What Is Sin?
This question is of vital importance because of the fearful judgment against those who commit sin. The soul that sinneth, it shall die, thunders the Old Testament (Ezekiel 18:20). In like tones, the New Testament declares: The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). The one who lives in sin throughout his earthly life and faces God without having obtained divine forgiveness will be sentenced to eternal perdition.
Sin sprang full-grown among men. Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God. The first boy born on this earth grew to manhood and murdered the second-his own brother! And sin has existed in every generation since.
In our time, however, there is one difference: many no longer know what sin actually is. Things evil are sometimes designated as good; things good, as evil. Isaiah condemned such a practice, declaring, Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil (Isaiah 5:20).
Since this confusion exists, and since a person will not seek forgiveness for sin until he knows what sin is, a clear-cut definition, both negative and positive, is urgently needed.