III.

Christianity's view of sin and forgiveness

A. Sin

Most of what the Qur’an says about sin can also be said about the Bible’s view of it.  Sin is spoken of as being both intentional and unintentional.  “Missing the mark” by failure to life up to a standard God has set is a basic view of it.  Also, it is spoken of as deliberate transgression of the law of God and rebellion against God.  Lawlessness, evil desires and unbelief in God are also all in view.  Here is one list of sins that shows this:

"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." (Galatians 5:19-21 NIV)

Jesus Himself set the standard for behaviour in the Sermon on the Mount where he said:

"Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48 NIV)

That is a high standard, and not one of us can say we have met it. As we did for the Qur’an, let us look at the Bible’s answer for why people sin.

B. Why do people sin?

The Bible also presents a two-fold answer to this question.  The first has to do with our nature’s as people, and the second is the temptation of Satan.

1. Original Sin and Sin by Choice

The Bible teaches that man and woman were originally created perfect with free will.  However, they chose to disobey God and when they did this it corrupted their nature.  They were no longer innocent or good from their hearts.  The Bible teaches in both the Old and the New Testaments that somehow, this inclination toward sin has been passed on to the human race.  This is called “Original Sin” or “the sin nature” by Christians.  The Bible teaches clearly that mankind, though still retaining an understanding of good and evil, has evil dwelling in our heart that prompts even our best actions to be at best a mixture of good and evil motives.

 There are many verses in the Bible that teach this.  Here are just three of them:

(1) God Himself saying in Genesis 8:21, "... every inclination of his (mankind’s) heart is evil from childhood."

(2) Jesus Christ said in Matthew 15:18,19, "... these make a man ‘unclean’.  For out of the heart come evil  thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander."

(3) The Apostle Paul in Romans 5:12:, "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned."

 The Christian doctrine of original sin is a description of the tragic reality of mankind’s tendency to sin.  It is similar to the Islamic view but  is more serious in that it rules out the ability for a person to overcome their sinful tendencies enough to live up to God’s perfect standards. 

 The Bible presents this as mankind’s true condition.  And our own experience presents the reality that we all have problems with sinful tendencies that we are unable to solve. One Christian writer has noted that sin “… is more like a fatal disease, rather than simply weakness or a series of mistakes” (6)

While teaching this, the Bible also presents that we are responsible to God for the sins that we commit ourselves.  In fact, this is the overwhelming emphasis of the Bible’s teaching on sin.  Somehow, even with the situation with our having a sinful nature we retain enough of a free will to be legitimately judged for our sinfulness.  The Bible does not explain exactly how this is so but rather presents it as a fact without explanation. 

One Christian writer has summed it up by saying: "We stand in a mysterious solidarity with Adam (Eve and Adam) in     sin; we are also individually responsible.  There is a sense in which we are determined; there is another sense in which we are absolutely free.  But since we are both, neither the one nor the other is the final word. (7)

 Another puts it this way, On the other hand...it does teach that there is a real root of sin in addition to individual sins, that this cannot be identified merely   with the power of influence or general environment, that there is a broader and deeper nexus (bond, tie) of sin which none can           escape, and that there is no true eradication of sin in this life even for believers. (8)

The Apostle Paul summed up the net effect of sin in people’s lives by saying, "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23 NIV)

2. Satan tempts

The Bible also recognizes that Satan is alive and well on planet earth and is in the business of inciting people to wickedness.  This is graphically presented in Ephesians 6:11,12 where it says: "Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

The Christian is promised various spiritual means for dealing with the temptations of the devil in order to resist him and defeat him.

Seeing that the Bible presents it as a reality that people fail and sin, both from their own inability to live up to God’s standards and because of the temptations of Satan,

C. How do people obtain forgiveness?

Christianity’s answer is similar to the Muslim scholar’s answer.  People are to confess their sins to God sincerely; they are to repent of their sins sincerely; and they are to trust in God’s promise of forgiveness from the Bible.  The difference is in how God offers and ensures that promise of forgiveness.

From the earliest chapters of the Bible a doctrine is spelled out for how God takes away the guilt of mankind’s’ sin.  It is called atonement through blood sacrifice.  Before Jesus was crucified the blood of sacrificed animals covered the sins of the people.  Atonement for sin through blood sacrifice was at the heart of the Old Testament Law.  It was at the heart of Israelite worship at the Tabernacle built by Moses and then the Temple built by Solomon.  The Torah presents God Himself saying  in Leviticus 17:11, "For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that  makes atonement for one’s life." 

In the Law of Moses animal sacrifice to cover sin was codified into a precise system.  It was the heart of the covenant God had with the Israelites.  One whole book of the Torah and significant parts of others are devoted to this theme.  All of the Old Testament Prophets called Israel back to faithful worship at the Tabernacle or Temple using the precise system of animal sacrifices required in the Law of Moses. 

Also, the Bible teaches that sin is so serious that a death must take place to atone for it.  The prophet Ezekiel records God as saying,  "The person who sins will die."  (Ezekiel 18:20)

The Apostle Paul echoed this when he said, "The wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23)

The Old Testament prophets also predicted a day when a perfect sacrifice would be offered which would fulfil the whole system and usher in a new covenant with God.  This sacrifice was to be made by the Messiah Himself and it is what is recorded in the Gospels of the New Testament in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah.

The prophet Isaiah spoke about the Messiah’s sacrifice for sin 700 years before Christ was born: "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors.  For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
(Isaiah 53: 6,12 NIV)

Jesus confirmed this where He said, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45 NIV)                                                             

A person becomes a Christian in the first place by trusting in Jesus Christ’s death for him on the cross, and then after that every time he sins, he comes to God in humility and repentance and claims the forgiveness that is provided in the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.

This gives the Christian tremendous gratitude and assurance of forgiveness before God because he knows that not only has he been pardoned for the sin, but that the sin has been completely atoned for.  In fact, the Bible teaches that no other way of atoning for sin is sufficient.  The nature of sin, our inability to overcome it, and the perfect moral nature of God make it so that there is no way in our own efforts we can atone for our sins.  The Bible presents it that God, in his love for mankind  and to uphold his justice, has provided this one way of atonement for sin.  Jesus states this where He said, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16 NIV)