Minimalist Guide To Christianity PART 2: What Is Sin?
My grandma was a "good" person, but does that mean she's in heaven? What's good, what's bad, and how do we know if we are "good enough"?
Defining “bad” and “good” is quite subjective, however we need an objective standard by which we can clearly understand what those words mean. If we are measuring the standard of what is good and bad among humans, then we must have a standard of good that is outside of humanity.
C.S. Lewis said, “A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line.”
In order for us to know something is straight, we have to measure it with something that is not that thing. We have to use a measuring tool, such as a ruler or straight edge, that is a standard of straightness.
The same is true when we measure humanity. If we are to know what is bad, we need to know what is good. In order to know what is good, we need to have a standard of goodness that is outside humanity. That standard is God. When we use God as the standard of all good, then everything and everyone else can be measured against that standard.
Therefore, anything that is not aligned to the standard of God’s goodness, is a sin.
What is a sin?
Sin is an archery term that means “to miss the mark”. We, as humans, missed the mark. So, a sin is something we did that missed the mark. The opposite of sin is to be righteous. Righteous means “to be or to go straight”.
Think of someone who is on a journey and they need to walk down a straight path to get where they are going. When they drift off that path, they will surely miss the mark to reach their destination. So if righteous means to go straight, then to sin means that we are “not straight” or “crooked.”
Remember that straight edge example from earlier? God is the standard of straight, of righteousness, of goodness.
It doesn’t matter how “bad” our sin is, and sin can never be “good” in the eyes of God. Whether it is the extreme of all badness and any horrific sin, it doesn’t matter to God because all sin separates us from Him. Sin is sin, small, large, or intense. Romans 3:23 says “for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” This means that actually all humans, no matter how good we believe they are, are still bad.
Whether we consider the extreme of “bad” by someone like Hitler or way the other side of the spectrum with someone we would consider extremely “good” like Mother Teresa, each of them, much like we, have all sinned and there’s nothing that we can do about saving ourselves from sin’s consequence. Jesus did that on our behalf when He died on the cross.
The Reason For The Cross Was For Him To Bear The Sins Of Humanity On Himself, So We Don’t Have To Do That Ourselves. (1 Peter 2:24)
Through the blood of Jesus on the cross he took on the punishment that we deserved for any and all sins, small or great, that we commit during our life. Because we are blemished by sin’s stain, we need a Savior who is stainless, who is sinless, to take our place for what we have done. Isaiah 53:6 says, “all of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”
Without Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, we remain separated from God and one day will succumb to the consequence of our sin. Romans 6:23 says, “for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life”. Death is the final consequence of sin and a punishment that we deserve because of our sins. All “bad” things that happen to us are byproducts of sin. Jesus saved us from sin’s consequence, and punishment, that we deserve for the sins, all sins, that we committed because he was the only one who lived a sinless life.
Once we understand how sin effects our life, admit that we are sinners, and accept that Jesus has provided the way out of sin’s bondage on our lives, the next step is experiencing the transformation power and love of the God’s Holy Spirit. If you are ready to enter a relationship with God, and want to turn away from all the bad stuff in your life, here are the next steps taken directly from Romans 10:9-10 and mentioned in Minimalist Guide To Christianity PART 1: What is a Christian?
1) Declare (or Confess) that Jesus is Lord and you are ready to turn from your old ways and start a new life in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
2) Believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. This, Jesus Christ’s resurrection, is what Easter is about and why it is celebrated.
3) If you confess and believe those two things, scripture says you will be saved.
I would also like to mention, this process may feel awkward, strange at first, and you might wonder what your life will look like or what people in your life will think when you make a faith decision such as this, but that is normal. You may even have a level of fear and this is normal too. Most people don’t experience the negative consequences that well up in their mind and make them fearful to take the next step. Oftentimes you will make new friends and have new experiences that God will bring into your life that will make it easier for you.
This is really a journey of a relationship, not religion. It is a journey of discipling, of learning. What does this look like exactly? I’ll talk more about that in Part 3 of Minimalist Guide To Christianity: What Is Discipleship? So stay tuned.
EXTRAS
C.S. Lewis’ full quote is as follows, “My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?” -from his book “Mere Christianity”
(For a comprehensive list of sins, go here.)
Grab C.S. Lewis’s book “Mere Christianity” on Amazon. It’s one of my favorite books and I highly recommend it!
For the third and final part of this series Check out Minimalist Guide to Christianity PART 3.
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