Sin: It's Complicated
“18 “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson,
I will make them as white as wool.”
Photo by Jonathan Borba from Pexels
Sin --- we use this term regularly --- Great Nanny, my wife’s maternal grandma used it to express pity: “What a sin…” People have used it to describe desserts --- have you ever heard that? “That dessert is so good it’s sinful.” These light hearted comments are fine. But they remind me that maybe there is a lack of understanding about the seriousness of sin.
I believe our discourse of sin is overly simplified. It is not enough to have a cursory understanding of sin. That is like seeing a doctor who is not interested in understanding the disease that affects his patient, but insists on only addressing symptoms. Sin is deeply rooted. The language in the passage of Isaiah speaks of scarlet, the original language offers the thought of a fabric double dipped in dye. Sin is something that we must be absolved of by. It is from a fallen nature that our sinful actions find their beginning. Sin is not small, it is significant and it is important to understand sin from God’s point of view.
We often think of sin in terms of action verbs (murder, lust, stealing), or patterns of behaviour and habits. While those are not necessarily wrong, they are perhaps more in line with the medical doctor referenced above, who understands the symptoms and treats them. It would be better if the doctor knew the underlying cause of the symptoms and treated that issue. I believe the Bible shows us that sin, while characterized by certain actions, is really more about our identity before knowing Jesus Christ. Sin is not so much what we did, but who we were before Christ. This idea flows from three major attributes of what was meant by the various Hebrew words that we translate as ‘sin’:
1. Our identity as sin.
The root ḥṭʾ is the most frequent, occurring 595 times in the Hebrew Bible. It means: “to be mistaken, to be found deficient or lacking, to be at fault, to miss a specified goal or mark.”[2] The theological sense of ḥṭʾ comes into play when an offence is committed against God, or the broad community of believers. Sin against God is serious, and in the system of the OT punishment and compensation in the form of sacrifices must be exacted.[4]
This aspect of sin is related to our creatureliness: The relationship of sinfulness to creatureliness is discussed in the various books of the bible. It is a focus of book of Job (Job 4:17–21; 15:14–16; 25:1–6)[5] However, the basic idea is that because we are not of the heavenly realm because we are creatures created by God, and because we were made from the dust, representative of the brokenness of this world; we are more like this sinful world than the heavenly realm. It could be said that we are sin at the core of our nature. (I don’t particularly like this idea. It is uncomfortable.) We are given to the actions and behaviours which arise from that nature.
In my discomfort with this idea I am comforted by this truth: Sin has a great deal to do with who we are before knowing Jesus Christ and believing in Him. Jesus changes things. Also, the idea of creatureliness reminds us that there is nothing about this world that is superior to the world to come. There is nothing more desirable here than there is there with God. I sometimes forget that, maybe you do too.
Identity - Dan Stevers provides a moving expression of sin as our old identity; and reminds us of our new identity in Christ.
2. Sin Has consequences for our relationships.
A second Hebrew root for “sin” (pšʿ) occurs about 135 times, and signifies willful, knowledgeable violation of a norm or standard.[6] This aspect of sin relates to violating the commands of God. Actions are emphasized here; or the lack of Godly action.
James reminds us that faith without action is really not faith at all (Jm 2:14-26). In the same way, while sin has a great deal to do with our identity; it also has implications for our actions and in part, defines them. This aspect of sin is more horizontal in relational terms, in that violating God’s commands often has grave consequences for our relationships and the people around us. Those we are most connected with: our family, friends, coworkers, local church, etc.
When the consequences of sinful actions are fully realized the results are jarring. Often relationships broken, trust is violated, and people are left hurt. Though the term (pšʿ) occurs much less than the others, it remains important to understand that the effects of our sin has an impact on those who are in our lives.
3. Sin against God.
A third important Hebrew term for “sin” is the noun ʿawôn, which appears 229 in the Hebrew Bible. The accepted meaning of this noun is “error, iniquity”. This term is religious in nature, and brings to light the aspect of sin that has to do with moral guilt or iniquity before God. Where (pšʿ) relates more to our horizontal relationships, ʿawôn relates more to our vertical relationship with God.
This aspect of sin would have had to do with issues effecting ones worship of God in the OT. I think of the commands to keep the sabbath day holy, to have no other gods before our true God (Ex. 20). While a delineation between the sins I commit against people and sins I commit against God may be a somewhat foreign concept to me and to you; it was not abstract or foreign to those in Israel that Jesus came to rescue.
Through our over simplification sin I believe we deny God glory in that sin permeated our being, not just our actions; and He alone changed that. It was so bad, and hopefulness and impossible but God sent His only Son (John 3:16). Christ sacrifice should not be made to be a lifetime pass for doing whatever want. That is an immature understanding of grace (1 Cor.10:23). The ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ made it possible for us; who are creatures of this dusty broken and fallen world, to become a part of God’s kingdom, His family. To be inhabitants of a new heaven and earth, and to live our lives eternally (Rev 21). That is drastically different to getting a pass on past wrongs, like how you stole gumdrops from the candy store in 3rd grade (phewwph – good to get that off my chest).
“Jesus has given us the opportunity for a changed nature. ”
Isaiah reminds us how dire things were in the passage above. He then says:
18 “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow."
Some translations say “Let us reason together”. That reminds me of how much God desires relationship with us. But often missed is a subtle foreshadowing of Jesus here. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet’, Matthew 27:28 references Christ being clothed in a scarlet robe during His punishment and shaming. He was dressed up in sin, for us.
2 Cor. 5:19-21
19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling3 the world to himself, nnot counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us mthe message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, owe are ambassadors for Christ, pGod making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 qFor our sake he made him to be sinr who knew no sin, so that in him we might becomes the righteousness of God. [7]
“Complexity isn’t a vice. It’s an invitation to learn. ”
Jesus took on the sin identity and destroyed it. We now have a new beginning in Him. Understanding these three aspects of sin in the Old Testament is still an over simplification of a complex theological problem. Sin: It’s complicated.
However, complexity isn’t a vice (See West Wing Episode ‘Game On’ in Season 4 LOL). Complexity is an invitation to learn. By digging in a bit, we can now see just how bad things were before Jesus. That allows us see how remarkable, how amazing, how completely mind-blowing God’s answer, and once for all solution is.
[1] Tyndale House Publishers. Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2015. Print.
[2] Cover, Robin C. “Sin, Sinners: Old Testament.” Ed. David Noel Freedman. The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary 1992 : 32. Print.
[3] Cover, Robin C. “Sin, Sinners: Old Testament.” Ed. David Noel Freedman. The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary 1992 : 32. Print.