Discipleship 101 – Lesson 4 – SIN, DEATH and SEPARATION | dc20261025

Discipleship 101  

LESSON 4  

SIN, DEATH and SEPARATION     

What does the word SIN mean to you?  

• • (Shared thoughts) 
  • … an offence against a religious or moral law … an action that is or is felt to be highly reprehensible (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
  • … the breaking of, a religious or moral law: (Cambridge Dictionary)
  • … a deliberate violation of some religious or moral principle. … a transgression of divine law. (Dictionary.com)

What does the Bible say SIN is?  

• • 1John 3:4 (NKJV) …  Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.  
    • • Sin is DOING the wrong thing.  
  • 1John 3:4 (KJV) … Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law 
    • •  Sin is DOING the wrong thing.  
  • James 4:17   Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. 
    • • Sin is NOT DOING the right thing.  
  • Romans 14:23    But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.  

What are the types of sin?  

• • Sins of commission … by doing wrong things  
  • Sins of omission … by NOT doing right things  
  • Sins of conscience … by doing what’s is uncertain if right or wrong 

What additional insight can be gleaned by examining the Greek words for SIN and its variants? 

• The primary Greek word for SIN in the New Testament is hamartia, which literally means “to miss the mark”.   Originally an archery term for an arrow failing to hit the center target, it denotes missing the goal, falling short, or a “no-share/no part of” the intended design.  In Christian theology, it describes both individual wrongful acts and an inner human condition or nature. (Google AI)  
• Other Greek Terms for SIN …  
  • parabasis:  Translated as “transgression,” it literally means to step over a line or cross a known boundary.  It implies conscious awareness of breaking a rule.   
  • anomia:  Translated as lawlessness, it describes living without regard for God’s law or rejecting divine authority. 
  • paraptōma:  Translated as trespass or false step, it evokes losing one’s footing, stumbling, or falling down on a path. 

• • In deed … doing wrong things  
  • In word  … saying wrong things
  • In thought … thinking wrong things

How does someone know what the “wrong thing” is?  

• • Romans 3:20 … by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.   
  • The “law” was given NOT to save anyone, BUT to define sin. 
  • We can know what “sin” is because the law of God tells us what sin is.  
  • For us, as believers, the Holy Spirit tells us what sin is.  

Do you think SIN has anything to do with the relationship between GOD and HUMANS?  

• • Sin is the transgression of the law.  Which law?  God’s law. 
  • IF the purpose of the Law, which God ordained, was to govern the relationship between God and Man, THEN to transgress that Law would be to damage the relationship between God and Man.  
  • Isaiah 59:1-2  Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:  ² But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.  
    • • SIN separated Man from God, causing a breach in their relationship.  

Do you think there is any relationship between SIN and DEATH? 

• • Absolutely.  
  • Romans 5:12   Wherefore, as by one man  sin entered into the world, and death  by  sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 
  • Romans 6:23    For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
  • DEATH is in the world because of SIN. 
  • The relationship between sin and death is clear;  DEATH is the result of SIN.