4.5 Sin in the New Testament

See the bottom for previous posts.

4.4 Sin in the New Testament

4.4.1 Defining Sin

• The standard for right is to love God and love neighbor (Matt. 22:37-40; Rom. 13:8-10). 
• Therefore, a sin is contrary either to love of God or neighbor. This constitutes wrongdoing (1 John 5:17) and lawlessness (1 John 3:4)
• In the New Testament, sin is (predominantly) an act of will (Jas 1:13-14).
• Temptation is thus not sin (cf. Jesus; Heb. 4:15).
• Sin is a matter of the heart (volition) far more than the act itself (Mark 7:18-23; Matt. 5:27-28)
• Feelings are not sin, although they can be a source of temptation (cf. Eph. 4:26).
• Sin is thus any act of the will that either is out of faith with God or contrary to love of neighbor/enemy. Cf. Rom. 14:23
• There are sins of commission and sins of omission (cf. Jas. 4:17).
• Sin is not imperfection. Mistakes are not intrinsically sinful (although they can reflect prior choices).
• Unintentional sin should probably remain a category, referring to acts that are unintentionally unloving toward others, including God.

4.4.2 Sin as a Power

• The human body, skin, "flesh" is not intrinsically sinful (contra Gnostics) Cf. Mark 14:13
• Because of Adam, human flesh and the creation are under the power of Sin (Rom. 7:14-18).
• Sin acts are acts of the will. The power of Sin is a power that drives us to sin (sometimes called sin principle or sin nature, although this is really Augustine rather than Paul)
• Romans 6-8 does not teach that sin should reign in a believer's life--more to come, but cf. Rom. 7:5

4.4.3 Sins to Death

• 1 John 5:16-17 (where the Catholic Church gets mortal and venial sins)
• Explain 1 John 1:8-10 and 3:9. "Having" sin is not doing sin but is 1 John's equivalent of "all have sinned." 3:9 should be given the present tense connotation of "be sinning" or "continue to sin."
• The unpardonable sin of Matthew 12:31-32 (since the HS brings repentance, no one who is drawn to repent has committed such a sin).
• Hebrews 6:4-6; 10:26; 12:16-17. Parable of the Prodigal Son is the fulcrum text on this question. Schrodinger's backslider

Previous "chapters"
Chapter 1: What is Biblical Theology?
Chapter 2: Theology of God
Chapter 3: Creation and Consummation

4.1-3 Sin and the Fall

4.4 Sin in the Old Testament

4.4 Sin in the Old Testament

See the bottom for previous posts.

4.4 Sin in the Old Testament

4.4.1 Unintentional Sin
Numbers 14:22-31 immediately shows us the distance between our Western worldview and that of the Ancient Near East with regard to sin and the need for atonement. The Hebrew word here is ḥaṭa’ (chata’) – do wrong, sin.

• This passage begins with atonement for corporate sins. We tend to see sin only in individualistic terms.
• This passage really only focuses on unintentional sin, while we focus overwhelmingly on intentional sin. There is no atonement in this passage for intentional sin.

I will argue in the next section that the trajectory of Scripture is toward intentional sin and away from the category of unintentional sin. The New Testament has almost nothing to say about unintentional sin. It operates almost entirely from a sense of intentional wrongdoing. Wesley is a fine starting point: "A willful transgression against a known law of God."

I will define sin in terms of the standard of loving God and loving neighbor. Unintentional sin is a valid theological category, but should be understood in terms of unintentionally wronging others or unintentionally dishonoring God. God's concern is with our intentional sins, not our unintentional ones, except insofar as they have adverse consequences toward others.

We should note that while the Law does not provide much room for atonement for intentional sin, the narratives indicate that it is possible. David is forgiven for his affair with Bathsheba and the death of Uriah.

4.4.2 Corporate Sin and Guilt
Corporate sin is not a natural category for Western individualists, although more recent discussions of corporate guilt in terms of things like racism and sexism have revived the older category. Christian confessions often incorporate a corporate confession of sin that goes beyond the individuals or the sum of individuals.

Nevertheless, here even in the Old Testament we see some progression from the collective guilt and punishment of Deuteronomy 5:9-10 to the individual punishment and guilt of Ezekiel 18:2-4 and Jeremiah 31). We tend to modernize these passages, "de- and re-culturize" them so to speak. Corporate guilt is intrinsic to deuteronomistic theology and thus to the Deuteronomistic history of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings.

I perhaps will want to have an excursus here on deuteronomistic theology and the idea of the Deuterononistic History.

So we see Deuteronomy 5:9-10 in terms of consequences (genetics and environment). I think there was more going on in the OT context. Explain the context of Ezekiel 18.

4.4.3 Sin and Uncleanness
a. Although sin and uncleanness are distinct categories in the Pentateuch, there is a certain blurring of the two. Both require cleansing rituals in the OT. (cf. Lev 12-15; Num 19)

I have found Mary Douglas incredibly helpful in getting out of my Western categories and at least in a more likely direction for the categories of the Ancient Near East. Jonathan Haidt has also been very helpful in identifying the "sanctity" category of much human moral thinking (see material on holiness in the chapter on God).

"Dirt is matter out of place." A terd is okay outside. Not so much in the living room. It makes my living room unclean. See food laws (Lev. 11, 17; Deut. 14)

• Fish without fins and scales aren't right. Unclean
• Birds that can't fly aren't right. Unclean
• Blood belongs in and has magical life properties. Unclean if in the wrong place but full of life-giving power if properly channeled.
• Pigs go with Philistines and their gods--defiling. Sheep go with Israel and YHWH, good and scrumptious.
• Male with male doesn't fit. Unclean... abomination (to'evah)

b. I need to do more research on whether Leviticus thinks of the sexual prohibitions in terms of uncleanness rather than sin (Lev. 18). Certainly Numbers has no sacrifice for sexual sins since it has no category for intentional sins at all. In David's case, God caused the baby to die.


Previous "chapters"
Chapter 1: What is Biblical Theology?
Chapter 2: Theology of God
Chapter 3: Creation and Consummation

4.1-3 Sin and the Fall

A Wesleyan Theology of Sin

I have now completed a series of posts giving a Wesleyan "Theology of Sin," part of my ongoing series called, "My Theology in Bullet Points." It is not, to be sure, the only Wesleyan perspective, but it is an attempt to be true to Wesleyan theology in dialog with contemporary theological issues. Below it are links for my theologies of God and creation.

The Doctrine of Sin (hamartiology)
1. Evil is a matter of choice, intention, and desire.
2. God created the possibility of evil choices.
3. Suffering in itself is not evil.
4. The current bent of humanity is toward evil.
5. All have sinned.
6. There is such a thing as corporate and structural sin.

The Doctrine of God (theology proper)
1. God didn't need to create. (God's self-sufficiency)
2. God isn't literally a guy.
3. God has the power to do anything. (God's omnipotence)
4. God is present in all places and all times. (God's omnipresence)
5. God knows every possible thing to know.
6. God knows every actual thing to know. (God's omniscience)
7. God can do whatever he wants. (God's sovereignty)
8. God loves everything he has created. (God is love)
9. God's justice fits within the context of his love. (God is just)
10. To say God is holy is to say God is God. (God is holy)
11. There is only one God, but God is three persons. (God is a Trinity)

The Doctrine of Creation (cosmology)
1. God created everything that exists out of nothing.
2. Everything God created was good.
3. God is in control of everything that happens.
4. There are good and evil spiritual beings at work in the world.
5. Human beings were created in the image of God.
6. God intended us to live forever.
7. All humanity is of equal value to God.