Writing an article on sin is not very desirable in our current cultural climate. Most people in the church do not want to hear about or be reminded of their sin. They would rather hear about God’s love, grace, and mercy toward them in Christ. In fact, preaching in church can minimize sin at times, and it’s almost non-existent in the general culture. Instead of calling rebellion against God sin, we tend to label these actions and desires as “mistakes,” “shortcomings,” “struggles,” and other general terms.
As youth ministers, we want to proclaim the good news of the gospel and for our students to know the depth of God’s love for them in Christ. In order for our students to see and understand how the gospel is good news, they must first understand the bad news of our corrupted and helpless state due to our sin.
Students often define sin simply as breaking God’s rules, kind of like committing a traffic violation or getting a speeding ticket. Although sin is breaking God’s commands, the Bible discusses sin in much more serious terms. It uses three words and three images to describe sin’s nature and effects. By teaching our students about the nature and effects of sin, we will enable them to see the gospel shine ever more brightly against the backdrop of sin’s darkness.
What is the Nature of Sin?
The Old Testament uses three different Hebrew words to describe sin. First, sin means “missing the mark,” the way an arrow can completely miss a target (Gen. 4:7). Yet sin is not just missing the bullseye by one ring, but shooting the arrow in the complete opposite direction of the target!
Second, iniquity means to twist or disfigure something. It is a deviation from the norm. Thus, when we commit iniquity, we take what God made and gave as good, and twist it into something evil (Ps. 32:5).
Third, transgression means to cross the line, to rebel, and to break (betray) a sacred bond (Is. 1:2). Thus, every sin we commit is outright and willful rebellion against our good, loving, and faithful God.
What Does Sin Look Like?
To provide practical examples, God also uses three images to describe sin in the Scriptures. First, sin is high treason and rebellion against our Creator and King of the universe (Ezek. 2:3). God’s commands are not merely rules he makes up; rather, they reveal his character. God says we should tell the truth because he is a God of truth. He commands us not to murder or hate others in our hearts because he is a God of love and the giver of life. Thus, when we sin, we are rejecting the person of God, spitting in his face, and telling him we want nothing to do with him. We are telling our Creator and King that he is wrong, we are right, and we want nothing to do with him.
Second, sin is idolatry. Jesus taught that no one can serve two masters; we will either “love the one and hate the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Matt. 6:24). When we sin, we are choosing to worship ourselves or something else rather than God, which the Bible calls idolatry (Ezek. 14:3-8). Sin is not simply breaking a rule; it is turning away from God and bowing down to a man-made idol, one made in our image. Sin is giving our praise, thanks, love, time, and attention to a facet of God’s creation instead of our Creator.
Third, sin is spiritual adultery. The Old Testament consistently presents God as a husband, and Israel is his bride. When Israel rebels against the Lord and worships other gods, Yahweh uses very strong language, calling them whores and adulterers (Ezek. 16:15-34). Sin is serious because it breaks the bond that we were originally made to have with God alone. In our sin, we become unfaithful and give our hearts to “other lovers” who will ultimately never satisfy us (Jer. 3:1-3).
Sin is against God and against the way God originally made us as humans. It is completely contrary to everything God is and everything in which he created us to be.
What are the Effects of Sin?
Once students understand what sin is, they also need to know how it has affected them and the world they live in. Summarizing the effects of sin, the Bible predominantly highlights three.
First, sin causes human death and separation from God, ourselves, others, and creation. In Genesis 2:15-17, God told Adam that if he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would surely die. Sin causes human death, both spiritually and physically, because it cuts us off from the only source of life: God.
God made humanity to live and enjoy eternal relationship with him. Once Adam and Eve rebelled against their loving and gracious Creator, they were cut off from the tree of life, which would have allowed them to live forever. Thus, the wages of our sin is death (Rom. 6:23; 5:12). But, this death is not just physical, it is also spiritual. We are now separated from God and incapable of having the loving relationship with him we were created for.
Sin also causes three other separations. First, it causes separation within ourselves. This leads to psychological, sexual, and physiological distortions. Second, it creates division, conflict, and animosity with other people made in God’s image. Third, it creates disintegration between nature and creation, making work toilsome and difficult when it was originally meant to be enjoyed.
Second, sin corrupts our human nature. God created Adam and Eve and called them “very good.” Because of their sin, human nature became morally depraved. Our entire being—thoughts, attitudes, intentions, desires, and actions—is infected with the disease of sin. Theologians refer to this as “total depravity.”
Contrary to popular opinion, total depravity does not mean we are as bad as we could be or that it is impossible to do good things; rather, it means that everything we do, even good things, is tainted with sin. This is why the prophet Isaiah says that even our good deeds are “filthy rags” before God (Is. 64:6). We are not sinners because we sin; rather, we sin because we are sinners. Everyone after Adam has been born into sin (Psalm 51:5) and is guilty before a holy God (Rom. 5:12-19).
Third, sin makes us totally unable to save ourselves apart from the transforming grace of God. Ephesians 2:1-3 teaches that we are dead in our sins and trespasses, completely helpless to do anything to restore ourselves to a right relationship with God. In fact, Paul is very blunt in Romans 6-8 that we are slaves to sin, and it is impossible to submit to God’s law and to please him apart from the grace of Christ. Thus, sin causes death, depravity, and an inability to save ourselves, pointing to our need for a solution.
What is the Solution to Sin?
When we explain the nature and effects of sin, students should feel overwhelmed by their lostness and helplessness before a holy God. His just wrath is upon each of us because we have fallen way short of his glory. His judgment is the only thing we deserve. Mercifully, this is not the end of the story! When teaching students the doctrine of sin, we cannot simply leave them in their depravity; we must proclaim to them the new reality that can be theirs by placing their faith in the only solution to sin: the divine Son of God, Jesus Christ.
Sin has left us with what Francis Turriten called a “threefold misery.” Sin has (1) blinded us to understand and receive the Word of God and thus left us ignorant of the Scriptures; it has (2) made us guilty before a holy God and deserving of his just wrath; and (3) we are in tyranny and bondage to sin, and are only capable of doing its bidding. 1
Thankfully, God, in his mercy and grace, has provided the perfect solution to our threefold misery through the threefold offices of Jesus, our ultimate prophet, priest, and king.
First, as our prophet, Jesus shines the light of the gospel into our hearts and, by the Spirit, illuminates our minds, enabling us to understand and believe the gospel (2 Cor. 4:4-6).
Second, as our priest, Jesus offers himself as the perfect sacrifice in our place for our sin through his atoning death so that he can cleanse us of our guilt and make us white as snow (Heb. 9:14, 22).
Third, as our king, Jesus frees us from the bondage of sin and death and subdues our rebellious affections by the Spirit to sanctify us and make us one with God (Rom. 6:6-22).
This is why the gospel is the good news of salvation to all who believe! The nature and the effects of sin are serious and debilitating. However, understanding the wretchedness of our sinful state further exemplifies the goodness of God’s grace in the gospel, which he has freely lavished upon us when we place our faith in Jesus! Let the good news of the gospel encourage you to teach your students the “bad news” of our sin so they can better appreciate the kindness and mercy that God has bestowed upon us through his Son.
- Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, trans. James T. Dennison Jr., ed. James T. Dennison Jr. (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1994), 2:393–394. ↩︎
At the Rooted 2026: Biblical Humanity conference, we will walk through the biblical theology of humanity to consider how these truths shape the way we disciple children and teenagers.
