How Sin is Described

In the lesson what is sin, we learned a simple good definition of what sin is. Sin is anything that is against the will of God. Now lets take a look at how does God describes sin.

1 Sin Stings

1Co 15:56 The sting of death [is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law.

Jam 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Sin stings. It is sin that brings forth death. Everyone will die because everyone has sin. Adam and Eve would not have known death if they did not sin.

But the Christian can say o death where is thy sting. 1Co 15:55 O death, where [is] thy sting? O grave, where [is] thy victory? O we will still die physically some day, but we will not die eternally in hell. Therefore, to the redeemed, death no longer stings.

2 Sin is unfruitful

Eph 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove [them].

Sin might appear to have fruit for a time, but in the end sin is always unfruitful. Man can do sinful things to make money. Man can build an empire and say look at all the fruit of my labors. But he cannot take it with him. It will do him no good when he slips into eternity. And what he leaves behind will just rust and corrupt. Man can also do sinful things not to build an empire but to satisfy fleshly desires. They might appear to be fun at first, but sin is always unfruitful, and they will end up in ruin. The only fruit that sin is capable of producing is rotten fruit. Broken homes, addiction, diseases, regret, and in the end hell for eternity if it is not put under the blood of Christ.

3 Sin is an abomination

Pro 15:9 The way of the wicked [is] an abomination unto the LORD: but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness.

Jer 44:4 Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending [them], saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.

Sin is an abomination to the Lord. He cannot stand sin. God will not let sin into His presence. That is why people who instead of trusting Christ and letting him wash away their sins will be thrown into a lake of fire.

4 Sin is a reproach

Pro 14:34 Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin [is] a reproach to any people.

Many in America today have forgotten this fundamental truth. Sin is a reproach to any people. God will not exalt a nation that is steeped in sin! Time and again Israel in the Bible would turn from God and turn to sin, and God would send reproach their way. How dare we think that it will be any different with us. God will not bless sin. Sin will have the opposite effect.

5 Sin is filthiness

Pro 30:12 [There is] a generation [that are] pure in their own eyes, and [yet] is not washed from their filthiness.

I have worked on a bus route a few times, and visited the children in my Sunday school class, when I was teaching children. Many times you would knock on the door and when the door was opened you could just smell the sin. Many times it would almost be enough to make you gag. I am not just talking about the filthy smell of cigarettes, there would be other smells. There would be smells of rotting food, and of a house and bodies that have not been cleaned in a long time. Sin is filthiness and cleanness is next to godliness. How often it is that the deeper into open sin one goes the filthier his surroundings become.

6 Sin is perverse

Isa 59:3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.

Sin will cause men to do very perverse things. Not only acts of perverseness, but this verse is specifically talking about speaking perverseness. I know of this from experience. The day after I got saved it seamed that every third word would no longer come out. I had to learn how to talk all over again. I did not realize how many perverse words that I said. After I got saved the perverse words would not come any more. The perverse speech just stopped. People have perverse speech because sin is perverse.

7 Sin is evil

 Mat 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

Jer 44:11 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.

From the heart proceeds evil thoughts because all men have sin in their heart and sin is evil. The reason that there is so much sin in the world today is because sin is evil.

8 Sin is deceitful

Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

Sin is very deceitful. People will see a beer commercial and see the people on the T.V. having what seems to be a good time. It looks like a lot of fun. But it is deception. They do not show you the hang over, the broken homes, the unwanted pregnancies, the mom and her kids that were killed by a drunken driver. And this principal goes for all sin that the devil would tempt you with. He will promise a good time with the sin, but in the end you will be the worse off for it because sin is deceitful.

9 Sin is iniquity

Psa 90:8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret [sins] in the light of thy countenance.

Sin is iniquity. Sin is just out and out wrong. It is unrighteousness and injustice. And we are guilty of it. It is our iniquity before God. And this verse tells us that our secret sins are in the light of God’s face. We might think that they are secret, but to Him they are in the open. There is no escaping sin’s iniquity, on our own, because we all have sin and sin is iniquity.

10 Sin is wicked

Jer 44:3 Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, [and] to serve other gods, whom they knew not, [neither] they, ye, nor your fathers.

Sin is wicked and we can think of many wicked things that people do because of sin. But the context of this verse is talking about a specific wickedness, the wickedness of serving other gods. This is talking about the wickedness of man in creating and serving false religious systems. Religious systems that man made up and are not to be found in the Bible. Praying to Mary instead of God would be just one example of this. Men do this wickedness because sin is wicked.

11 Sin is presumptuous

Psa 19:13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous [sins]; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.

The definition of presumptuous is: 1. Bold and confident to excess; adventuring without reasonable ground of success; hazarding safety on too slight grounds; rash; applied to persons; as a presumptuous commander.

That definition sums it up pretty well. This is the kind of sin that is running rampant in America today. As a country we have lost the good sense to be ashamed of and hide our sin. Today Americans are bold and confident to excess with their sins.

We can see how terrible sin is from looking at how God describes it. Sin stings, sin is unfruitful, sin is an abomination, sin is a reproach, sin is filthiness, sin is perverse, sin is evil, sin is deceitful, sin is iniquity, sin is wicked, and sin is presumptuous. O how our sin hurts the heart of a Loving God. We should be ashamed of our sin, we should want to turn from our sin, we should want nothing to do with our sin knowing that our sin holds for us no good thing. And instead turn to God who can cleanse us from our sin.

Isa 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.