Why Is Sin a Problem?
You can watch a video on this topic here: Why Is Sin a Problem?
When we talk about the problem of sin, we first want to look at what makes sin so bad. There is no point in talking about the fact that we have a problem with sin if we don’t know why it is a problem. There are a few things the Bible tells us sin does to us.
Sin brings death.
Romans 5:12 - Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—
Sin makes us its slaves.
John 8:34 - Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.
While slavery is not always a negative thing, sin is a harsh and destructive master.
Romans 6:16 - Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?
Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Sin pays, but the wages it pays is death. It is horrible to be enslaved to someone who will work you to death. Sin has no pity but kills us in return for our obedience.
Sin separates us from God.
Isaiah 59:1-2 - Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
God is the source of all good (James 1:17) and when we are separated from Him, we are separated from all good things. This is truly what death is. Our whole purpose in life–to walk with God, be His children, be His friends, glorify Him–is ended and we cannot recover it. We are dead when we are separated from Him and sin is what separates us from Him.
Sin makes us useless.
In our dead state, we are not useful to God. Yes, God has used evil men to accomplish His purposes, but we are useless for any good thing–the things that God really made us to do.
Matthew 5:13-16 - “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
Jesus teaches here that when we stop being what we are made to be, we become useless. We were made for good works so that our Father will be glorified. If we sin instead, we are not good for anything.
In talking about how wicked both Jew and Gentile are, Paul quotes from Psalm 14.
Romans 3:12 - All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.
He says that they have all turned aside and become useless. Sin makes us useless. It makes us worthless for any good deed.
Titus 1:16 - They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.
Sin makes us enemies of God.
James 4:4 - You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
We were made to be God’s friends. Sin makes us His enemies. Sin is the opposite of our purpose in life.
Sin makes us children of the devil.
John 8:41-44 - You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
1 John 3:7-8 - Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
God made us to be His children. When we sin, we are not behaving like God, but like the devil. We become the devil’s children and we can no longer live up to the purpose for which we were made.
Why do we sin?
Sin enslaves and kills us. Sin makes us enemies of God, children of the devil, and worthless for any good thing. Sin destroys us and keeps us from ever accomplishing our purpose in life. So why would we ever sin if it has such terrible consequences?
We are deceived.
Just like Eve in the beginning, we sin because we are deceived, either by someone else or by deceiving ourselves.
2 Corinthians 11:3 - But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
Romans 7:11 - for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
1 Corinthians 3:18 - Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise.
2 Timothy 3:13 - But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
James 1:16-17 - Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
Eve was not deceived into thinking that God had said something different from what He had said. She was deceived into thinking that there was something good that was not from God. We easily allow ourselves to be deceived in this way also. We believe that there is something good about the sin we are committing. We block out the negative consequences to reach for that “good” and it kills us. This is fundamentally caused by a lack of faith in God.
Hebrews 4:2 - For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.
We allow our lusts to overcome us.
James 1:13-15 - Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
We sin because we each have sins that appeal to our own desires and allow that to overcome us and kill us. James makes it clear that it is our own fault. It is our own lust that entices us. Then we allow it to carry us away. Even Jesus had these same temptations (Hebrews 4:15) but never allowed it to overcome Him.
God did not make us to sin. God made us upright. We are the ones who allow our own desires to pull us away and kill us.
Ecclesiastes 7:29 - Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.
We choose sin.
Quoting from Psalm 14:1-3; 53:1-3; 5:9; Isaiah 59:8, Paul writes:
Romans 3:9-12 - What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”
Notice that he says, “All have turned aside.” This demonstrates that we were not born in this state but rather chose this state. He says that “they have become useless.” He does not say that we were born useless. Again, this is something that is our choice and we are fully responsible for it. We see this most clearly in what Paul writes to the Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 10:13 - No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
God made a promise to not allow the Corinthians to be tempted beyond what they were able. I am convinced this is true of all people. But did this promise to the Corinthians mean that they would never sin? Not at all.
1 Corinthians 5:1-2 - It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 - And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?
These were fleshly, unspiritual people, although they were in Christ and had the Holy Spirit living in them (1 Corinthians 3:16). They still committed sin, yet there was the promise that they would never have a temptation beyond what they were able. So why did they sin? They were deceived. They had their own lusts and allowed that to overcome them. They chose it.
Do we have to sin?
God made us to be like Him. Jesus became one of us and could still be like God. He did not sin.
Hebrews 2:17-18 - Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.
He used the same methods of resisting temptation available to us–the word of God. He had a perfect understanding of it, which is one thing that makes Him different from us (not in nature, but understanding), but we still have the word and can use it as He did.
God is upset when we sin. That is not why He made us. We are held responsible for our sin. God is just when He holds us accountable because it is a choice that we make.
Nehemiah 9:33 - However, You are just in all that has come upon us; For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.
Psalm 51:4 - Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge.
While it is a choice that we make and God is blameless when He judges us, it is still true that we all make the choice to sin. This is not why we were made, but it is what we all choose at some point.
Romans 3:23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Romans 5:12 - Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—
1 John 1:8-10 - If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
We are told very clearly that we are liars if we say we have no sin. We have all chosen sin at some point. But this is not what we are made to do and it is not what we are to continue doing.
1 John 2:1 - My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous
John says that he writes so that we will not sin! It is true that we all sin. But that is not because there is no option. We have the choice and when we choose sin, we are completely responsible and God is completely innocent and just to condemn us. In fact, He has to condemn because of His holiness, which we will talk about some in the next article.
The problem of sin is that we all choose this horrible slave master who kills us, separates us from God, makes us children of the devil and worthless for any good thing. There is nothing we can do after we have sinned to restore ourselves to what God made us to be. We are dead. But there is good news and that is the gospel. We will look at the good news next.