Doctrine of Sin
By Jerry Batson, Th.D.
Special to The Alabama Baptist
In past weeks Theology 101 gave attention to the doctrine of salvation. The Bible uses various analogies by which to help us grasp the truth about so great a salvation. Terms such as “birth,” “adoption,” “redemption,” “conversion,” “justification,” “reconciliation” and “forgiveness” had roots in both common life experiences and in its religious expressions.
The importance of understanding the fullness of salvation has much to do with a biblical understanding of sin. The doctrine of sin is the backdrop against which the gospel both presents and demands salvation. Last week we began with a consideration of the unholy alliance of the world, the flesh and the devil as the originating power of sin. For several weeks, we will think about human sinfulness by means of some of the terms the Bible uses to speak of sin.
Term for sin
One of the terms used most often to speak of sin is one that expresses the idea of missing the mark. This is one of the common meanings of a New Testament Greek term for sin, “hamartia.” In the Old Testament the most frequently used Hebrew term for sin, which occurs hundreds of times, conveys the same meaning of “missing the mark.” A commonly cited Old Testament example of this basic idea about sin is found in Judges 20:15–16 where we read of 700 men from the tribe of Benjamin, all of whom were left-handed and “could sling a stone at a hair’s breadth and not miss.”
‘All have sinned’
When Romans 3:23 makes the summary statement about the universal sinfulness of all persons, it uses this very “missing the mark” word to declare, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” With the idea of missing the mark in mind we might say that sometimes people miss the mark by aiming at the wrong target. Sometimes we may aim at the right target but miss the mark by coming short of it.
What is the target by which we define or measure sin as the missing of the mark? In short expression we might say the goal is godlikeness. Jesus put it like this: “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). Thus, we would say that sin is any attitude, action or word that falls short of divine perfection, an indictment that is true of all of us. Again, Romans 3:23 expresses the missing of the mark as falling short of the glory of God.
God’s perfection
Any failure to match the glorious perfections of God is sin. Yet again we might weigh Jesus’ admonition in Mark 12:30: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.” Failure to love God completely and consistently misses the mark Jesus set with this “greatest” of all the commandments.
We get the picture. Sin is registered every time any of us misses the goal of absolute love of God, failing to attain the glory of God in all that we are and do or coming short of God’s own perfection. Against the background of these considerations all of us in total honesty and openness must confess we have sinned and stand in need of the salvation God offers through His Son.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Jerry Batson is a retired Alabama Baptist pastor who also has served as associate dean of Beeson Divinity School at Samford University and professor of several schools of religion during his career.
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