Sin - Part 3 - Biblical Overview 1 - Old Testament (Bruce Ware)

Sin is a violation of absolute and universal law. 

This first point, would be a direct rebuttal to the believes of cultures in the Ancient Near East. In Old Testament, Biblical times, cultures polytheistic. They believed in different gods, who were in control of different areas. Depending on where you were, different laws applied.

There are a few implications:

• Because the Lord God is one, we an an absolute and universal law. 
• Because there is only one true God, then even those who do not worship him, will be judged by him - This is why the Old Testament prophets can speak against the nations like Babylon, Assyria, Edom or Egypt; as well as Israel.
• One way the Bible proofs this, is with Elijah on mount Carmel, where he challenges the Baal - 1 Kings 18, especially verse 39.

For us today, who are removed from the OT times:

• Generally we trust our governments, but in some way, they offer the same things ANE cultures did. Based on where you are, different laws exist. Very often we trust our governments. If they say something is illegal, then we believe that it must be bad. If they say something is lawful then we believe that it must be good for us. (Eg. of things to think about - Opioids, abortion, ...) 
• We must believe that the Lord, God is one. Though we abide by the law, our first allegiance is to the true God.

Sin is personal

We struggle to view sin as a personal matter. How could breaking the speed limit be personal? Because God's law flows straight out of righteous nature. When we break his law, we reject him as our God.
The image used in the Bible is that of spiritual adultery. Sin is more than just doing the wrong thing, it is an offense to God (Ps 51:4)

Sin is corporate

Sin is personal, does not mean it is individual. There is a corporate element, meaning it involves more than just the individual who sins.

Eg;

• Adam sinned and that has huge implications for us. 
• Sin of Achan in Joshua 7:1 - People died during the time God withdrew his blessing and hand from Israel. 

This is the umbrella principle - one person holds the umbrella, positively or negatively people are effected. 

For use today - we live in such an individualistic society, we tend to think, that if it does not heard anyone else, then it is okay. This is what people think about a lot of sexual sins. The idea is, this cannot possibly hurt my neighbor: "we are two consenting adults". The truth is that our lives are affected by other people's choices.

Eg: The impact of divorce on children, is they

• suffer academically. 
• are substantially more likely to be incarcerated for committing a crime as a juvenile.
• children in divorced homes are almost five times more likely to live in poverty than are children with married parents.
• much more likely to engage in drug and alcohol use.