Biblical Distinction Between Sin and Behavior at the Cross
The Biblical Distinction Between Sin and Behavior at the Cross
The biblical concept of sin is multifaceted, encompassing both the act of sinning and the state of being sinful. The distinction between sin and behavior is crucial in understanding the atonement achieved through Christ's sacrifice on the cross. The Levitical sin offering illustrates this distinction, where the ceremonial procedures for sin offerings and trespass offerings are described in Leviticus 4 and 6, highlighting a difference in the idea behind the two sacrifices [1].
The biblical text differentiates between sin as an act and sin as a state or condition. According to James 1:15, "Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, produces death" [3]. This indicates that sin is not just an action but a process that leads to a state of being that results in death. Easton's Bible Dictionary defines sin as "any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God," emphasizing that it involves both the inward state of the soul and outward conduct [4].
The atonement achieved by Christ on the cross addresses both the act of sinning and the state of being sinful. In Romans 5:16, it is written, "The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification" [2]. This passage highlights the distinction between the effect of one sin (condemnation) and the effect of Christ's gift (justification from many transgressions).
The concept of Christ becoming sin for humanity is a pivotal aspect of the atonement. According to 2 Corinthians 5:21, "Christ became the offering for our sin on the cross when he took sin's penalty on himself and died a criminal's death" [9]. This act not only addresses the penalty for specific sins but also the sinful state of humanity. As Charles Hodge notes, "He was made sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" [5].
The patristic tradition also grapples with the distinction between sin and behavior in the context of the atonement. Augustine emphasizes the role of Christ as a Mediator who takes away the separating wall of sin, becoming the sacrifice for sin [6]. This understanding underscores the comprehensive nature of Christ's atonement, addressing both the acts of sin and the underlying sinful condition.
The Catholic Scholastic tradition, as represented by Aquinas, further nuances the understanding of sin and its relation to the atonement. Aquinas discusses how sins are distinguished by their objects and how this distinction affects their species and gravity [7]. This nuanced understanding highlights the complexity of sin and its various manifestations.
The Reformed tradition, as seen in Calvin's Institutes, emphasizes the substitutionary nature of Christ's sacrifice, where He bears the curse for humanity's sin [8]. This substitution is crucial for understanding how the atonement addresses both the acts of sin and the sinful state.
Sources
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Sin Offering — The sin offering among the Jews was the sacrifice in which the ideas of propitiation and of atonement for sin were most distinctly marked. The ceremonial of the sin offering is described in Levi 4 and 6. The trespass offering is closely connected with the sin offering in Leviticus, but at the same time clearly distinguished from it, being in some cases offered with it as a distinct part of the same sacrifice; as, for example, in the cleansing of the leper. Levi 14. The distinction of ceremonial clearly indicates a difference in the idea of the two sacri”
- Romans “Romans 5:16 (NASB) — The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.”
- James “Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, produces death. -- James 1:15”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Sin — Is "any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God" (1 John 3:4; Rom. 4:15), in the inward state and habit of the soul, as well as in the outward conduct of the life, whether by omission or commission (Rom. 6:12-17; 7:5-24). It is "not a mere violation of the law of our constitution, nor of the system of things, but an offence against a personal lawgiver and moral governor who vindicates his law with penalties. The soul that sins is always conscious that his sin is (1) intrinsically vile and polluting, and (2) that it justly deserves punishment,”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 21: the law that he 143 might redeem those who were under the law. We are freed from the law by the body of Christ. He was made sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. He is the end of the law for righteousness to all them that believe. It is by his obedience that many are made righteous. ( Rom. v. 19 .) We obeyed in Him, according to the teaching of the Apostle, in Romans v. 12-21 , in the same sense in which we sinned in Adam. The active and passive obedience of Christ, however, are only different phases or aspects of the”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 7: Augustine — Homilies on John — CHAPTER VIII. 31-36. (part 6): there is a reconciling Mediator. The separating medium is sin, the reconciling Mediator is the Lord Jesus Christ: "For there is one God and Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." (3) To take then away the separating wall, which is sin, that Mediator has come, and the priest has Himself become the sacrifice. And because He was made a sacrifice for sin, offering Himself as a whole burnt-offering on the cross of His passion, the apostle, after saying, "We beseech you in Christ's stead to be reconciled unto Go”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First Part of the Second Part (Prima Secundae), Of the Distinction of Sins, Art. 8: Article: Whether excess and deficiency diversify the species of sins? I answer that, While there are two things in sin, viz. the act itself and its inordinateness, in so far as sin is a departure from the order of reason and the Divine law, the species of sin is gathered, not from its inordinateness, which is outside the sinner's intention, as stated above (Article [1]), but one the contrary, from the act itself as terminating in the object to which the sinner's intention is directed.”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 52: Is. 53:12 ). We must specially remember this substitution in order that we may not be all our lives in trepidation and anxiety, as if the just vengeance which the Son of God transferred to himself, were still impending over us. 6. The very form of the death embodies a striking truth. The cross was cursed not only in the opinion of men, but by the enactment of the Divine Law. Hence Christ, while suspended on it, subjects himself to the curse. And thus it behoved to be done, in order that the whole curse, which on account of our iniq”
- 2 Corinthians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 2 Corinthians 5:21: 5:21 Christ became the offering for our sin on the cross when he took sin’s penalty on himself and died a criminal’s death. He did this, though he himself never sinned (John 8:46; 1 Pet 2:22; 1 Jn 3:5), so that we might be made right with God—i.e., set in right relationship with God and accepted by him (see Gal 3:13).”