The word sin derives from “Old English syn(n), for original *sunjō… via Latin sons, sont-is guilty.
Biblical Greek and Jewish terms originate from words denoting the act or state of falling short therefore missing the mark.
the original meaning of New Testament Greek ἁμαρτία hamartia “sin” is missing the mark, falling short in archery, spear throwing or any projectile. Not making the distance.
The Hebrew hata “sin” originates in archery and literally refers to missing the “gold” falling short of the target. Not making the distance.
The modern understanding of sin common in modern Christian circles comes from the Roman religion, meaning a crime or offense of commission or omission against self, man, religion or God.
We understand many prefer to embrace the Roman religions point of view we however do not.
We hold to the original meaning, Hebrew and Greek. That is that sin as falling short of the glory of god. Just as a newborn child falls short of the capacity of a one year old, there is nothing wrong with that at all, but it is a falling short, therefore sin… but not a crime or offense of any kind. It is merely a statement of fact.
The original notion of sin is a statement of fact with no moral accusation, as the Holy Scriptures says
“for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” Romans 3:2
This is not a statement of a crime guilt, but the fact that all fall short of Gods glory.
Christ has come that He may cover the failings / falling short and forgive our offenses, these are separate but related issues.
Because we fall short of Gods glory we have a natural weakness and tendency to wander from the path of right relationship with each other and The Holy Father. We offend the law of God because we fall short of His Glory. He sent His Son to forgive our offenses and heal our falling short.
Not making the distance and committing a crime are not the same thing.
We must remember that the distance is Gods Glory, No man is Gods equal.
Yes we believe in sin.
The connection between sin and offense is that sin is our weakened state that makes a crime or offense completely natural and normal. With enlightenment at new birth we are given the power to overcome our weakness or sin, whether or not we use this power is up to us. No longer can we claim the temptation is too much or too strong. The way is not easy but then again nothing worthwhile is easy. I must say the way is great fun though, I would not have missed this for all the gold in the world. – sounds fairly dour way of life but the opposite is true.
Unlike most modern Christians we believe in original sin, we are all born falling short of Gods Glory. We reject the Roman view that we are born guilty of a crime. We fall short but endeavour to live to a far higher way of life that our natural state would other wise rob us of. When God grants us enlightenment at conversion we are given the power to live contrary to our nature, never again can our lower nature rule us against our will. That said as many of us will confess having the power and using it are two different issues…. when we fail we are led astray by our own will not by our powerlessness to over come. Surrender is different from defeat, the unenlightened have no choice, the enlightened do… to whom much is given much is expected, for the responsibility is greater. Luke 12:48
1 John 5:1-5
1. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.
2. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.
3. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
4. For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
5. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
James 1:
13. When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;
14. but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.
1 John 5:
18. We have known that every one who has been begotten of God does not sin, but he who was begotten of God does keep himself, and the evil one doth not touch him.
Point to ponder…. read the scriptures, when the Christ expressed anger, was it against the religious or the sinners…. Many sinners will enter heaven before many of the religious… God sees the heart not the pretense.
We have had many messages from New-age/Christian hybrid faiths very upset we teach the old ways. To which we must respond, we follow different paths, if the original teachings are wrong, where are we to gain our wisdom? from the oculists? from the atheists? We understand modern “progressive” teachings, but we fail to see their value. We understand those who see the evil one and his followers as all powerful in this world, personally I have not found this to be so. We follow totally different religions, we may use similar words with totally different meanings the truth is we We follow totally different religions. The gulf between us nowadays is so wide it is easy for for the difference between our religions to be made clear.
The Fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom
this is another subject for another day
as the song says “t’was grace that taught my heart to fear, t’was grace my fears relived” – Amazing Grace