Sin
Etymology
- Ἁμαρτημα - Khata - Hebrew
- חטא - Hamartia - Greek
In both languages it means “To miss the mark” as in to fail at hitting a target or goal.
Definition
Spiritually, Sin is also missing the mark or goal. The mark is set by God (The laws he gave us) and us missing that mark or goal he set out (breaking the law, rebelling against God) is called sinning.
1 John 3:4
ኀጢአት የሚያደርግ ሁሉ ዐመፅን ያደርጋል፤ ኀጢአትም ዐመፅ ነው።
Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
Sinning is also purposefully not doing what is right
James 4:17
እንግዲህ መልካም የሆነውን ነገር ማድረግ እንዳለበት እያወቀ የማያደርግ ሰው ኀጢአት ያደርጋል።
If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
Origin of Sin
First there was Satan, Satan being very glorious in heaven was prideful and felt like he should be like God and rebelled against God. And that was his throne fall.
Isiah 14:12-15
አንተ የንጋት ልጅ፣ አጥቢያ ኮከብ ሆይ፤ እንዴት ከሰማይ ወደቅህ! አንተ ቀድሞ መንግሥታትን ያዋረድህ፣ እንዴት ወደ ምድር ተጣልህ! በልብህም እንዲህ አልህ፤ “ወደ ሰማይ ዐርጋለሁ፤ ዙፋኔንም ከእግዚአብሔር ከዋክብት በላይ ከፍ አደርጋለሁ፤ በተራራው መሰብሰቢያ፣ በተቀደሰውም ተራራ ከፍታ ላይ በዙፋኔ እቀመጣለሁ፤ ከደመናዎችም ከፍታ በላይ ዐርጋለሁ፤ ራሴንም እንደ ልዑል አደርጋለሁ።” ነገር ግን ወደ ሲኦል፣ ወደ ጥልቁም ጕድጓድ ወርደሃል።
How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.
And Jesus saw his fall from Heaven
Luke 10:18
ሰይጣን እንደ መብረቅ ከሰማይ ሲወድቅ አየሁ።
I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Types of Sin
Inherited Sin
Just like how Satan wanted to be like God it is with this same temptation he tempts Adam and Eve, to be like God. And then they rebelled against God and his commandments… They sinned (Original Sin). And it is through that act that everyone that is a human spiritually inherits sin. Meaning everyone of us are born spiritually sinful, with the inherit spiritual need to rebel against God and to be lawless.
Romans 5:12
ስለዚህ ኀጢአት በአንድ ሰው በኩል ወደ ዓለም እንደ ገባ ሁሉ፣ ሞትም በኀጢአት በኩል ገብቷል፤ በዚሁ መንገድ ሞት ወደ ሰዎች ሁሉ መጣ፤ ምክንያቱም ሁሉም ኀጢአትን ሠርተዋል፤
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned
Psalms 51:5
ስወለድ ጀምሮ በደለኛ፣ ገና እናቴም ስትፀንሰኝ ኀጢአተኛ ነኝ።
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
Paul talks about this like this:
Romans 7:14-20
ሕጉ መንፈሳዊ እንደ ሆነ እናውቃለን፤ እኔ ግን ለኀጢአት እንደ ባሪያ የተሸጥሁ ሥጋዊ ነኝ። የማደርገውን አላውቅም፤ ለማድረግ የምፈልገውን አላደርግም፤ ነገር ግን የምጠላውን ያን አደርጋለሁና። ማድረግ የማልፈልገውን የማደርግ ከሆነ፣ ሕጉ በጎ እንደ ሆነ እመሰክራለሁ፤ እንዲህ ከሆነ፣ ይህን የማደርገው እኔ ራሴ ሳልሆን፣ በእኔ ውስጥ የሚኖረው ኀጢአት ነው። በእኔ፣ ማለትም ኀጢአተኛ በሆነው ተፈጥሮዬ ውስጥ ምንም በጎ ነገር እንደማይኖር ዐውቃለሁ፤ በጎ የሆነውን የማድረግ ምኞት አለኝ፤ ነገር ግን ልፈጽመው አልችልም። የማደርገው ላደርገው የምፈልገውን በጎ ነገር አይደለም፤ ዳሩ ግን ለማድረግ የማልፈልገውን ክፉ ነገር ነው። ላደርገው የማልፈልገውን ነገር የማደርገው ከሆነ፣ ያን የማደርገው እኔ ራሴ ሳልሆን፣ የሚያደርገው በእኔ ውስጥ የሚኖረው ኀጢአት ነው።
So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
Imputed Sin
The Greek word translated “impute” means “to take something that belongs to someone and credit it to someone else’s account. What Adam did, so did everyone else. It is Adam’s guilt attributed to or credited to us. And so what Adam is punished, so will everyone else. In short, It does not mean we are personally guilty of Adam’s sin, only that his sin was credited to our account, and thus every person participates in the guilt and penalty of that original transgression. So in a way Adam and Us are the same, and so would be punished the same.
So sin is breaking the law, but there was a time where there was no law. From Adam to Moses. So if there was no law to break, there wouldn’t be sin. But since everyone after Adam has inherited sin, everyone is sinful despite having no laws to break, and also were punished the same. But after Moses, humans were subject to death both because of inherited sin from Adam and imputed sin from violating the laws of God.
Romans 5:13-14
ሕግ ከመሰጠቱ በፊት ኀጢአት በዓለም ላይ ነበር፤ ነገር ግን ሕግ በሌለበት ኀጢአት አይቈጠርም። ይሁን እንጂ ከአዳም ጀምሮ እስከ ሙሴ ድረስ ባሉት፣ እንደ አዳም ሕግን በመጣስ ኀጢአት ባልሠሩት ላይ እንኳ ሞት ነገሠ፤
For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression,
Personal Sin
Which is committed every day by every human being. Because we have inherited sin, we commit individual, personal sins, everything from seemingly innocent sins to murder.
These sins are these two types
- Sins of Commission: actively doing something wrong
- Sins of Omission: sins of neglect, failing to do what is right due to passiveness
Romans 3:23
ምክንያቱም ሁሉም ኀጢአትን ሠርተዋል፤ የእግዚአብሔርም ክብር ጐድሏቸዋል፤
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
The 7 Deadly sins
Proverbs 6:16-19
እግዚአብሔር የሚጠላቸው ስድስት ነገሮች አሉ፤ የሚጸየፋቸውም ሰባት ናቸው፤ እነርሱም፦ ትዕቢተኛ ዐይን፣ ሐሰተኛ ምላስ፣ ንጹሕ ደም የሚያፈስሱ እጆች፣ ክፋትን የሚያውጠነጥን ልብ፣ ወደ ክፋት የሚቻኰሉ እግሮች፣ በውሸት ላይ ውሸት የሚጨምር ሐሰተኛ ምስክር፣ በወንድማማቾች መካከል ጠብን የሚጭር ሰው።
There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
Consequences of Sin
Consequences of Sin would mean the consequences of missing the target, mark or goal set by God. What happens when you break the law, and rebel against God? When you are lawless?
- Sin separates man from God, both physically and spiritually
Isaiah 59:2
ነገር ግን በደላችሁ ከአምላካችሁ ለይቷችኋል፤ ኀጢአታችሁ ፊቱን ከእናንተ ሰውሮታል፤ በዚህም ምክንያት አይሰማም።
But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
- Sin causes physical and spiritual death
Romans 6:23
የኀጢአት ደመወዝ ሞት ነውና
For the wages of sin is death
- Sin causes a great sense of regret, shame, guilt and sadness
Psalms 38:4
በደሌ ውጦኛል፤ እንደ ከባድ ሸክምም ተጭኖኛል።
My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.
- Sin enslaves us. One sin leads to more sins.
John 8:34
እውነት እላችኋለሁ፤ ኀጢአት የሚያደርግ የኀጢአት ባሪያ ነው
Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
- Sin causes internal turmoil
Isaiah 48:22
“ለክፉዎች ሰላም የላቸውም” ይላል እግዚአብሔር።
“But there is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.
What sins are forgiven and which one’s aren’t?
All sins can be forgiven and you can be purified but the Bible warns about the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit as an unforgivable sin. This sin is specifically described as attributing the works of the Holy Spirit to the devil.
Mark 3:28-29
እውነት እላችኋለሁ፤ የሰው ልጆች ኀጢአትና የሚሳደቡት ስድብ ሁሉ ይሰረይላቸዋል፤ ነገር ግን በመንፈስ ቅዱስ ላይ የስድብ ቃል የሚናገር ሁሉ የዘላለም ኀጢአት ዕዳ ይሆንበታል እንጂ ለዘላለም አይሰረይለትም።”
Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”
What does God feel about Sin?
God feels deep sorrow and righteous anger toward sin.
Genesis 6:5-6
እግዚአብሔር አምላክ የሰው ዐመፅ በምድር ላይ የበዛና የልቡም ሐሳብ ዘወትር ወደ ክፋት ብቻ ያዘነበለ መሆኑን ተመለከተ። እግዚአብሔር ሰውን በምድር ላይ በመፍጠሩ ተጸጸተ፤ ልቡም እጅግ ዐዘነ።
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.
Romans 1:18
በክፋታቸው እውነትን ዐፍነው በሚይዙ፣ በዐመፃቸውና በክፋታቸው ሁሉ ላይ የእግዚአብሔር ቍጣ ከሰማይ ይገለጣል
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness
Solution and Salvation
So God uses the principle of imputation to save us from our sins. Just like how Adam’s sin and the punishment is attributed and credited to us, Our sins and punishments are attributed and credited to Jesus Christ and then finally Jesus’s righteousness and holiness is then attributed and credited to us.
ባላጠፋነው እንደተቀጣን ሁሉ ባልሰራነው ፀድቀናል
When God imputed our sin to Jesus, God treated Jesus as if Jesus was a sinner, though Jesus was not, and had Jesus die for the sins of the entire world.
2 Corinthians 5:2
እኛ በእርሱ ሆነን የእግዚአብሔር ጽድቅ እንድንሆን፣ ኀጢአት የሌለበትን እርሱን እግዚአብሔር ስለ እኛ ኀጢአት አደረገው።
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
1 John 2:2
እርሱም የኀጢአታችን ማስተስረያ ነው፤ ይኸውም ለዓለም ሁሉ ኀጢአት እንጂ ለእኛ ብቻ አይደለም።
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
And we are forgiven because Jesus took all types of our sins and died on the cross
Ephesians 1:7
በእርሱም እንደ እግዚአብሔር ጸጋ ባለጠግነት መጠን፣ በደሙ በተደረገ ቤዛነት፣ የኀጢአትን ይቅርታ አገኘን
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
And so Jesus set us free from all sins and no longer enslaved
John 8:36
እንግዲህ ወልድ ነጻ ካወጣችሁ፣ በእውነት ነጻ ትሆናላችሁ።
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Romans 6:6
ከእንግዲህ የኀጢአት ባሮች እንዳንሆን፣ የኀጢአት ሰውነት እንዲሻር አሮጌው ሰዋችን ከእርሱ ጋር እንደ ተሰቀለ እናውቃለን
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin
And even tho we are freed from inherited and imputed sin we make personal sins and for those God prepared forgiveness and restoration through repentance and confession of sins.
1 John 1:9
ኀጢአታችንን ብንናዘዝ ኀጢአታችንን ይቅር ሊለን፣ ከዐመፃ ሁሉ ሊያነጻን እርሱ ታማኝና ጻድቅ ነው።
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
How to deal with Sin
Everyone is born a sinner, lives a sinner.
1 John 1:10
ኀጢአት አልሠራንም ብንል፣ እርሱን ሐሰተኛ እናደርገዋለን፤ ቃሉም በእኛ ውስጥ የለም።
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
But all of our sins have been imputed onto Jesus so that he’s the one who gets punished and not Us. And by that we are set free. This freedom is received when we believe in God.
John 3:16
በእርሱ የሚያምን ሁሉ የዘላለም ሕይወት እንዲኖረው እንጂ እንዳይጠፋ እግዚአብሔር አንድያ ልጁን እስከ መስጠት ድረስ ዓለምን እንዲሁ ወድዷልና።
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
And believers are no longer slaves to sin
Romans 6:18
ከኀጢአት ነጻ ወጥታችሁ፣ የጽድቅ ባሪያዎች ሆናችኋል።
You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
And the holy spirit helps us make the choice of not sinning personal sins
Romans 8:26
እንዲሁም ደግሞ መንፈስ በድካማችን ያግዘናል
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
If you sin don’t be consumed in sorrow, self hate and depression these will all lead to much worse cases, instead be sorrow spiritually
2 Corinthians 7:10
እንደ እግዚአብሔር ፈቃድ የሆነ ሐዘን ወደ ድነት ለሚያደርስ ንስሓ ያበቃል፤ ጸጸትም የለበትም። ዓለማዊ ሐዘን ግን ለሞት ያበቃል።
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
But if we do sin personal sins we shouldn’t hide them but instead we should confess and he will forgive and restore us
Proverbs 28:13
ኀጢአቱን የሚሰውር አይለማም፤ የሚናዘዝና የሚተወው ግን ምሕረትን ያገኛል።
Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
1 John 1:9
ኀጢአታችንን ብንናዘዝ ኀጢአታችንን ይቅር ሊለን፣ ከዐመፃ ሁሉ ሊያነጻን እርሱ ታማኝና ጻድቅ ነው።
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
2 Chronicles 7:14
በስሜ የተጠራው ሕዝቤ ራሱን አዋርዶ ቢጸልይ፣ ፊቴን ቢፈልግና ከክፉ መንገዱ ቢመለስ፣ ከሰማይ እሰማዋለሁ፤ ኀጢአቱን ይቅር እላለሁ፤ ምድሩንም እፈውሳለሁ።
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
But after you repent turn to God, change your ways and bear fruits that show that you’ve turned yours ways
Matthew 3:8
ለንስሓ የሚገባ ፍሬ አፍሩ
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
Acts 3:19
እንግዲህ ኀጢአታችሁ እንዲደመሰስ ንስሓ ግቡ፤ ከመንገዳችሁም ተመለሱ፤ ከጌታም ዘንድ የመታደስ ዘመን ይመጣላችኋል
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord
And all this bring rejoice and delight to God and all the angels in heaven
Luke 15:10
እላችኋለሁ፤ እንደዚሁም ንስሓ በሚገባ በአንድ ኀጢአተኛ በእግዚአብሔር መላእክት ፊት ደስታ ይሆናል።”
In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Summary
When a human being is born, he inherits sinful nature from Adam. Meaning every human being has internal spiritual want and need to rebel against God and to break his laws. That is inherited sin. Then because of inherited sin, we are punished the same way Adam was; by death. His judgement is also passed onto us even if we break no laws. That is imputed sin. Finally there’s personal sin. It is the everyday breaking of laws and rebelling against God.
So in conclusion we sin because we are sinners and we are sinners because we sin.
We are three times condemned due to inherited sin, imputed sin, and personal sin. The only just penalty for this sin is physical and spiritual death. So God used one of his principles to save us, imputation.
Imputed sin is the biggest reason for the biggest form of love God can show us. There’s no greater love than to die for someone else and the reason Jesus did that for us is because of imputation; because our sins had to be imputed upon him and his righteousness onto us.
1 John 4:9-10
እግዚአብሔር ፍቅሩን በመካከላችን የገለጠው እንዲህ ነው፤ እኛ በእርሱ አማካይነት በሕይወት እንኖር ዘንድ እግዚአብሔር አንድያ ልጁን ወደ ዓለም ላከ። ፍቅር ይህ ነው፤ እኛ እግዚአብሔርን እንደ ወደድነው ሳይሆን እርሱ እንደ ወደደንና ስለ ኀጢአታችን ማስተስረያ ይሆን ዘንድ ልጁን መላኩ ነው።
God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
So Jesus died because all types and amounts of sins were imputed on Him and then he was risen so his righteousness and holiness can be imputed on Us.
Romans 4:25
እርሱ ስለ ኀጢአታችን እንዲሞት ዐልፎ ተሰጠ፤ እኛን ጻድቅ አድርጎ ለማቅረብም ከሞት ተነሣ።
He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
As all people are in Adam, so all believers are in Christ. Being in Christ means that His righteousness is now ours. Through Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross, the sin of humanity was imputed to Christ. Jesus took on Himself the penalty for our sin.
Colossians 2:14
ሲቃወመንና ሲጻረረን የነበረውን የዕዳ ጽሕፈት ከነሕግጋቱ በመደምሰስ፣ በመስቀል ላይ ቸንክሮ ከመንገድ አስወገደው።
He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.
In conclusion, When we believe in Jesus Christ, we are set free from inherited and imputed sin because He took our position and died instead of us. But when he rose from the dead, he imputed his holiness and righteousness on to us. And for the daily sins we commit we can ask for forgiveness and he will forgive us. And to not sin / to not miss the mark God put his Spirit in us to help us overcome personal flesh sins.