Sin: Man’s or God’s Concept?

My question is about sin. Do we as humans have power to determine what is and what is not sin or does that come from God? And how would you define sin? Is it something that changes as man’s morality changes? Is it something defined by man’s likes and dislikes? Or, since God does not change, is it defined by God and also does not change?

Answer:

This is a great question, and one that I am going to love addressing.

First of all, let’s look at the dictionary definition of ‘sin’: an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law.

First of all, for you to believe in sin, the way the dictionary describes sin, you would first have to believe in divine law. Have there been any divine laws? If you answer yes, and believe there is divine law, then let me ask you this; has there been any divine law that has not been translated and interpreted by man?

I am fully aware that there are thousands of laws that have been said to be divine law; however, each and every one of them have been interpreted by man. I also know that some would say there are only 10 divine laws. However, none of them have not been interpreted by mankind, and since man has been involved, I would not call them divine; ego laws, power and control laws, but not Divine Laws!

I do want to state here that I do believe in Natural Laws, and you could possibly call them Divine Laws, but I prefer the words ‘Natural Laws.’ Natural laws are laws that govern this planet, nature, and its inhabitants. These Natural laws have existed since the beginning of time, and appear to be timeless. Some of the natural laws consist of the ‘Law of Balance,’ the ‘Law of Polarity,’ ‘Law of Cause & Effect,’ etc. These laws give example to how life works on planet Earth, and can be described by science, similar to the Law of Gravity, etc. I bring this up because if you understand, and know these laws, most people would not consciously think of doing something that would go against these laws because they would not enjoy the ricochet from them. From that perspective, these natural laws could be considered Divine Laws. But I digress…and will come back to this before this answer is complete.

Let’s take some time to look at the general concept of sin; the general perception of sin. Sin is a human concept about a person’s actions that are considered wrong in the eyes of God. These actions, if committed, are wrong and are punishable by God, if not repented. For you to believe in sin, you first have to believe that God would give free will and these laws, all at the same time. Once you believe that God would give those orders, then you would have to believe that God would judge you if you fail to submit, and punish you afterwards if you choose to go against those laws. Sometimes, this punishment would be for eternity.

I want to make it VERY clear, right here, right now; this is not what I believe, think, or found to be true. Simply, I do not believe that God judges us, nor do I believe that God punishes us, and most of all, do I believe that God would damn us for all of eternity. Now that that is out of the way, let’s move on.

Often things get lost in translation. The English word ‘sin’ comes from the Greek word ‘harmartia,’ which translates to mean “to miss the mark” or “to miss the target.” Harmartia also means ‘error.’ Harmartia is a person’s erroneous action committed because of a mistake in judgment, an err in intention, and because of personal flaws. The act may be done because of lack of knowledge, wisdom, awareness, or moral flaw which brings about sorrow, downfall or possibly even death to the person committing this error.

From my perspective, harmartia would fall under the category of the “law of cause and effect.” The law of cause and effect states that for every action, there is an equal reaction. A person does something because of lack of knowledge, wisdom, awareness or moral flaw, and it brings about sorrow, downfall or death to them. This is a natural law, an example of cause and effect, not God punishing you because you did something wrong.

Could it be that these examples of cause and effect, these so-called “God’s Laws” are nothing more than guidelines that have been passed down through the ages because of a person’s awareness and/or personal experiences? Could it be that they are warnings to not commit harmartia, because if you do, it will not give you the results that you ultimately desire? Yes, I hope that God/Existence would offer guidelines to live by; guidelines to support you in life, but in no way would I ever consider them to be laws that have been given by God, and punishable if not followed. I consider these to be nothing more than explanations for natural laws!

I have heard many people say that the world (its people) would just be in chaos if they did not have ‘laws’ that govern their actions. I have heard people say that without them people would just be willy-nilly, and out of control. People, look around you, people have been and continue to be out of control, even with these so called laws in place. People are out of control because of their lack of awareness, knowledge, wisdom, and/or just not caring about the after-effects of their actions. Therefore that theory goes flying out of the window as fast as you can say it. It is awareness that brings about the act of ‘doing/being good,’ not fear of retribution.

You asked if sin is something that changes as a person’s morality changes. A person’s morality is nothing more than another concept of the mind. It is a concept that exists because of conditionings; therefore, if you had been conditioned by someone different than you were, your morality would be different. Moral codes are things that have been passed down through the ages because of religious beliefs, practices, cultural values, and lifestyle choices. What one faith considers to be a sin another faith may not even think about it.

You elude to the idea that God has defined what it is a sin and what is not. If that is the case, then how can it be that some faiths believe that certain actions are a sin and other faiths never even bring it up. Does this mean that God has decided that certain actions are a sin to some faiths and not to others? I would think that if there were such a thing as God’s laws that all faiths would be privy to the information and there would be some cohesion in these matters.

You also mention that God does not change. Do you know this to be true? Or is that just what you have been taught and conditioned to believe?

As I close, if I have not made myself clear… I believe that the understanding of sin, the perception of sin, has been misconstrued over time, is very much misunderstood today, and is also part of the power and control game of man. I believe that sin is a concept of the mind, a concept of religions that have been created by man and not something that would fall into Divine law.

I hope this brings some awareness to your concepts of sin.

much love and Namaste…

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