Does sin still exist today? As a father, I am faced with this question on a daily basis. Do my kids sin? Do they at times push me to the point of sinning myself? Anyone who has ever been given the title of parent knows that we cannot raise kids who never disappoint us. In their own unique ways our kids will defy us, lie to us, treat their siblings unkindly, and, at times find unimaginable ways to drive us crazy.
So what are we to do with this misbehavior? Do we excuse it or correct it? If we excuse it, then there is no sin, no measure of right and wrong. If we correct it, we must believe in a standard of right and wrong that transcends culture.
In our post-modern world, the answer to the question of sin largely depends on your perspective. In order to more efficiently hash out my thoughts, I will have to make some assumptions. First of all I will assume there are three camps on this issue: Yes, No, and Sort Of. Before you shout out a definitive answer, pause to consider the ramifications of your beliefs.
If you are in the Yes camp then I can safely assume that you believe in an absolute moral truth that sets a standard of right and wrong. Those of you in the No camp subscribe to the theory that right and wrong are a construct of each individual person. The mixed group, the Sort Of camp, holds a mixed view that some acts are sinful, but others fall into a gray area. Let’s start by exploring each of these views.
Belief in an absolute moral standard of right and wrong demands that there must be a universal benchmark to gauge the “rightness” or “wrongness” of behavior. Again, for the sake of simplicity, I am going to assume the most commonly accepted benchmark is the Bible. If you find yourself balking at that statement, then perhaps you don’t fall into the Yes category. Only a true Christian can advocate this position since you cannot claim to believe the Bible is the ultimate standard of right and wrong without embracing it in its entirety. To choose only parts to believe necessitates falling into the Sort Of category.
To those for whom sin does not exist, the ramifications are very open ended. If there is no standard of right and wrong, then what I view as right is always right for me and what I view as wrong is always wrong for me. Someone else may have a different standard of right and wrong and that is their prerogative. Carried to the logical conclusion, chaos must reign and anger must abound. Under this premise, laws cannot be enforced and other acts such as lying, cheating, and infidelity cannot be viewed as wrong.
If you hold to a Sort Of position, you may agree that there is some degree of absolute morality but not all acts fall under its rule. The question that must be asked here is what defines your morality? Is morality defined by law? Can morality change? Is someone sinning if they don’t agree with your views of right and wrong? If someone is sinning when they don’t play by your rules, then you must believe in sin, but absent an absolute standard, your definition of sin has no grip and you then fall back into the mixed group and the cycle continues.
The Bible is very clear on the answer to this question. Romans 3:23 says “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” If even a small part of you believes that God might be the creator and controller of all things, then you must wrestle with this topic. If God exists, then sin exists and we all fall in the sinner category. Fortunately that is not the end of the story.
