The Sin Nobody Talks About, Part 1

Though nobody talks about it much these days, the Apostle Paul had a lot to say about sin. The next few posts will examine Paul's concept of sin from several of his New Testament letters beginning with the book of Romans.
What is sin? Sin has been defined as "missing the mark." Sin leads to complete separation from God. Paul declares, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). In the broadest sense, sin entered the world through the first man Adam in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:6). As a result of the fall of man, all of mankind is born with a sin nature, or is shaped in equity (Rom. 3:23 and 5:12).

In a narrow sense, there are two kinds of sins in the Bible, sins of commission and omission. A sin of commission is doing what one knows is wrong, or willfully breaking the law. Paul states “Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” Conversely, sin of omission is not doing what one knows is right to do. The Bible declares, “Anyone, then who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” (James 4:17).
Paul’s concept of sin in the book of Romans points to faith in Jesus Christ as a free gift of grace from God as the answer for forgiveness of sin. Paul has more to say on sin in Romans than in any other Pauline epistle. The following Scriptures are a few of many in Romans on sin:

• What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one;” Rom. 3:9-10
• Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. Rom. 3:20
• But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Rom. 5:8
• For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners; so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Rom. 5:19-21
• What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Rom. 6:1-2
• For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Rom. 6:6-7.
• Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Rom. 6:12
• For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. Rom. 6:14
• For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. Rom. 8:3-4.

Our problem is SIN

We don’t have a skin problem. We have a sin problem. We are...

S – Selfish

I – Incorrigible

N – Negative

Jesus saves us from the...
1. Penalty of Sin (Romans 6:23)
2. Power of Sin (Romans 3:23)
3. Presence of Sin (John 3:16)


How can you be saved and go to heaven?
I'm glad you asked. Here is some alphabet soup, the A-B-C's of salvation:
A - Ask Jesus to forgive your sins.
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
"If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart God has raised Him from the dead you shall be saved." Romans 10:9
B - Believe that Jesus died on the Cross to take the punishment for your sins.
"God demonstrated his love for us in this, while we were sinners Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23
C - Call on Jesus to save you.
"For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:13, Acts 2:2.1, John 3:3.

RELATED POST: JESUS, YOUR TICKET TO HEAVEN

Have you ever committed a sin you couldn't bring yourself to talk about with anyone except God? Wait until you hear what was going on in the church at Corinth in the next post, "The Church at Corinth, Corrupt to the Core" in The Sin Nobody Talks About, Part 2.