that Jesus sets us free from, sin.

 

A theology of sin. (3 angles)

Defiance – Sin is any evil action or evil motive that is in opposition to God. Simply stated, sin is failure to let God be God and placing something or someone in God’s rightful place of supremacy.[1] This includes sin of commission – an ungodly action that I willingly do. And it includes sins of omission – a godly action that I willingly do not do.

Dominion ­– Sin is a principle of captivity to a power that permeates and contaminates our human reality. Sin is the word Christians use to name not simply our failed acts but also our inner and outer captivity.

Deficiency – The desire to overcome our limitations and finitude because of anxiety about our creaturely existence.[2] We feel this especially in the empty promises of sin. These are the promises that sin makes to solve or fulfill our deficiencies. However, the only one who can solve our deficiencies is the one who is not deficient, Jesus

 

Each of these definitions gets at the full reality of sin. Yes, sin involves our wrong or broken actions, but it is more than that. Yes, it is a power that captivates our present reality, but it won’t always. Yes, it is part of a dysfunctional identity where we believe that we can overcome our finite limitations, but in Christ, we find a new and completely fulfilled identity.

How do we see the defiance, deficiency, and dominion of sin expressed in Scripture? Each of these definitions is seen in the original fall of Adam and Eve. (Gen. 3:1-13)

  1. Defiance – They took and ate. (cf 3:6)
  2. Deficiency – “God is holding back on you… you can be God.” (cf. 3:1-5)
    1. e., there is some limitation to overcome.
    2. The fundamental unbelief, distrust, and rejection of God and human displacement of God as the center of reality. [3]
  3. Dominion – The resulting impact of their rebellious action is that of the dominion of sin. (cf. 3:7-13)
    1. Sin caused them (and us) to feel shame and hide.
    2. That shame and hiding amplify the pain of sin. We want to find relief from the pain, so we often treat it with more sin. This leads to more shame and pain, and the cycle continues.
    3. The gospel – Jesus came not only to interrupt that cycle but to lead us into healing and restoration.
      1. Rom 5:20,21 – 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sin in the Biblical perspective.  The Bible does not pull punches on the subject of sin.

  • Jesus has the authority to forgive sin. (Mark 2:9-10)
    • Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”
  • Sin causes shame and dysfunction. (Gen 3:1-13)
    • 9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
  • Sin leads to death. (James 1:15)
    • 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
  • Sin impacts all people (Rom 5:12)
    • 12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.

Again, the good news is that God’s response to our rebellion (sin) is to seek humanity out and offer redemption through his Son (Jn. 1:1-18, 3:16). And it is through Jesus that we can be rescued, reconciled, and renewed to God (Rom. 6:5-11; Eph. 1:9). To be rescued from sin is to be rescued from the wrath of God against the evil of our sin (1 Thes. 1:10, 5:9). To be reconciled is to now be in covenant peace and relationship with God where there is no animosity nor fracture between us and God (Eph. 2:17-22; 1 Pet. 2:9-10). And to be renewed is to be actively and regularly formed into the image of Jesus (Rom. 12:2; 1 Jn 2:6; 2 Cor. 3:18). Without this work of Christ, the wrath of God would be poured out on humanity and result in our eternal separation from God (Jn. 14:6).

 

As Christians, we have been set free, so let us live in the freedom of Christ!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), 513.

[2] Peter Scazzero, The Emotionally Healthy Leader. How Transforming Your Inner Life Will Deeply Transform Your Church, Team, and the World, (2015), 185.

[3] Stanley Grenz, David Guretzki, and Cherith Fee Nordling, Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), 107.