Sin is a concept

In the book of Joshua we read about his army, in which there was a special unit:

“Among all this warfare were 700 select men who were left-handed. These all hurled the stone to within an inch of its life and never missed their target.”
Ri 20,16

These men “never missed their target.” The Hebrew word (hb. chatah), which is rendered here as missing the mark, is read elsewhere as “to sin.” They did not sin. You did not miss your target. Jeff Benner, in the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible, refers to the related root word for “cord” ( hb. chuth). A cord is used not only for lacing, but also for measuring. Thus, a string can be used to measure the distance or even the deviation. This is how we know the German term “Richtschnur”, a guideline towards a goal. Now, to sin is to fall short of this goal.

In Proverbs we read the following:

“And he who is hasty with his feet missteps.”
Prov 19:2

At this point one could write “he who is hasty with his feet sins”. The same Hebrew word chatah is also used here. If you’re too fast, you miss. If you are too fast, you will stumble. Here, too, the goal is missed (to place the foot correctly).

This basic meaning is used in many situations in a figurative sense. Missing the target is a basic problem. The effect, however, can be quite different. So sin is not something specific (eating chocolate, sexuality, etc.), but it is a concept.

Sin is a deficiency

Sin is a concept, but it is also a deficiency. This becomes especially clear when we compare ourselves with God, for example. Paul describes it as follows:

“All sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Rom 3:23

Here the connection is made between “sin” and “deficiency”. We are not like God. There is a noticeable difference. We lack His glory. He is not like us and we are not on His level. If we want to come to Him, we miss the target. We lack everything it takes to do this. We cannot bridge this difference ourselves. Even though we may do a lot of good, that can never hide the fact that we have no life in ourselves. In this we differ from God. We are mortal and remain so. This is a “slavery to corruption” as Paul describes it (Rom 8:20-21). It is a very sober reflection on our experience in this world.

We are not like God, and that has consequences.

Two basic problems of the people

Sin brings death. This was so for Adam and Eve, who became mortal through transgression – and died. Since then, humanity has been dying – we are all mortal. Generally speaking, sin pays nothing better than “death”. But the gift of God’s grace is life eonian in Christ Jesus our Lord(Rom 6:23). Life is God’s answer to death. And justice is what cancels out the missing of the goal. These two opposites belong together.

The Bible describes two basic problems for human beings: sin and death. Both are answered by the gospel of God’s grace. The Gospel describes His righteousness given to us (Rom 1:16-17). This includes the prospect that He Himself will one day make all alive, namely the same ones who died as a result of Adam’s transgression (1 Cor. 15:22).

These are the core problems of human beings and God’s response to them:

• Death and missing the target (sin) are the core problems
• Life and justice are God’s response to this.

So sin and death are more than made up for by righteousness and life. This is the outlook. This is a liberating and joyful message.

“For if by the mortification of one. [Adam] death now reigns through the one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one Jesus Christ! Accordingly now, as it is through the one mortification [von Adam] came to condemnation for all men, so it also comes to the justification of life for all men through the one legal judgment [durch Christus]. For just as through the disobedience of the one man [Adam] the many [= all] were set up as sinners, so also by the obedience of the One . [Christus] the[selben] many [= all] be established as righteous”
Rom 5:17-19

Novelty of life

Sin (the concept) is readily and quickly associated with certain things. So in the sense of: this is right, that is wrong. As if it were a matter of good and evil, black and white, and always doing the right thing. However, this quickly leads into legalistic thinking and condemnations of self and others. This is unhelpful and sets you on the wrong track. The idea of a missed target can help to not think completely in black and white. Certainly there are things that are wrong. But they are wrong if you think from the target. Only the missing of the target makes it a sin.

Here is the difference

• Sin is a concept (missing the target)
• Sinning is missing the mark as we do.

So chocolate is not sinful by definition. “Things” cannot be sinful in themselves. Sexuality, for example, is not sinful by definition, even though this interpretation has persisted over the centuries. Only the perversion of things leads to aberrations and aberrations. Similarly, one can find other examples.

Life-affirming, on the other hand, can be the decision to always keep two things in mind:

1. To have a goal in mind, to be positively oriented toward a good goal.
2. The second is the acceptance of God’s grace for one’s shortcomings.

Paul writes about his own life in this sense:

“Not that I have already received this, or that I am already perfected in this. But I am chasing after it, whether I may take hold of what I have also been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not yet consider myself to have grasped it. But one thing I do: I forget what is behind me and reach out to what is before me.”
Phil 3:8-14

For him, having found a living faith, this positive orientation stands out in all his letters. Something has changed. Newness of life is what he calls it. It is this freedom that may lead to completely new decisions. Freedom comes through commitment to Christ. Paul does not insist on following laws, but encourages a different way of thinking that changes lives. What is sin cannot be clarified by a list of alleged sins. Rather, it’s about realigning through a new lifestyle. God’s grace empowers. We can count on this new life.

“So you also! Reckon that you yourselves are dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord! Consequently, let not sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its lusts. Neither make your members available to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but make yourselves available to God, as living from the dead, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For then sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under law, but under grace.”
Rom 6:11-14

It’s about transformation. It is about becoming more like the image of Christ. Addressing and clarifying one’s own goal failures, then allowing them to be transformed by God’s grace, can change the here and now. This is how the Gospel, the Good News, can be applied in one’s own life.

Furthermore, however, God speaks of this world and what He intends to do with it. That is His very great goal. Justice and life are before His eyes, and the “freedom of the glory of the children of God” for all creation (Rom 8:18-21).

Deepening

• Justice and judgment
• God’s justice for all
• Gain outlook