Sin can be thought of in a philosophical sense and in a moral sense. Philosophical explanations of sin seek to answer metaphysical questions such as whether it is a privation, a defect, a negation, a physical or spiritual essence, a selfish feeling, and so forth. Although intellectually interesting, philosophical theories about sin are only of secondary importance to theology.
The definition of sin is simply a moral evil (as opposed to a physical evil). Evil is anything opposed to God, and so sin can also be thought of as thoughts and actions that are opposed to God’s moral standards. This means that motive is important when considering sin, not just the action or the result of the action. Accidentally harming an innocent person is not a sin, but intentionally harming an innocent person is sinful. “But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and those things defile the person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, acts of adultery, other immoral sexual acts, thefts, false testimonies, and slanderous statements” (Mt 15:18-19). This verse also mentions that thoughts can be evil and therefore sinful. Impure thoughts that arise in your mind are temptations but not sins. But encouraging impure thoughts and indulging in them can rise to the level of sin. Jesus makes this clear with the example of lustful thoughts. “You have heard that it was said, ‘you shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mt 5:27:28). This is a hard teaching for many and illustrates just how deficient our morality is when compared to God’s standard.
Sin is commonly understood to have two effects: the guilt of sin and the pollution of sin. Guilt relates to God’s justice with respect to sin. Pollution relates to God’s holiness with respect to sin. When someone sins, the associated guilt results in the deserving of punishment to satisfy justice. The associated pollution results in the sinner being more blameworthy, unworthy, hell-deserving, and less Christ-like. When one becomes justified through trust in the redeeming power of Christ, the guilt aspect of sin is removed put the pollution aspect of sin remains. All Christians know this to be true from personal experience. We are saved and know the comfort of being positionally righteous in the eyes of God, but also know that we remain sinners and are still not perfectly righteous in a practical sense.
The formal doctrine of sin was developed in response to heretical teachings, particularly Pelagianism and St. Augustine’s strong attack against it. Pelagius taught that God would only require man to do what man is capable of doing. Therefore, sin consists only in the free choice to make morally evil choices, and it is possible in theory for every person to resist in making all morally evil choices. Sin must exclusively be due to free human choices otherwise God would be the author of sin, either directly or indirectly. Furthermore, according to Pelagianism, Adam’s sin only impacted Adam and people are born today into the same moral state as Adam was. Anyone (including Pagans) can achieve salvation by living a sin-free life, although trust in Christ and the Gospel makes this much easier.
Augustine’s aggressive rebuttal against Pelagianism has a metaphysical aspect and a moral aspect. Metaphysically, Augustine defined sin as a depravation of goodness to show that sin is not necessary and also that God is not the author of sin. He uses the analogy of an untuned harp. The player of the harp is responsible for the sound, but not the discordant notes. In the same way (according to Augustine), God and his divine economy are responsible for our actions, but not the result of our actions due to our sinful nature.
The moral aspect of Augustine’s doctrine of evil remains the predominant view of orthodox theologians today. This is that (1) all people are shown to be sinners as soon as they are able to reason; (2) sin is not necessary but a willful and voluntary act of man; (3) all people are born spiritually dead; and (4) unsaved people are in complete bondage to sin and are completely helpless to free themselves from this corruption through their own power. Unregenerated people, according to Augustine, are in a state referred to as total depravity. In a state of total depravity free choices can be made, but only sinful free choices, and nothing can be done in a state of total depravity that is pleasing to God, including choosing to trust in the redeeming power of Christ. Rather, God through his good grace regenerates the elect, resulting in them irresistibly putting their faith in Christ with perfect certainty.
Eight hundred years after Augustine, Thomas Aquinas developed a doctrine of sin that was very similar. It differs slightly in that he views the original righteousness of Adam as a divine gift that was forfeited for him and all of posterity due to his disobedience. Original sin resulted in both the loss of the gift of original righteousness (the formal effect) and the consequent disordering of our whole nature due to an orientation that is away from God (the material effect). Aquinas refers to this material effect as the corruption of the soul. In a spiritual healthy person, sensual desires (i.e., concupiscence) are subordinate to rational desires which are themselves subordinate to God’s desires. Corruption of the soul allows for sensual desires to overpower both reason and obedience to God, resulting in sin. The difference between Aquinas and Augustine on this topic is that Augustine views man as fully corrupted and not able to cooperate with God without God’s help. Aquinas, in contrast, believes that corrupted man is still able to cooperate with God’s grace. Reformed theologians primarily agree with Augustine on this subject while the Roman Catholics and Arminians tend to agree with Aquinas.
There are several theories as to how original sin has been transmitted to subsequent generations. The most prominent is immediate imputation, where the guilt of Adam’s sin is transmitted directly into each new person. As a result, each person upon conception is subject to the penalty of Adam’s disobedience. Next is mediate imputation, where sinful nature is inherited from Adam but not his guilt. With mediate imputation, people are only guilty of the sins that they actually commit. A variant of mediate imputation is that Adam’s loss of original righteousness resulted in a corrupt human nature, and this nature is propagated like all other aspects of human nature. Last is the realistic theory, which understands the whole of the human race to exist in Adam and Eve. When Adam and Eve sinned, the entire human race sinned and is subject to the consequent guilt and pollution.
Although theological opinions vary as to why and how sin is transmitted, it is clear from Scripture that all people are sinners and are born spiritually dead. This fact is absolutely central to theology and to Christianity in general. I will therefore spend some time presenting scriptural evidence in support of each.
With regards to the sinful nature of man Paul writes, “[F]or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23); and, “But the Scripture has confined everyone under sin” (Gal 3:22). John writes, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us … If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us” (1 Jn 1:8-10). “[T]here is no person who does not sin” (1 Kgs 8:46). “[T]here is not a righteous person on earth who always does good and does not ever sin” (Eccl 7:20). There are innumerable verses that make the same point. Christ was the only earthly person without a sinful nature.
With regards to our unregenerated state as the equivalent of spiritual death Paul writes, “And you were dead in your offenses and sins” (Eph 2:1); “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23); and “And when you were dead in your wrongdoings and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him” (Col 2:13). John writes, “We know that we have passed out of death into life” (1 Jn 3:14) and “The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life” (1 Jn 5:12).
In summary, Adam was born sinless and spiritually alive but sinned and became spiritually dead. We are born sinful and spiritually dead. We can become spiritually alive through trust in the redemptive power of Christ, but remain sinful creatures that, though positionally righteous, still fall far short of Godly perfection.
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