Romans 3:21-25

Explaining Sin

22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

There is no difference,

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.

He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—

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This is the Word of the Lord ... It is meant to change the way that we think, and the way that we live.

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Commentary by Bob Pardue

Am I a Sinner? Explaining Sin

After reading John 3:16 , many people still do not quite understand that sin is the one thing that separates us from God.

 

 

Romans 3:23 and the commentary below is meant to help explain sin. How can we tell if we are a sinners?

 

 

Below you will find some ways to know for sure ...

 

What is Sin?

 

In simple terms, sin is anything we do or say or think that does not please God.

 

 

For example, have you, in your entire life ever ...

 

a: told a lie (even little ones?)

 

b: stolen anything? (cheated a little on your taxes?)

 

c. done anything that you knew was wrong or done something to hurt another person?

 

d. thought about hurting another person or being envious of their possessions? their wife? their husband?

 

If we answered yes to any or all of the above, we are sinners and fall short of what God would like us to be.

 

 

Humanistic psychology suggests that everyone is born to be good and through life experiences will live up to that challenge of good self esteem.

 

 

Unfortunately, this is not normal behavior for humans.

 

 

We are born with a "want to" do wrong things. If you've ever had children you know that you don't have to teach them very much about wrong behavior, especially with siblings sharing a toy and one is always yelling "mine!"

 

 

The Bible says we must be punished for our sins. To be punished means we are to be separated from God forever.

Big sins and little sins

Some sins seem much bigger than others because their obvious results are more serious.

 

 

For example, murder seems to us to be worse than hatred, and adultery seems worse than lust. In God's eyes each is a sin.

 

 

Do we deserve eternal life because we only committed the little sins? We did not kill and we did not commit adultery. We only did these things in our minds so we are less guilty than those behind bars or the woman who is actually cheating on her husband, right?

 

 

Wrong!

 

All sin makes us sinners, no matter how trivial, and all sin cuts us off from our holy God.

 

 

All sin, therefore, leads to death because it disqualifies us from living with God, regardless of how great or small the sin. Don't minimize 'little' sins or overrate 'big' sins. 

They all separate us from God, but they can all be forgiven through the sacrifice and love of Jesus Christ. He died on the cross and rose again so that we may live. Isn't God a wonderful God?

Love in Christ

- Bob

Matthew 3:1-12 - Bible Study of John The Baptist Preparing the Way for Jesus