HAMARTIALOGY: THE BIBLICAL DOCTRINE OF SIN- BY GREG ELKAN
In these modern days of ours, Christians are finding it increasingly uncomfortable to talk about sin. But those who shy away from talking about sin clearly do not understand the gospel.
The issue of Sin lies at the heart of the Gospel message. In fact, it is the whole point of the Gospel message. Without sin, then there is no need for a Gospel; and Jesus cannot be called a “Saviour” if there’s nothing He is saving us from; (See Mat 1:21).
Therefore, sin must be an important element of every proper theology that we teach.
But what is “sin” really? “Sin” is always the least explained of all the elements whenever we preach the Gospel; because it seems to be obvious and self-evident. When we tell people that Jesus came to save them from sin, we typically explain who Jesus is, then we explain what salvation is; but rarely do we continue to explain what sin is. This is because we assume everyone knows what it is.
Nevertheless, this is a wrong and often fatal error on our part because the _Bible’s_ definition of sin is very different from what many people, including Christians, understand as sin.
We need to see sin as God sees it; not as tradition and intuition has taught us to see it.
Ironically, religion has been a major stumbling block to our proper understanding of sin. All religions – including a significant part of what is called “Christianity” today – is Man’s attempt to deal with the sin problem _his own way,_ instead of submitting to God’s prescription. And one way religion executes that is by creating its own definition of “sin”.
Human religion loves to rail against sin; because condemnation of sin implies piousness and holiness. But beneath religion’s outrage at sin – beneath its furious censure at iniquity, its meticulous enumeration and categorisations of transgressions, its positive disdain at immorality, and its frequent invocations of judgment and infernal damnation of the sinful – lies a thinly-veiled attempt to sidestep the question.
No religion can save a person from sin, and only in drawing attention _away_ from what sin truly is does religion keep people in ignorant bondage.
The Greek word used by the New Testament writers for “sin” is _“hamartia”_ which literally means “to miss the mark”, or to “not hit the target”. Thus, sin in scripture transcends mere actions. Scriptures instead views sin as a state: of imperfection or incompleteness, a deficiency rather than a presence… a void that no prayer, pilgrimage, charity, abstinence or act of penitence can fill.
_“For all have sinned, and *come short* of the glory of God; – Rom 3:23._
AMEN...
More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.
GREG ELKAN
- Nigeria
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