QUESTION: Greetings pastor is there are differences between sin, sinning and sinner? If there is, is that difference in our interpretation and experience or one we can deduce from scriptures as well. Are we still sinners ever under Christ? Thanks, Becky.
RESPONSE: Now we’ll look at Sin, Sins, and Sinners in the New Testament (NT). Sins and sinners, on the other hand, are only products of Sin in the New Testament. In the New Testament, various words are employed to describe the concept of Sin. Because the New Testament was translated from Greek manuscripts, the philosophy of Sin in the New Testament is Grecian. Though Grecian in origin, the concept is not immune to Hebraic influences. The prevalent view of Sin, in fact, revolves around the law and religio-cultural norms.
The New Testament Worldviews of Sin
The concept of sin in the New Testament was developed by Paul, a Hellenistic Jew.
Paul was born a Jew and referred to himself as a Pharisee of Pharisees. He was a Roman citizen who attended Greek schools. This Paul is the one who developed and presented the ideology of Sin in the New Testament. Paul’s Hamartiology (his study of sin) arose from his soteriological quest (study of how we are saved). Paul’s Soteriology is guided by the question, “What are we saved from?”. The response to that question is where we get the NT Hamartiology (New Testament ideology of sin). Paul’s understanding of sin is the result of a synthesis of his three worlds of nurturing: Judaism (Philippians 3:4-6; Acts 5:33-34), Grecian Philosophy (Acts 22:3; 17:18-22), and Roman Politics (Acts 22:27).
Paul constructed a theology of sin for Christianity based on these three worldviews’ understanding of the problem of sin. Romans, Jews, and Greeks all saw sin as a violation of the law, according to Paul. Sin was defined by the Jews as disobedience to their God’s law. Jews assumed Chatta’ah ensnared the disobedient and rebellious to God, but it was a power that bound people philosophically, that sin-power (chatta’ah) was ignited by human disobedience (Genesis chapters 2-4).
Sin, on the other hand, was a violation of the principles of logic/nature to the Greeks, and sinners were people who were unable to reason. An act’s sinfulness was determined by its logical flaws. It was the Torah for the Jews, and Philosophy for the Greeks. As a result, Greeks believe that ignorance is the root of all sin, whereas Jews believe that abuse of identity and practise (Torah) is the source of sin. Paul creates his hamartiology, which constitutes the New Testament ideology of sin, within these worldviews.
New Testament SIN Words
The New Testament contains over 123 terms that, depending on the context, clearly or implicitly refer to sin, sins, and sinners. Filthiness; Obscenity are examples of these phrases. Corruption; pollution (Ephesians 5.4; 2 Corinthians 7.1), Foolish talking (Ephesians 5.4), Boasters (Romans 1.30; 2 Timothy 3.2), Evil Thoughts or even to entertain evil thoughts (Ephesians 5.4), Evil Thoughts (Ephesians 5.4), Evil Thoughts (Ephesians 5.4), Evil Thoughts (Ephesians 5.4), Evil Thoughts (Ephesians (Matthew 15.19; Mathew 5.21-22; Mathew 5.27-28) Fornication (Romans 1.29; Galatians 5.19; 1Corinthians 6.9; 1Corinthians 5.11; Ephesians 5.3; Matthew 15.19), Hatred (Galatians 5.20; Matthew 5.43-44) Unbelief (Revelation 21.8; John 3.18; John 3.36) and many more sins are mentioned in the Bible. These and other phrases, on the other hand, reflect a moralistic rather than an ontological (sin in essence) definition and understanding of Sin.
We have those words for sin in our translations, and because the NT is translated from Greek, we have the Greek as well as a group of sin words. The New Testament uses fourteen core words to describe sin, and the over 123 sinful ideas I described earlier come under these fourteen Greek words. The 14 Greek ‘broad’ phrases are: hamartia: sin (1Corinthians 6:18); paraptomai: to practically go away (Galatians 6:1); planan: to go astray (1Corinthians 6:9); adikia: unrighteousness (1Corinthians 6:9); poneros: evil (Matthew 5:45); asebes: godless (Romans 1:18); anomos (1Timothy 4:2) akatharsia: uncleanness (Romans 1:24); agnoein: to be ignorant (Romans 1:13); and parakoee: disobedience/rebellion (Romans 5:14). (Romans 5:19; Hebrews 2:2; 2Corinthians 10:6).
The New Testament Ideology of Sin
The NT philosophy of sin is unique to Paul, whose idea was shaped by the three worlds as previously established. Paul’s position is based on the notion that we are saved from a specific problem whose power is comparable to that of the God who wishes to redeem us. The problem of sin is presented as the problem from which we are saved in the New Testament. Paul’s hamartiology is built on the foundation of problem and solution. In the New Testament, humanity is not saved from what ‘they do,’ because God can simply forgive them. According to Apostle Paul, humanity is saved from a certain divine antagonistic power that leads man to do all he does wrong (Romans 7). We distinguish between Sin and sins from this perspective.
Sin (hamartia) is a Cosmic Causative Power in the New Testament (Romans 7:8, 16-17, 23), whereas sins/sinning are simply wrong acts, mistakes in practise and thought manifested in man’s daily living and dealings (Galatians 5:19-21, Luke 17:3-4; Colossians 3:5-6; Mathew 5:27-28; James 2:10-11). In the New Testament, a sinner is a fallen human (fallen here refers to being a victim of sin-hamartia, not merely what a man does wrong) who is trapped in a fallen body with sinful proclivities and dispositions, regardless of the practice (Jeremiah 17:1, 9-10; Psalms 51:5; 58:3; Isaiah 64:6; Ephesians 2:1).
As a result, the New Testament presents the concept of Sin in three ways:
- A POWER: Amoral and amorphous in nature, but powerful. Hamartia, Adikia, Asebes, Anomos, Akathasia, Poneros, and Parakoe are New Testament Greek words for sin that fit under this category. Sin is anything that exists outside of God. Sin is an alternative to God, and it was created as part of God’s plan and activity in creating a free-will creature like man. To determine how incorrect God was regarding sin, we must first consider how right it was for God to create us the way he did.
- A PERSONIFICATION: Satan, Demons, and Principalities: Sin is personified as an antagonist in the Old Testament, where it is portrayed as a personal, spiritual being who leads a kingdom of spirits of its sort (demons). 1Kings 11:14, 23,25; Zechariah 3:1; and there are other references in the New Testament. He is referred to as “the prince of devils” in Matthew 9:34, 12:24, Mark 3:22, and Luke 11:15. Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13; John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; Mathew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13.
- WHAT HAPPENS IN THIS WORLD IS CALLED AN ACTION. What is done can range from evil individuals to evil systems that are intended against God’s will. What happens could be the result of human errors or natural calamities that occur without human intervention. Paraptoma, Planan, Agnoein, Kakos, Enochos, Hupocrites, and Parabates are New Testament Greek terminology for this category.
SIN (hamartia) is a mysterious amoral cosmic power that is the WHY of all that is wrong with the universe. Hamartia is the WHY (Paraptoma) of our sins, and it is Hamartia who has taken the forms of Satan, demons, and principalities. When Jesus died on the cross, he did not die to redeem us from Everything we do, but from the WHY behind what we do and everything that occurs. All of our ill manners (Paraptoma) can be corrected (with or without God), but what cannot be corrected is why we do what we do. God died on the cross to atone for that Sin.
Even with assistance, we cannot overcome sin (Romans 7:24). The waters of Noah, like the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah, could not help men defeat Hamartia (Genesis 9:21). (Genesis 19:31-36). We can only be rescued from what we are incapable of overcoming. Whatever can be overcome does not necessitate salvation. Salvation is not for the able-bodied, but for the disabled. We are not saved from Hamartia because man and Hamartia have become one, but rather from its sting (1Corinthians 15:56-57) Even God’s righteousness, in this case, accommodates believing sinners rather than saints.
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