Definition
Most definitions of sin are too restricted. For instance, a usual definition that sin is selfishness would mean that a father’s stealing food for a starving child would not be sin. Sin is lawlessness declares I Jn 3:4, but this is usually understood in too narrow a sense. The law against which sin is measured is not simply the Mosaic law, but every revelation of God during all time. This includes specific biblical commandments (both negative and positive), biblical principles of conduct (e.g., I Cor 10:31), and laws not specifically mentioned in the Bible but in the sense of directives given by God’s appointed leaders (e.g., Heb 13:17; Eph 6:1). Sin, therefore, is not only anything contrary to what God has said man should not do, but it is also anything contrary to what God would not want man to do on the basis of revealed principles. Thus, a completely inclusive definition of sin would be: Sin is anything contrary to the character of God. Since God’s glory is the revelation of His character, sin is a coming short of the glory or character of God (Rom 3:23).
Reformed theologians stress that the character of God is revealed in the law of God. They teach that this is presented both positively in a general way in the Ten Commandments, which enjoin love to God and love to man (cf. Rom 13:8–10); and negatively (except for the fourth and fifth commandments) in a more specific way in the eight prohibitions contained in the two tables of the law. It is on this basis that the Westminister Shorter Catechism defines sin as “any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God.” In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ sets up the two promulgations of the law, the negative and the positive, as the basis of the Christian life and the standard of likeness God desires of His children (Mt 5:17, 21–22, 27–28, 43–48).
Origin of Sin
God is nowhere said to be the author or responsible originator of sin. He tempts no one to do evil (Jas 1:13). When God says, “ I create evil” (Isa 45:7) He is speaking of woe or calamity (RSV, NASB, JerusB). No view is acceptable which in any way makes God the author of sin, even in the sense that He is unable to prevent its occurrence or appearance.
Barth’s view is therefore unacceptable when he speaks of God thinking of all the possible worlds, good, bad and indifferent, and then pushing to the farthest point of existence the indifferent and the evil worlds and holding them off by His infinite power. These form the chaos, Das Nichtige, which presses in upon poor little finite man as he comes into the world. Finite man tries to hold off Das Nichtige by his own power, and thereby sins and falls. Such a view makes God either the originator of the chaos or a God unable to create without creating evil.
Instead, the Bible indicates that sin originated with Satan in his rebellion against God. All the OT suggests about Satan’s responsibility is that “iniquity was found” in the king of Tyre (Ezk 28:15), an evident figure of the devil. In his pride he sought to make himself like the Most High (Isa 14:12–14; cf. I Tim 3:6). In human experience sin originated in the temptation of Adam and Eve in Eden when they rebelled against God by heeding the voice of Satan (Gen 3:1–6). The effect of Adam’s sin on the moral life of his descendants is the problem involved in original sin and is the subject of differing viewpoints.
The Extent of Sin
Calvinists hold that Adam’s sin was immediately imputed to the whole race, with the result that not only is the entire human family depraved, but it is also guilty of Adam’s sin by participation (Rom 5:12). The Arminian view declares that the primary effect of Adam’s sin on the race was to give man a proneness to sin without implying guilt. The Pelagian view attributes inherent goodness to man, which opens to man the possibility of living in a state free from sin if he so wills.
However, the Bible teaches the fact and universality of sin (I Kgs 8:46; Prov 20:9; Eccl 7:20; Rom 3:23; 5:12, 19; Eph 2:1–3; Jas 3:2; I Jn 1:8, 10). This is what is meant by total depravity or total inability—the unmeritoriousness of man in the sight of God. The term depravity refers to the corruption or pollution of human nature as the result of Adam’s fall. According to the Shorter Catechism original sin consists both in the guilt of Adam’s first sin and in the ensuing corruption of his whole nature.
Total depravity speaks of the pervasiveness of evil in man, and in all that he does, with the resultant impossibility on man’s part to perform what is truly and spiritually good in the eyes of the all-holy God. It does not mean, however, that man is utterly evil in every way and that he cannot do good things. He can admire and emulate many things that are noble and perform natural good such as acts of civil righteousness and social justice. But all his good is of no avail in meriting favor with God. He is incapable of acting from purely unselfish motives in order to glorify only his Creator, and in his sinful state he is totally unable to reconcile himself to the righteous Ruler of the universe.
This doctrine rests upon clear biblical statements. Gen 6:5 declares, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually,” supplemented by Gen 8:21, “For the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (both NASB). These verses reveal the inwardness of man’s sin—“of his heart”; its constancy—“continually”; its completeness—“only evil”; and its totality—“every imagination, intent, or purpose.” Isaiah confesses that all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags (64:6), teaching that man cannot perform any good deeds which are really acceptable in God’s sight. Man is sinful from his birth, from the very moment of conception (Ps 51:5), and his “heart” (his inner nature) is more deceitful or insidious than anything else, and is desperately corrupt, incurably sick (Jer 17:9, NASB).
In Romans Paul devotes the first main section (1:18–3:20) to the proof of the proposition that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (3:23). He argues that the heathen are without excuse (1:18–32), the moral or self-righteous man stands condemned because of disobedience to his conscience (2:1–16), and the religious Jew breaks the very written law he boasts in (2:17–3:8). He concludes that all are depraved totally, because none are righteous, none do good, all are unprofitable or useless, and their bodily members are instruments of iniquity (3:9–20). John concludes that the whole world, apart from the regenerate children of God, lies (helpless) in the power of the evil one (I Jn 5:19, NASB).
Terminology
Terms denoting sin and evil are numerous in Heb. Indeed, there are more words for evil than for good. There are at least eight basic words: (1) Heb. ra˓, “bad” (Gen 28:17), “evil” (444 times in KJV), is used to denote anything harmful and is not restricted to things morally bad. (2) Heb. rāsh̄a˓, “wickedness” (Ex 2:13), is always used in a sense of moral guilt resulting from the confusion of loose living. (3) Heb. ˒āshām, “guilt” (Gen 26:10), is almost always confined to the ritual connected with the tabernacle and temple in Leviticus, Numbers, and Ezekiel. (4) Heb. ḥāṭā˒, ḥaṭṭa˒t (Ex 20:20) literally means “to lose the path,” “miss” or “miss the mark” (Jdg 20:16; Job 5:24, RSV; Prov 8:36, NASB), and includes the concept of making a deliberate mistake—not merely an innocent failure. (5) Heb. ˓āwôn, “iniquity” (I Sam 3:13), often means “guilty,” the two ideas of iniquity and guilt being very closely connected. It has the connotation of crookedness, of twisting away intentionally from God’s straight path of righteousness. (6) Heb. shâgag, shāgâ, “err” (Isa 28:7), when used in connection with the law, clearly implies that the sinner in his ignorance was responsible for knowing that law (Lev 5:18; cf. 4:2, 13). (7) Heb. tā˓â, “wander away” (Ezk 48:11), indicates the error is always deliberate, not accidental. (8) Heb. pāsha˓, “rebel” (II Kgs 3:5, 7; Isa 1:2), is usually translated “transgress” (I Kgs 8:50; Jer 2:8, 29).
The usage of these words leads to certain conclusions relative to the doctrine of sin as revealed in the OT. (1) Sin was conceived of as being fundamentally disobedience to God. (2) While disobedience involved both positive and negative aspects, the emphasis was definitely on the positive commission of wrong and not merely the negative omission of good. In other words, sin was not simply missing the mark (as it is so frequently defined), but deliberately and knowingly hitting the wrong mark. (3) Sin took many forms, and the Israelite was made keenly aware of the particular form his sin took by the availability of these various words.
The NT uses 13 basic words to describe sin. (1) Gr. kakos, “bad” (Rom 13:3), means moral evil, though occasionally it is used to denote physical evil. (2) Gr. ponēros, “evil” (Mt 5:45), with two exceptions is used of moral evil. (3) Gr. asebēs, “godless” (Rom 1:18), is the opposite of eusebēs, “pious,” and often occurs with other words for sin as in I Tim 1:9. (4) Gr. enochos, “guilty” (Jas 2:10; Mt 26:66), usually denotes a guilt which is worthy of death. (5) Gr. hamartia, “sin” (I Cor 6:13), any departure from the way of righteousness, is the most inclusive word for sin. (6) Gr. adikia, “unrighteousness” (I Cor 6:9), means any unrighteous conduct in the broadcast sense. (7) Gr. anomos, “lawlessness” (I Tim 1:9), sometimes is translated “iniquity.” (8) Gr. parabatēs, “transgressor” (Jas 2:9, 11), usually refers to the transgression of the Mosaic law, and always some specific law. (9) Gr. agnoeō, “to be ignorant,” sometimes is used to describe innocent ignorance (Rom 1:13) and sometimes culpable ignorance (Rom 10:3; Eph 4:18). (10) Gr. planaō, “to go astray” (I Pet 2:25), always means culpable error or being deceived (e.g., Tit 3:3), except possibly in Jas 5:19. (11) Gr. paraptōma, “a fault” (Gal 6:1), in most references is a deliberate trespass or transgression. (12) Gr. hypocritēs, “hypocrite” (I Tim 4:2). (13) Gr. parapiptō, “to fall away” (Heb 6:6), implies a deliberate turning aside in apostasy (q.v.).
From the uses of these words certain conclusions may be drawn concerning the doctrine of sin in the NT. (1) There is always a clear standard against which sin is committed. (2) Ultimately all sin is a positive rebellion against God and a transgression of His standards. (3) Evil may assume a variety of forms. (4) Man’s responsibility is definite and clearly understood.
Penalty and Remedy
The Bible is consistent that the punishment of sin is death—both physical and spiritual (Ezk 18:4, 20; Rom 5:12; 6:16, 21, 23; Jas 1:15). When Adam and Eve sinned they eventually died physically (Gen 2:17; 3:19), but they immediately experienced spiritual death, alienation from God (Gen 3:8–10; cf. Eph 2:1, 5,12; 4:18). See Death.
The remedy for sin is twofold: (1) forgiveness (q.v.) which erases the guilt of sin, and (2) justification (q.v.) which is a declaration of the positive righteousness imputed by God to the believer. All of this is based on the work of Christ in His death (Rom 3:24–26) and is secured by believing in Him. See Atonement.
Sin is never eradicated in the believer in this life (I Jn 1:8–10). The Holy Spirit is given so that the believer may not let sin reign in his body (Rom 6:1–13; 8:1–4). His enemies, nevertheless, are powerful and constant. The temptations of the world, the devil, and the flesh can only be met by utilizing God’s provision (Gal 5:16, 24; Eph 6:10 ff.). Persistent sin in the Christian’s life brings chastisement (Heb 12:6) and sometimes physical death (I Cor 11:30), but never total separation from God and spiritual death. The intercession of Christ guarantees the security of his salvation (Heb 7:25; I Jn 2:1), though confession is necessary for restoration of fellowship (I Jn 1:9). Rewards may be lost for failing to maintain fellowship (I Cor 3:15).
RSV Revised Standard Version
NASB New American Standard Bible
JerusB Jerusalem Bible
OT Old Testament
Heb. Hebrew
KJV King James Version (1611)
NT New Testament
Gr. Greek
C.C.R (RYRIE, Charles C., Ph.D., Dean of Doctoral Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Tex) and R.A.K (KILLEN, R. Allan, Th.D., Professor of Contemporary Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Miss)
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar