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Section 8 THINGS I BELIEVE ABOUT SIN

This area of study is often called HAMARTIOLOGY (a study of the nature of Sin)

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE TELL US ABOUT THE TERM SIN?

In the Old Testament, sin is to: (1) miss the mark [chata’] Judges 20:16 (2) go astray [ta’ah] Isaiah 53:6 (3) overstep the bounds [‘avar] Deut. 17:2 (4) turn aside in apostasy [sur] Deut. 9:12b (5) rebel against proper authority [pasha’] Isaiah 1:2 (6) act unfaithfully / treacherously [ma’al] Joshua 7:1 (7) be deceitful and insidious [aqob] Jeremiah 17:9 (8) act violently / wrong God [hms] Genesis 6:11 (9) be evil & bring trouble & distress [ra’a] Isaiah 1:16 (10) act wickedly or criminally [resha] Numbers 16:26 (11) bring offense / cause guilt [‘asham] Numbers 5:6-8 (12) plan and express deception [‘aven] Proverbs 22:8 (13) be unjust / unrighteous [‘awal] Isaiah 26:10 (14)be crookedly perverse [awon] Genesis 15:16

In the New Testament, sin is to: (1) miss the mark [hamartia] Romans 3:9 (2) wander away [planao] 1 Peter 2:15,25 (3) overstep the bounds [parabaino] Romans 4:15 (4) fall away [paraptoma] Matthew 6:14-15 (5) fail to heed [parakouo] Hebrews 2:2 (6) disobey / unpersuaded [apeitheo] Ephesians 5:6 (7) be lawless [anomia] 1 John 3:4 (8) be unjust / unrighteous [adikeo] Romans 1:18 (9) be ungodly / irreverent [asebeo] 2 Peter 2:6 (10) be willfully ignorant [agnoia] Ephesians 4:18 (11) fail to repay a debt [opheilema] Matthew 6:12 (12) be evil, wicked, depraved [kakos] 1 Timothy 6:10 (13) wickedly oppose God [poneros] Matthew 15:19

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WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF ‘SIN’? Responding to False Definitions

Sin is NOT just an ____________ (exists only in the mind)

Sin is NOT __________________ (merely being human)

Sin is NOT sensuousness (lower physical nature trying to dominate higher spiritual nature)

Responding to Incomplete Definitions

Sin is NOT the __________________ of goodness (deemphasizes volition and holiness requirement)

Sin is NOT unbelief (all unbelief is sin, but not all sin is unbelief)

Sin is NOT lawlessness (lawlessness is an expression of sin, not an all-inclusive definition)

Sin is NOT selfishness (all selfishness is sin, but not all sin is selfishness)

CONCISE DEFINITION = Sin is any _________ to conform to the moral _____ of God (Grudem, Bible Doctrine 210)

WHO ARE THE VICTIMS OF SIN? Sin may be regarded as an offence against

___________ (1 Sam. 12:23; Psalm 51:4; Luke 15:18)

___________ (2 Kings 14:24; Matthew 18:21; 1 Cor. 8:12)

___________ (Proverbs 8:36; Habbakuk 2:10)

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WHERE DID SIN COME FROM?

God is not the “_________________” of sin, nor is He surprised at its manifestation.

Sin ultimately finds its origins in the God-given ability to make volitional _________________.

There is absolutely no reason to doubt the truthfulness of the __________________ account.

Adam and Eve were initially _______________ creatures possessing unconfirmed holiness.

Their choice to obey or disobey had farther-reaching im-plications than often thought (Note the presence of the “Tree of Life” and the action taken to guard the tree)

ARE PEOPLE FOUNDATIONALY GOOD OR BAD?

The Bible connects man’s actual sin to his sinful ‘_________________.’

Actual sin cannot be explained as merely “acquired” or “learned.”

The Bible connects man’s actual sin to the first sin of ________________. (Rom. 5:12-19)

__________________________ is the term used for the dimension of sin with which we begin life, or the effect the sin of Adam has upon us as a precondition of our lives (Erickson, 648)

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History has yielded a variety of views.

PELEGIANISM = the soul, created by God at conception, is not tainted by any supposed corruption or guilt. The influence of Adam upon his descendants is that of a bad example. The inclination to sin comes from building up “bad habits”. SEMI-PELEGIANISM = Man’s will was weakened by the Fall, but he can still cooperate with God’s grace (through sacraments) ARMINIANISM = Man receives from Adam a corrupt na-ture, however, the prevenient grace of Christ nullifies the judicial consequences of Adam’s sin. All suffer the consequences of Adam’s sin when they personally con-sent to their inborn sinfulness by acts of transgression. REALISTIC VIEW = Human nature was numerically and specifically one in Adam. The relationship of humanity to Adam was like that found in Hebrews 7:9-10 between Abraham and Levi. REPRESENTATIVE VIEW = The basic thrust of this view is that “Adam was the appointed head and representative of the whole race” MEDIATE IMPUTATION VIEW = Adam’s sin directly affected only him; his ‘nature’ became depraved and this depraved nature has been transmitted to every member of the race.

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TO WHAT EXTENT HAS SIN AFFECTED MANKIND? ____________________________ is the inability to do anything that will in itself please God and the inability to come to God in our own strength; a total lack of spiritual good and the inability to do good before God. (Grudem, Systematic Theology, 497) Total depravity means that :

Sin has impacted every aspect of man’s total being.

____________ (1 Cor. 2:14; 2 Cor. 4:4; Romans 1:28; Ephesians 4:18)

____________ (Romans 6:20; Romans 7:20)

____________ (Romans 1:21,24,26; Titus 1:15)

Unregenerate man has no spiritual good which would commend him to God. Even his good deeds contain elements of improper motives.

The sinner is completely unable in his own strength to escape from his sinful condition.

Total depravity does NOT mean that:

unregenerate people are totally insensitive in matters of conscience, of right and wrong.

the sinful man is as sinful as he can possibly be.

the sinner engages in every possible form of sin.