God has given all humanity the ability to overcome sin, and by us recognizing sin and working through those sins, we gain an eternal identity. God said in Genesis 4:7 “… sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” Sin is a challenge God has given each one of us to overcome, and we are to work through it and overcome it. The process of ruling over sin will make us a better person, help us understand God’s commandments and apply them, furthermore, Jesus said in Matthew 5:19 that those people “will be called great in the kingdom of heaven”. We can’t just say God made me this way and then do nothing about it. We cannot diminish sin by blaming others. God said we are to rule over sin. David even said in Psalm 51:3, “I keep my sin before me always”. When we overcome our sin, we gain a new level of understanding of knowing God (Proverbs 9:10, 1 John 2:3).
It is important to understand how God allows sin to make us a better person, how it will impact us, and how God expects us to deal with sin. The Bible says in Isaiah 45:7, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things”.
Repentance Produces An Eternal Identity
Jesus says in Matthew 5:19, there will be great and there will be least in the Kingdom of Heaven. It will all be based on how well we did here by keeping God’s commandments and teaching others to do the same.
The Remedy For Sin
If we don’t think about or talk about our sin, then we won’t do anything about it. Sins that we do not deal with, will continually come back and challenge us and can destroy us (Romans 8:12-13). The consequence of sin causes us to lose awareness of God. Isaiah 59:2 says, “… your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you”. Sin causes a barrier to a person’s conscience awareness of God, and where there is no knowledge of God there is no repentance. Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge … since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children”.
The benefit of overcoming sin is knowing God and Him being revealed in our life. In this world where there is sin, God is hidden, but after this world where there is no sin, God is fully revealed. God’s desire is for us to seek Him, overcome the distractions of sin, and work through the challenges while doing it. God promises a reward for those who do (Revelation 3:5).
Repentance is the remedy that counteracts the consequence of sin, and it is only possible to repent because of what Jesus did for us (Isaiah 55:7, Ezekiel 18:30-32, Luke 1:76-80). Paul said in Romans 7:24-25, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
The path of life is repentance and knowing God, and the only other option we have is sin which leads to death (Deuteronomy 30:15-20), and not knowing God. Jesus provides us the path of repentance, and He is the narrow path that leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14).
What exactly is Sin?
Webster dictionary says that “sin is an offense against religious or moral law. It is a diminished state of human nature in which the self is estranged from God. It is a voluntary departure of a moral agent from a known rule of morality or duty, prescribed by God; any voluntary transgression of the divine law, or violation of a divine command; a wicked act; iniquity. sin is either a positive act in which a known divine law is violated, or it is the voluntary neglect to obey a positive divine command, or a rule of duty clearly implied in such command. Sin comprehends not action only, but neglect of known duty”.
The Instruction of God Explains What Sin Is
God gave us 10 commandments, and each one is a category of what God wants us to follow. The first five commandments deal specifically with how we are to obey God, and the last five commandments deal with how God expects us to treat other people. It is actually worse to sin against another person because when you sin against man, you are also sinning against God. It is a double sin. When you sin against God, He forgives you with great ease, but when you sin against another person, it is sometimes much harder to gain forgiveness.
Think about the seriousness of sinning against God and another person. When you sin against another person and cause an offense Jesus explains to us in Matthew 5:25-27, “Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.” Jesus also said in Matthew 12:36-37, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Jesus also said in Matthew 18:6, “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea”. It is very important not to offend others and if we do, then we need to do everything we can to make it right.
There are 3 Categories of Offense Against God
Iniquity: When a person denies God, and knowingly disobeys Him (a person who denies that he is commanded by God over a certain matter).
Transgression: When a person rebels against God. A person recognizes God, but deliberately disobeys God’s commandments.
Sin: When a desire forces a person to a point to where they feel compelled by their evil inclination and desire to go against the will of God thus giving in to fleshly desires.
There Are 3 Levels of Sin
Intentional sin: You know a commandment of God, you understand it is forbidden to do, but you do it anyway.
Unintentional sin: You sin because of your lack of paying attention to details, you were carless to learn, or you were just too lazy in trying to understand a commandment. You were not thinking!
Accidental sin: When you go against a commandment of God completely by accident.
Each has a greater level of judgment (Luke 12:47-48). Some sins have a death penalty, while others do not. God in His kindness, mercy, and grace allows us to feel guilt and sorrow which leads us to repent so we will not be judged at a greater level (Romans 2:5-11).
In the time of the temple, if a person had an unintentional sin, they could bring a sacrifice to atone for their sin (Numbers 15:22-31). Hebrews 10:26 says, “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries”. Romans 2:6-11 says, God will repay each one of us according to what we did, both good and bad. People who use excuses not to deal with their sin do not accept the commandments of God. God is hidden to those who do not deal with their sin (Deuteronomy 32:20, Isaiah 6:9-10), and He is revealed to those who do and acknowledge them and repent (John 14:26).
How Do We Know What Sin We Are Accountable For?
Understanding sin takes time and a lot of effort through studying God’s word. God has entrusted the Jewish people with the in-depth understanding of God’s instructions (John 4:22-24, Romans 3:2). The commandments are all defined in the Torah as 613 commandments of things to do and not to do. There are specific commandments that are for women, men, Kings, Priests, the Jewish nation, and for the non-Jewish nations. The word ‘Torah’ means instructions but is also known as the ‘law’. The Torah contains the first 5 books in the Bible, as well as the Prophets, and the Writings. In Romans 3:20 it says, “… through the law comes knowledge of sin”.
There are 7 categories of commandments that all humanity is obligated to obey and will be held accountable for, and they are called the Noahide Laws. There were also 4 additional commandments the Apostles instructed non-Jewish disciples of Jesus to follow in Acts 15. In addition, Jesus explained that His disciples should also follow the commandment of loving God and loving their neighbors as themselves (Matthew 22:36-40).
The Torah list 365 negative commandments that are things not to do, and 248 positive commandments of things to do. An easier way to think about it is, God has given us ways to create a positive action in this world that will have an eternal impact. We may not ever do all of them, but if we take the time to learn about them, and which ones apply to us, we will gain a much better understanding of God. On the other hand, there are things that God does not want to be done, and He will hold each one of us accountable if we are responsible to not do them. In the same way, if we take the time to learn about those, and which ones apply to us, we will understand God much better.
The Importance of Our Actions and Keeping God’s Commandments
If we do a positive commandment, there is a good seed planted that will produce good fruit. On the other hand, if we did something God said not to do, then we did an action that created a bad seed that will have a consequence and produce bad fruit.
There is a judgment day coming for all. Ecclesiastes 12:14 says, “For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil”. For those who repented and have pledged their allegiance to Messiah Revelation 20:6 says, “Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.”
Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap”. Romans 14:12 says, “each of us will give an account of ourselves to God”. Also, in 2 Corinthians 5:10 it says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad”.
How To Overcome Sin
Man was created evil from birth (Psalm 58:3), we all have challenges we are to overcome (Genesis 6:5, Jeremiah 17:9, Matthew 15:18-19, James 1:14), and we all have character traits we are to work on. We have been put here in this life to work on the challenges of sin (Genesis 4:7), and we become a better person by doing so. Not paying attention to God’s commandments is sin, and it is lawlessness. Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven …I declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” God’s will is for us to overcome sin, and in doing so become a much more useful vessel in the Kingdom of God.
God gives us all favor to overcome sin and strength to fix our character issues. Paul says in Romans 5:19-21, “… where sin increased, grace abounded all the more”. The Rabbis say one who has sinned, and repented, and has worked to correct that sin and make that wrong right, is greater than a righteous person because the sinner has worked to overcome his weaknesses. Paul says we are made strong through our weakness in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness … for when I am weak, then I am strong”.
Everyone is human and sins. The key is to do something about sin and overcome it. Having a desire for God drives you to seek the Kingdom of God. As you continue to seek the Kingdom, repent and make correction, and apply what you learn, you overcome sin and will have more of an awareness of God in your life. That awareness of God prevents sin in your life.
It is an amazing wonder that God allows us to take a sin, work through repentance, overcome it, and then make something good out of it. To know Jesus better and understand more start your journey of repentance.