Two Kinds of Sin

SIN is what made necessary God’s plan of salvation through Christ. In a technical sense any lack of conformity to God’s will or standards is a sin—it is not in accord with His plan for us. Thus, in the Old Testament there were sacrifices commanded for sins committed in ignorance. It is this broader conception of sin that leads some to believe that all Christians “sin in word, thought, and deed every day.” The Scriptures, however, indicate that God holds us primarily accountable for known acts of transgression, rebellion, or omission (John 9:41; Romans 1:20-21; James 4:17).

The second form of sin described in the Bible is the quality of the fallen human nature that inclines people to commit individual acts of sin. Every person comes into the world with this inclination to evil, inherited from Adam (Romans 5:12-14, 18-19). This universal tendency to oppose God’s will has been called “original sin,” “the carnal mind,” “inherited sin,” “the old man,” “inbred sin,” “moral depravity,” and “sinful nature.” It is an inherent sinful disposition that inclines persons to sinful acts.

It is important to understand how Scripture distinguishes between acts of sin and a sinful nature. Acts of sin are commonly, though not always, referred to in the plural: “How many are my iniquities and sins?” (Job 13:23) and “forgive us our sins” (Luke 11:4). In contrast, the sinful nature is usually referred to as a single quality or disposition of the human spirit (see Romans 7:14-25; 8:2).

When the difference between sin as nature and sin as an act is not indicated by the singular and plural terms for sin, the context must determine the writer’s thought. Sin as nature is evident when the context emphasizes an inherent inclination to evil, as in Paul’s criticism of the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 3:3, “Where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal?” David’s cry, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10), reflects a sinful reality deeper than actions, a sinfulness that requires cleansing.

Courtesy of Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
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