It seems that many do not understand sin.

It is NOT fun, risqué nor is it naughty.

So, lets have a look at what it really is.

For a more realistic understanding of what sin is, one needs to appreciate God’s Holiness.

God is Holy.

That means He is Perfect and without faults, weaknesses, or shortcomings. He is fully complete. He never makes mistakes, is never wrong, nor unjust. He is also the ultimate in perfection. That is to say that if there is any goodness, then He is ALL GOODNESS. Not 99.999% good. A full 100%. If it were possible, He would be 110%.

Therefore, He is totally, ultimately all encompassing, all His attributes. The scripture says of Him, “He is light, and in Him is no darkness at all," 1 John1:5 Also, " He is the father of lights an in Him there is neither the shadow of turning”. James 1:17 It means He is not going to change, ever!

We are NOT.

Once we have a grasp of this Holiness of God, we are in a position to gage our own shortfall in this area. I know for a fact, no shadow of doubt, that I am NOT equal to God, in the area of holiness. I am not the ultimate in anything. Not love, not purity, not goodness, not anything. I fall short! Don’t you? Falling short is actually the real meaning of sin. That’s the definition. We all fall short, period!

Now I know that we are the way we are because that’s the way we are. But that’s not the way we were intended to be. Humanity was created with a seed of greatness in us. We were given the chance to be like God, (be holy), or do our own thing. Our “own thing” meant we went our own way, without God. When we did that, we went into an area where God is not, and therefore in sin. Outside of God, there is no holiness. Outside of holiness, there is shortfall, or sin. Again, scripture teaches that sin brings death. Death, in the Biblical sense, is “separation from God”, or the source of life.

If sin separates me from God, and brings me into the realm of shortfall from holiness and life, then I am doomed. How can I come back, and make up for (atone for) my sin? I can’t. Once I am stained by it, I am irreversibly, irreparably damaged goods. I think that’s a good answer to the original question of why sin is bad. Sin kills you. Sin kills me. But, now I am not dead, so how can I say I am being killed by sin? Well, I answered that a few moments ago. Sin has already separated me from God, the source of life, and therefore I am spiritually dead. I have no life (eternal, Godly life) in me. My body is alive. I am in a sense no different to animals. A point earnestly promoted by atheists and others. “We are nothing more than animals, just more evolved than they.” That’s partly true. But though we may only see ourselves as mere animals, God has a higher, better and greater design for us than that.

I see my worth and value as way higher than mere animals, but some don’t. That’s what each one must live with, his or her perspective of their own existence. If you have no concept of God, holiness, sin, eternity, destiny and the like, and you dismiss sin altogether, it does not change anything. The fruits (or wages) of sin will still have their effect on you. To use an analogy, it’s like someone who smokes saying to themselves, “it (sickness and disease) won’t happen to me.” The reality is that “it” is already happening. They may not feel it, but it’s already at work if only at the tiniest cellular level. They will not know what hit them till it’s too late. Sin WILL get you. It’s already got you.

Is there a STANDARD?

The real problem is that many don’t see the standard, so they have nothing to compare it too. There is a thing called a benchmark. Or, you may have heard of a template. It all means the same thing. Bring your (item) whatever it is to the standard, and see if it measures up. If you have a piece of wood that needs to be 10 inches, [or millimetres long], how can you know that it is in fact that long? You need to get a standard measuring device, put the piece of wood along side of it, and compare. If it is not exactly the same length, it falls short. It doesn’t measure up. You could say it’s in sin. Except that sin is a term relating to moral standards, not physical ones.

So, then, what is man’s “benchmark”, or “template”? Actually, not what, but who. Who is our standard? Well, it’s God Himself. But how can we come alongside of Him, and see if we do, or don’t measure up? We can’t. We are already separated from Him, by the very sin we are questioning here. So, what can we do? Well, we can’t go to God, and see if we measure up, because, as I just said, we are cut off from His presence already. But, because He knew that it was impossible for us to come to Him, He has made a way to come close to us. We can come and see if we measure up, by comparing ourselves to Jesus Christ. God, came close, by being born of a woman, and taking on human form, and dwelt among us. He is “God made flesh”, to redeem us to Himself, knowing full well we could not do it on our own. Anyone who thinks they can has missed the point. ALL religions are an expression of this very thing. Mankind trying to reconnect with God (in whatever form they perceive Him to be).

So to wrap this up, I wish to use another (simple) example of the effect of sin. 

I live on one side of a "grand canyon", and God is on the other side. The gap between us is SIN. I cannot get across to the other side. Nothing I have (no technology) can help me span the gap. Unless God (who has the technology) builds a bridge to me, we will remain separated, (forever).

Jesus is the "bridge", that gets me (us) to God, on the other side.   Blessings as you read!