Sin - What is it? Part 2

There are two words translated "sin" in the Scriptures. In the Old Testament the word is chataah, from the root word chata, meaning, "to miss the right point". In the New Testament the word is hamartia, meaning, "to miss the goal". Now, if we know whose point and whose goal is being missed, we might know what sin is. the meaning of chataah and hamartia have to do with God’s point and His goal therefore sin is missing God's goal for us, not missing religion's goal.

So, what should we conclude from this? The things we do that violate God’s point of view, His purpose, and His goal for us must define sin. Our religious training has taught us to identify what we have decided is sin in others and resort to judgment and condemnation by condemning them to Hell's torcher chamber. And, instead of leaving it up to God to conform us to the image of His Son, we have taken that responsibility upon ourselves and have decided to change one another by identifying what we don’t like in them, calling it sin, then pressuring them into conforming to our preferences and standards. It’s religious arrogance, against God, and it is wrong.

There is a difference between God’s viewpoint of sin and man’s. There was a seeming discrepancy between what I knew about David from my religious point of view and what God said about him. David’s seeming personal faults are well recorded in Scripture. My religious, moral perspective told me he was a miserable failure as a leader, husband and father. Yet, in the midst of all this moral failing, God was very gracious and complimentary of Him (I Samuel 13:14, Psalms 89:19-37, Acts 13:22).

Why God didn’t condemn David for the things I knew were wrong in his life and for what my religious morality told me was sin. It wasn’t up to me to decide what was right or wrong with David. He wasn’t accountable to me. I wasn’t his judge. Only God knew how to deal with David and what needed to be dealt with to accomplish his deliverance. It was the unchanging character of God and His eternal purpose that determined what was sin in David’s life and it was none of my business. Who am I to question what God does or doesn’t do in someone else’s life?

When we screw up...and we all do...there is no sense in trying to deny who or what we are. We can’t run; there’s no place to hide. And when we experience times like this, David is our hero and an example to follow. For me, my old judgmental, moralistic self is near dead and my new self is being resurrected in the image of Christ allowing me to see David in a different way. And, I appreciate his determination to allow God to examine his heart and test him (Psalms 26:2, 139:23-24). Faults and weaknesses aside (both his and mine), the way I see it, having a heart like David’s is foundational in my own personal relationship with God.

What about Peter and His denial of Christ? Peter did not run to a "Church" to repent and get right with Christ again...In Christ's eyes Peter was already right with Him..."Go and tell my disciples and especially Peter". Christ did not withdraw His Love for or forsake Him because of His denial and cursing.

It’s not up to us to decide what is right or wrong for others. Let's keep our nose out of other people's business. The vicious cycle of interfering in each other’s life is leading to hurt, disappointment, confusion and broken relationships, this is not what God is about therefore neither should we be about it.

Religious people think they have a real talent for spotting other people’s wrongs. But the question is, how good are they at spotting their own wrongs? We are not to try to ‘help’ others by identifying their sin, while we ignore our own. That kind of super-spiritual elitism is useless, both for the community of the redeemed and the community of humanity. True righteousness comes when people learn to face their own faults and weaknesses with God in acknowledgement and repentance. And only then can they understand how to help others by encouraging them to do the same.

What we may decide is right or wrong in the lives of others will not help us; it will not change us. It will, in fact, only hurt us, and others. Religion has trained us to judge people (with the facade of being concerned about their eternal destiny so we can get the credit for ministering "in love" and another notch in our witnessing belt. But, for every child of God, there must come a time when we determine to make a concerted effort to learn how to mind our own business and understand that sin is not what we think it is in the lives of others, but what God says it is in our own.

Being sin conscious is the reason we judge people for what we think is sin in their lives...being God conscious will lead us to deal with sin in our own lives and realize that He has already forgiven that sin and desires a loving relationship with us.

Please don't be so naive as to think that I am condoning living a loose lifestyle that harms people and godliness. But don't judge others because they may sin differently that what you as a Christian do or judge them on what you have deemed to be sin.