Sin is a horrible word and I don't really like using it unless I really have to. I don't really like it because lots of people's understanding of Sin is so negative and has such bad connotations with guilt and shame. We don't have to associate those things with Sin.
The word 'Sinner' is an even worse term and is one that Christians have used for decades to refer to anyone who isn't (in their eyes) a 'Christian'. It has been used to manipulate, victimise and discriminate people of all walks of life.
Thankfully I think that we are past the time where it is so commonly fired at people, and that is probably partly down to society, we are probably a little less confrontational, a little less judgemental of people and a lotmore accommodating.
Fair play society, you generally get a bad rep from Christians.
So if not Sin and Sinner - then what?
Sin first:
Sin in it's most basic form is anything that causes us to be separated from God. We can be separated from God in 2 key ways:
+ Loving ourselves more that God.
+ Loving everyone else less than we love ourselves
Selfishness. Self-importance. Arrogance. Self-centredness. Lying. Cheating. Stealing. Basically anything not done in love for either God or someone else will separate you from God.
God is Goodness and God is Love, so anything that is not Love or Good, cannot be with God and is a spiritual barrier to Him.
So, in answer to my question: Sin = Separation.
Now Sinner:
I'm not saying that we do not Sin. We all Sin sometimes and we get separated from God, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23.
But Jesus Loved Sinners.
While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. Matthew 9:10.
Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice. ’For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:12-13
However there is an amazing truth that once we receive forgiveness through the sacrifice of Jesus. We are sinners no longer.
We no longer have to be defined by sin. If we follow the nature of Jesus, and strive to act like he did, believing and having faith that He came, died, and came back to life to save us from ourselves and the sin that traps us, God no longer sees sinners, he sees Sons and Daughters. He sees those who are inheriting his Kingdom. He sees beauty and love and goodness.
So, Sinner = You and Me.
But with Jesus, You and Me = Sinless.Clean. Pure. Good. Love. With God. Guilt-free. Shame-free Forever.
And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation - 2 Corinthians ch.5 verses 18 to 19.
Jesus once said to a woman who had been caught cheating on her husband:
"I do not condemn you. Go and sin no more." John 8:11
So, for things that you've done that you know are wrong, and even the things you don't know are wrong, Jesus does not condemn you. Go and Sin no more.
