SIN

SIN

Among the Pauline letters, the word of ‘sin’ can be found in Romans, 1,2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, 2 Thessalonians and 1 Timothy. But the word of ‘sin’ can be found many times in the letter of Romans. More than any others Pauline letters, Paul explained about the concept of ‘sin’ clearly in the letter of Romans. The ‘sin’ that described in other Pauline letters based on the main concept of ‘sin’ in the Romans.

In his letters, Paul taught the followers of Christ about that through one’s offence how the sin begins, what is the cause of sin, how the sin reigns over our flesh and finally the death which is the wages of sin. Paul also taught that through baptism we are free from the sin, through the law of God we become the servants of righteousness, through Jesus Christ we overcome the death, the wages of sin and finally through One’s sacrifice we gain back the grace of eternal life again. The grace of God is greater than the offences of sin. Therefore though the sin reigned over our flesh and it is against the Law, the commandment which is holy, just and good through Jesus Christ we all gain back the grace of eternal life again. 

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” Romans 5:12. Whenever I came across this verse I felt injustice on God. Through one person sin enter into the world. Through sin death comes into the world. The death came upon to all man. We all know that through the effect of one’s sin death comes into the world and take away all our happiness. God, not only keep back the grace of eternal life from us but also the happy land which is full of good because of one’s offences. In Genesis 4: 23, “So Yahweh God expelled him from the garden of Eden…”  It is not fair for us because the offence is not done by us. And there is no reason that the death, wages of sin has to come to us.

In the Romans letter, Paul gives me a great satisfaction on the feeling of injustice on God concerning the effect of one’s sin to all man. In Romans 5: 15, “There is no comparison between the free gift and the offence. If death came to many through the offence of one man, how much greater and effect the grace of God has had, coming to so many and so plentifully as a free gift through the one man Jesus Christ.” This is the work of justice that God repay for consequence of one’s offence. Through Jesus Christ, His only son, God gives his grace of life freely and plentifully to all men again. Jesus Christ died on the cross to save us from our sin. This manifests God’s great Love and mercy on His creature.  

We are free from sin through the baptism. In baptism we are died in sin and rise with a new life in Christ. In Romans 6: 4, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” With the new life of Christ we are free from the original sin which is cause by the one’s offence. 

Another fact which gives me the feeling of injustice on God is the law of God. Sin takes its life from the law. The law is the cause of sin in other word we can say that law is also the cause of death. Paul said in Romans 7: 8, 9, “But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” If there is no fire no smoke likewise if there is no law, there would be no law-broker at all.

If God does not set the law upon His creature there would be no sin and no death at all. In Genesis 2: 16, 17, “Then Yahweh God gave the man this command, ‘You are free to eat of all the trees in the garden. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you are not to eat; for, the day you eat of that, you are doomed to die.” These verses prove the true fact that the law of God is the place where the sin was born and how the sin enter into our lives. 1 Corinthians 15:56, “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.” It proves that from the law the sin gains its strength. I cannot understand why God has such idea to set the law on His creature.  

Let’s see what Paul said concerning this matter. In Romans 7: 7, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.”  This verse gives me a hint to realize why God set the law on His creature. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the core of God law. It is through the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that we come to realize what is good and bad, and most of all what is sin. God wants us to know that from the law we may know the sin, from the darkness, the light, from the flesh, the spirit and from the death, the eternal life.

Paul strongly emphasized that the law and the commandment is holy, just and good. At the same time he also clarified that sin by the commandment can become exceeding sinful. In the Romans, Paul distinguishes two kinds of law; the law of sin and the law of spirit. Paul said in Romans 7:5 “While we were still living by our natural inclinations, the sinful passions aroused by the Law were working in all parts of our bodies to make us live lives which were fruitful only for death.” The law of sin is always warring against the law of spirit. In Romans 7: 22, 23 Paul stated, “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”

Finally Paul wants us to yield ourselves unto God, as those who are alive form the dead, and our members as instruments of righteousness unto God. Because Christ has died on the cross for our sin in 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul said, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”  He encourages us to thanks God for the plentiful grace. Through the grace of God though we were servant of sin once but now we are the servant of righteousness. Through the death of Jesus Christ we are free from sin and become the servants to God. In Romans 6: 10, “For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.” Though from the one’s offence we were the victim of death, it is through One’s sacrifice that we gain back the eternal life again.

Romans 4:8, “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”