The “S” Word! What is it? The word is: SIN! So, what’s the deal with sin? Well, this may surprise you, but God is not as uptight about our sins as we might think. Don’t misunderstand, of course, God dislikes sin, but He is not as concerned about our sins. Maybe you didn’t know this, but there is a difference between sin and sins. In fact, you may be surprised to find out God is not a mean old judge who shakes His fist when we sin. In fact, He expects “sinners” to “sin!” Sound confusing? Stick with us as we take a look at the “S” Word!

Did you know
God is NOT
a MEAN,
old JUDGE
who shakes
His fist
when we sin?

God’s primary concerns are not the “sins” in a “sinner’s” life: smoking, swearing, drinking, running around, and other bad habits. Those are outward sins. It doesn’t surprise Him when sinners sin. If you think about it, what else would you expect sinners to do? Sinners sin! God is primarily concerned with the internal nature of the person’s heart. The internal nature is indeed a sin nature – it produces “sins” and unless that nature gets changed it will send a person straight to hell when he or she dies. Because God doesn’t want anyone to spend eternity in hell, He is extremely concerned about the sin nature in man and He has done something about it. Let’s look at this further.

What is sin and what is the difference between sins and the sin nature? Sinful acts (sins) are the result of a sin nature. Let’s explain it this way: “to sin” means, “to miss the mark.” Sin is a Greek archery term, which means to miss the bull’s eye. When an arrow hits any of the rings outside the bull’s eye, it has missed the mark. This is what sin is. In the same way, because of the fall of mankind through the first human being ever created – Adam – all of mankind is born with a sin nature. Although at times we want to do what is right, our very nature inevitably ends up being selfish and sinful. We miss the bull’s eye of God’s perfection.

The apostle Paul described this sentiment when he said, “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwell is me.” (Romans 7:15-16) In other words, he wanted to live right, to do good, but his very nature made it impossible for him to live right and to do good all of the time. He was dominated by his nature of sin. Let’s look at a couple of examples of this.

In the same way that dandelions spring up from dandelion roots, so too our sins spring forth from the root of sin in us. If God could ever change our very nature, the sin nature in us, then the sins we commit would drop off over time. Think about it. Mowing your lawn temporarily removes dandelions, but in a few days they are springing up all over. The way to remove dandelions (as well as sins) is to deal with them at the very root.

Have you ever noticed that crab apples are the fruit of a crab tree? It’s the nature of a crab tree to produce crab apples. The only way to get a crab tree to produce anything other than crab apples is to perform a miracle and change the very nature of the tree. If you could change the biological make-up of the crab tree into that of a peach tree, for example, it would produce peaches. The only way to get the nature of a “sinner” to produce the fruit of a “saint” is to get the sinner’s very heart, his or her spiritual make-up, and nature changed. “Good fruit” will be the automatic product of a changed life.

God is so concerned about our sin nature that He sent Jesus Christ to the earth to take away the sin nature of mankind when He hung on the cross. The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) Jesus paid the wages of sin.

The price was death. Jesus died for our sins. He took our place of punishment. He did all of this so that we could experience the miracle of a new nature God offers each one of us the opportunity to experience a new birth where our sin nature is replaced with God’s nature! It’s called being “born-again.” God is willing to solve the sin problem by changing our very nature if we will allow Him to.

God said, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you …”

(Ezekiel 36:26) God will remove our sin nature and will give us His nature of love. That is a miracle! This happens when we believe in and receive what His Son, Jesus Christ, did for us. Upon our belief and confession in Jesus Christ, God causes our sin nature to be born-again. He makes us new inside. The apostle Paul put it this way, “…if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) Can you imagine? You can say goodbye to a life of sin and selfishness.

You can go from being a “crab tree” to becoming a “peach tree”. God loves us so much He offers us the opportunity to shed our sin nature and to become a brand new person on the inside with His nature. It can happen right now as you simply say something like this from your heart to God:

”Dear God, I realize that You are not mad at me. I can see that the real issue is not my “sins”, but my “sin nature”. Jesus, I believe God raised You from the dead and I invite You to come into my heart and replace my sin nature with Your very own nature of love. I receive You, Jesus, as my Lord. I believe that right now You forgive my sins and You uproot my sin nature. Thank you Lord that I am born-again! In Jesus Name – Amen.”

To help you grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ, we encourage you to begin reading the Bible and let God speak to your heart. We also encourage you to begin praying, by simply talking to God from your heart. Finally, we invite you to visit our church and/or to check out our website where you can find other resources to help you grow in your faith.

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