What is Sin?

What Is Sin?

How does God decide what the difference is between moral and immoral? I also don't understand why God would try and teach us "lessons" unless he himself had to face these problems, but he never did have these problems.

I'm going to reword your first question slightly to, "What is sin?" because immorality and sinfulness have similar meanings.

The dictionary definition of sin is as follows:

sin: 1. A transgression of a religious or moral law, especially when deliberate. 2. a. Deliberate disobedience to the known will of God. b. A condition of estrangement from God resulting from such disobedience. 3. Something regarded as being shameful, deplorable, or utterly wrong.

The Biblical definition is similar to that of the dictionary. Mankind first sinned when Adam and Eve disobeyed God by directly disobeying His commandment in the Garden of Eden (see Genesis 3). And when Moses was given the Law, the God specified even further what was considered as a sin. Does this mean that a sin is only what has been written down as law in the Bible? It isn't that easy, because God also gave each one of us a conscience. Romans 2:15 talks about how Gods law is written on our hearts, as well as being written in the law.

So, if sin is something contrary to the will of God, how does God decide what His will is? Does He throw darts at a dartboard? Does He roll dice? Does He just do whatever He feels like at the time?

God cannot go against His own nature, and I think that is the most important thing to remember when asking how He decides something. Consider the following verses:

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." -Hebrews 13:8

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." -James 1:17

God cannot be or act other than He is. While He certainly has other qualities, He is a God of holiness. Sin is anything in direct opposition, whether by action, intent, or being, to the unchanging and holy nature of God. The definition of sin isn't something that God necessarily decides; rather it simply is.

To make an imperfect analogy, how can you describe the concept of coldness? Any definition that you put forth would be useless without understanding the nature of heat. Absolute zero is a temperature wherein no elements of heat can be detected. Likewise, something hot (like the fire of our sun, for example) does not contain elements of coldness. God's holy nature is like heat and sin is like coldness. They are opposites and cannot coexist.

Because His very essence is holiness, God cannot sin and neither can He tolerate sin in His presence. Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Because we have sinned, we can no longer remain in Gods presence and we are to suffer the consequences of sin. Romans 6:23 says, "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." That gift is what is important, because there is nothing that we could do on our own, once we have sinned, to regain holiness. With Christ Jesus, God warms our cold hearts and sets us ablaze with His Spirit.

In answering the second question, "Why God teach lessons to people when He hasnt gone through a situation Himself?" allow me to make another analogy. You are driving down the freeway and there is traffic jam up ahead that will delay you for hours, although you don't know it. Someone in a helicopter overhead calls you on your cell phone and tells you to turn down a busy street on your right because there is a large traffic jam on the road on which you are driving. You can only see clear road ahead, but you turn on the busy street anyway and go through some stop-and-go traffic for twenty minutes. You never see the traffic jam, but you still arrive at home in one piece.

God is like our friend in the helicopter. He doesn't have to be in the car to see what road we are on and what is up ahead. And even though we sometimes go through traffic in life, it is often to save us the greater pain of the hours-long traffic jam. He always has our best interests at heart, even though He doesn't always tell us about the traffic jam. Jeremiah 29:11 says this, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"