What is Sin and Why Should I Care?

Defining Sin

Sin is the exact opposite of righteousness. Righteousness is finding in God what is good and enjoyable, being content with Him, and living the way He wants us to live. It is the picture of excellency we experience from what God defines as excellent. All of that is centered in Christ, who shows us what God's people are supposed to look like.

Sin is the desire and pursuit of immediate and temporary, harmful and deceptive pleasures in creation instead of pursuing God, at the expense of one's own life. It is choosing creation over the Creator.

There are two components: desire and pursuit. Sin begins with sinful desires, even before any action. But it leads to acting out those desires. We inevitably pursue what we truly want, especially if we have the ability.

These desires relate to anything in creation—sense pleasures like food, music, compliments, or sights. We seek satisfaction from the physical and tangible instead of from God. The pleasure is immediate—no waiting required. But it is temporary; the enjoyment fades quickly.

It is harmful, causing trouble physically, emotionally, or spiritually. It is deceptive, presenting itself as harmless while leading to pain and destruction. Ultimately, sin costs your life. Like a drug dealer who accepts only your very self as payment—fingers, toes, limbs, organs—sin consumes every area of your life. It spreads like a virus or cancer, affecting relationships, romance, ministry, work, and more. Every problem in life traces back to unchecked sin.

If there were no sin, there would be no problems—no wars, discontentment, fighting. Even in a sinful world, a sinless life like Jesus' faced no problematic experiences. He endured temptation in the wilderness without sinning, fully satisfied in His Father.

The First Sin: Genesis 3

The foundation of sin is seen in Genesis 3, the first sin committed by humans.

Genesis 3:1-6 (ESV)
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Compare this to Genesis 2:9:

Genesis 2:9 (ESV)
And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

God provided trees pleasant to the sight, good for food, and the tree of life. All creation was good and enjoyable as God intended. But Satan tempted Eve to see the forbidden tree as good for food, a delight to the eyes, and desirable for wisdom—mimicking God's good gifts. She and Adam chose creation over the Creator, finding enjoyment in what God forbade. The fall began internally with desire, before the act. Satan's lie: eat and be like gods, finding pleasure apart from God. The result was death.

Why Care About Sin?

1. Sin is Discontentment with God

Jude 6 (ESV)
And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.

Sin starts with discontentment with God's position, dwelling, life, and pleasure. Angels sinned by leaving their proper place. We sin when tired of finding permanent joy in God. Contentment with God decreases sin. The Christian life is pursuing greater contentment in Him. Turning to sin reveals God is not valuable enough in that moment. Sin is passivity toward God, leading to idolatry—finding in creation what belongs to God.

2. Sin is Immediate and Temporary

The pleasure of sin is real but fleeting. Adam and Eve's eyes opened immediately to shame, not wisdom. What was good became despicable. Sin feels instantly gratifying, unlike the delayed joys of faithfulness. But it vanishes, leaving ruin. We chase it repeatedly, incurring greater judgment.

Hebrews 11:24-27 (ESV)
By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.

Moses chose mistreatment and Christ's reproach over sin's fleeting pleasures, enduring by looking to the invisible reward.

3. Sin is Death

God warned: "In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die"—by death you will die, a judicial execution under God's wrath. They experienced spiritual death immediately, and physical death entered the world. "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23).

4. Sin Separates Us from God

Genesis 3:7-10 (ESV)
Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”

Sin brought shame, fear, hiding from God. From rulers of paradise, they became slaves to fear, separated from God's enjoyments. Sin merits eternal separation from God's love, uniting us to His wrath. As Thomas Watson said, "What fools are they who for a drop of pleasure drink a sea of wrath?"