Romans 3:22-24 NIVUK
[22] This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, [23] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [24] and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
When I was in my twenties, I was a youth football / soccer coach for a one-off event. My team did well: they reached the second round for the first time ever.
But I could not do it full time.
Because, like teachers, there are always parents who see their child as perfect, as someone who can do no wrong. But when the coach doesn’t pick them for a match, they knock on his door demanding to know why. If it keeps happening, they create a lot of fuss.
If the coach has to come to their house – as one did to me – to say that they are not good enough and will never have a career in the sport, then it feels like a major crisis.
If it’s that way in children’s sport, imagine how hard it is to tell someone they are a sinner.
I know that from experience.
As a student, a few times a week I would survey other students to see what their perceptions were of Christianity. The question of sin always provoked a strong reaction. They would argue that they had not killed or harmed anyone or stolen anything. And besides, what they did in the comfort of their own home was their own business. So how could anyone say they were a sinner?
That was more than twenty-five years ago. Modern culture might have found a few more terms for it, and taken it further than it ever has before, but perceptions have not changed. Even now, the very talk of sin produces a strong reaction. Many people go through years of therapy to get rid of this feeling, as famously described by the Pet Shop Boys:
'When I look back upon my life
It’s always with a sense of shame
I’ve always been the one to blame
For everything I long to do
No matter when or where or who
Has one thing in common too
It’s a, it’s a, it’s a, it’s a sin'
No, I don’t doubt that there was an air of sarcasm about these words, given what they were into at the time.
But the concepts of sin and guilt and shame have been increasingly set aside, while human beings grasp onto the idea that they are nothing more than feral beasts in business suits.
However, the Bible teaches otherwise. And that is – and will always be – thoroughly counter-culture.
So what does the Bible actually teach about sin?
Firstly, let’s look at What is sin?
The Bible was originally written in two languages: ancient Hebrew (the Old Testament) and ancient Greek (the New Testament). To understand what the people in those days thought of sin, we have to go back to the original words used. This might seem a little dry, but it is absolutely necessary, since the meaning of the word has become so diluted nowadays.
The Hebrew word hata means ‘to sin, to miss the goal or path of right and duty, to bring into guilt or condemnation or punishment’. Interestingly, it also means ‘to miss one’s self, lose one’s self or to miss the way’.
The Jewish worship system knew two categories of sin: that which was unintentional, inadvertent or through ignorance, for which a sacrifice could be made (see Leviticus 4), or defiant and rebellious, for which it could not.
However, there are many, many verses that talk of God’s people being given a second chance if they repent of their sin (see 2 Chronicles 7:14 for a famous example).
The Greek word, which is used in the verses we are studying, is hamartano, which means ‘to miss the mark’, and figuratively means ‘to sin, to err, to miss or wander from the path of uprightness or honour, to do or go wrong’.
In other words, there is a sense in both concepts where we know the difference between right and wrong, and yet have somehow drifted.
Sin is failure.
To be a sinner is to be a failure.
Allow me to illustrate it another way.
When I was a teenager, I sat a mock exam (we call them ‘preliminary’ exams, or ‘prelims’ for short) to prepare me for my final exam in Mathematics.
Now, these exams are deliberately hard. There purpose is to ‘scare you straight’: to let you know how much you don’t know so you are prepared for the final exam. Mathematics is a tough subject and this was a hard exam, so very few of us passed the prelim.
If my memory serves me right, I got around 45%. The pass mark was 50%. I had failed it. But we received our exam papers back. My teacher had made a lot of notes on it. I could see where I had gone wrong and fix it, so I wasn’t disappointed.
Another lad in my class scored 7%. His mark was so low that the teacher had a meeting with his parents and he was ejected from the class as he had no chance of passing the final exam. There was no way he could turn it around.
What made it sad was the previous year, he had been flying high. He was close to the top of the class. Mathematics had been easy for him.
Now he was just high: on drugs. He had fallen into bad company. He spent his nights drinking fortified wine on street corners and smoking cannabis.
He had destroyed his future in a year.
Now, on the surface, my classmate and I were different. I had failed, but I had time to fix it; he had failed and completely blown it.
Two failures. Two different people.
That’s how I saw it.
But in God’s sight, in matters where He has told us what to do, He does not see it that way.
Failure to keep His commands is a failure, no matter by how much. As Paul James, Jesus’ brother, said:
James 2:10 NIVUK
[10] For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
Paul returns to this in Romans 2, which we will look at later.
But let me ask you some questions.
If someone asked if you were a good person, what would you say?
If they asked you if you were perfect, what would you say?
If they asked if you were a sinner, what would you say?
Most of us would say we are ‘good’, but what did Jesus say about that?
Luke 18:19 NIVUK
[19] ‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus answered. ‘No-one is good – except God alone. https://bible.com/bible/113/luk.18.19.NIVUK
So in Jesus’ eyes, the only person who could ever qualify as ‘good’ is God Himself, and if someone called Jesus ‘good’, they wpuld be saying He is God.
It’s clear that we are not God, so by the same logic, we are not good.
I also think we would have little trouble agreeing that we are not perfect. Yet that is God’s standard:
Matthew 5:48 NIVUK
[48] Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. https://bible.com/bible/113/mat.5.48.NIVUK
So if we aren’t perfect, and we aren’t even good, then we are sinners.
We are sinners not necessarily because we are ‘bad’ people, as we would call it. Not all of us have been involved in heinous crimes or awful deeds towards other human beings. But it’s clear that we are not ‘good’ enough, and so that makes us sinners.
Like with that exam, it doesn’t matter if we fail with 45% or 7%, we have still failed.
So we have seen that sin is failure to be perfect.
But now that we understand what sin is, we now need to understand Who are Sinners?
Paul’s answer would have shocked then, and it is no less shocking now.
To fully understand why this is so shocking, we should backtrack firstly to Romans 1:18-32.
There we find one of the most powerful condemnations of Graeco-Roman pagan culture ever recorded anywhere. Paul certainly does not miss and hit the wall. This truly is strong medicine.
But it would also be music to the ears of Jews living in Rome, who were faced with this evil, perverted behaviour every day. As this letter was read, I can almost imagine them standing to their feet and applauding – if they were from our culture, maybe they would be whooping and hollering and shouting, ‘Amen! Hallelujah! Preach it, brother!’ as each indictment landed.
Chapter 2, however, is a completely different matter. Look how it begins:
Romans 2:1 NIVUK
[1] You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
Paul then goes on to systematically disassemble any basis for self-righteousness on behalf of his Jewish audience. And it is quite a stunning thing to see.
Romans chapter 3 continues this argument. Jews have the advantage of having the Word of God (Romans 3:1-2), but this provides them with no advantage at all when it comes to sin (Romans 3:9-20). In fact, as Paul will state later, the fact that you know something is wrong can often be a temptation to do it (Romans 7:7-25).
So what is Paul saying?
The only advantage to having a Jewish (and nowadays, we can also say Christian) upbringing is that you know right from wrong. But knowing and doing are two separate things. The reality is that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. All.
So on the singularly most important measure of humanity, every single human being has failed. All of us. Today, whether you are looking out on a church congregation, a bar-room or death row makes no fundamental difference: you are looking at them, they are looking at you, and you are all seeing sinners.
You are a sinner.
I am a sinner.
We are all sinners.
That is the stone cold reality.
So sin is failure to be perfect – falling short of God’s glory. That means we are all sinners: all of us, without exception.
But does that mean we are without hope of redemption, that nothing will ever get better, that we are doomed to our own destruction?
Not necessarily.
We will now see Who will save us?
Romans 3:24 NIVUK
[24] and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Elsewhere in Romans it says this:
Romans 7:24-25
[24] What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? [25] Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. https://bible.com/bible/113/rom.7.24-25.NIVUK
So the solution for sin is a Saviour – Jesus Christ.
There are very important aspects to this.
Firstly, we are ‘justified freely’. This is a very interesting phrase in the original Greek. By implication, we are justified without having done anything to deserve that justification. It comes from the Greek root word meaning ‘gift’.
To put it simply, when we believe in Jesus Christ, we are set right with God despite having done nothing that could deserve or earned it.
Secondly, this release from the awful clutches of our own sin is ‘by His grace’. That is, again, it is something given from the generosity and unearned favour of God. It’s worth noting that we get out English word ‘charity’ from the Greek word for ‘grace’ (‘charis’).
But who is it that receives charitable acts? Is it not those who were in need?
I was brought up in an area that had been classified as one of the most deprived in the European Union at the time. People tried to help its occupants. But more than once, you would hear people struggling financially and in all kinds of debt, reject the help and argue, ‘Do I look like a charity case?’
They needed help. In some cases badly. But they were afraid to take it in case they looked weak, as if they needed it.
And that is the problem. It’s why many reject Christian teaching. It’s not because there is inherently wrong with it. It’s because the idea that they could be sinners in need of God’s grace offends their sense of dignity, pride and self, and so they cannot believe it.
Yet it is true.
Thirdly, we see that we are rid of sin ‘through redemption’. Redemption is an old word, but its meaning is just as challenging to our pride as the concept of free justification.
Redemption is the process by which a slave was bought and freed (see Hosea 3:1-3 for a stark example).
It is the process by which a near relative could purchase a deceased person’s property, also acquiring their wife and saving them from destitution (see Ruth 4:1-12).
It is the process by which a Jewish slave could buy their freedom (Leviticus 25:27-43).
It is the process in which a poor person, who has sold land to his fellow Jew, may buy the land back once he has the money (Leviticus 25:23-24).
It is the process of substitution, where a sacrifice is made to prevent the death of a firstborn son or animal (Exodus 13:11-16; Numbers 3:43-48).
In Jewish law, this is a very important concept.
But look at where it is applied: poverty, slavery, selection for death.
Redemption takes the weak and vulnerable and makes them strong.
This verse states that our sin put us in a position in which redemption was required – we were poor, weak and vulnerable – and God provided that redemption in Jesus Christ:
1 Peter 1:18-19 NIVUK
[18] For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, [19] but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. https://bible.com/bible/113/1pe.1.18-19.NIVUK
The fact that we needed to be redeemed is a cold, clear statement of the price of our sin.
The fact that Jesus Christ paid the price to redeem us is a clear-cut statement of His love.
People nowadays get offended at all sorts of things – some of them not remotely worthy of our offence. They even get offended when we point out the reality of who they are. In fact, I think if the fairy-tale ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ were to take place today, I don’t doubt that the little girl who pointed out his nakedness would be hauled up in court accused of being gymnophobic.
But the reality we must all deal with is that we are sinners. That is the truth. Sin is imperfection – a falling away from God’s standard. Anyone who claims to be perfect is
not perfect because they say they are. Instead, they are suffering from a cruel and heartless delusion.
We are all sinners. That is the truth. Anyone who believed otherwise is equally as deluded.
The only person who can save us from our sin is Jesus Christ – the Sinless One – Himself:
2 Corinthians 5:21 NIVUK
[21] God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Anyone who believes otherwise is simply lost.
Why is all this important?
Because if we know what sin is and we know we are sinners then we need a solution.
And the only solution that works is believing and trusting in Jesus Christ, and His work of redemption on the cross.
So won’t you trust in Him today?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I have no problem admitting it. I come to You to ask for Your forgiveness. I know You died on the cross to redeem me and rose from the dead to deliver me. I put my faith and trust in You today. Help me to follow You. Amen.
Questions
1. What is sin? How would you define it?
2. Are you a sinner? Is that easy or hard to admit? Why?
3. Do you believe that Jesus can redeem and deliver you from your sin? Have you trusted Him to do it? Why / why not?
Comments