Sin

March 7

Sin

hamartia

A second graphic word for sin in the NT is hamartia (G266), from the verb hamartanō (G264), "to miss the mark." The verb was used in ancient Greek of a spearman missing the target at which he aimed and threw his spear. It then came to be used in the ethical sense of not measuring up to a standard, or falling short of a purpose or standard. The pivotal verse on this principle is Rom_3:23: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." What is sin? Missing the mark. What then is the mark for which we shoot? The glory of God. In other words, the mark we shoot for is to be worthy of glory, but we miss it every time.

In his commentary on Romans, William Barclay offers these fitting words: "We commonly have a wrong idea of sin. We would readily agree that the robber, murderer, the razor-slasher, the drunkard, the gangster are sinners, but, since most of us are respectable citizens, in our heart of hearts we think that sin has not very much to do with us. We would probably rather resent being called hell-deserving sinners. But hamartia brings us face to face with what sin is, the failure to be what we ought to be and could be."

Indeed, a common misconception of sin is that it is something we do, when actually sin is something we do not do. And what is the thing we don’t do? We do not measure up to God’s standard of holiness. God is holy, perfect, absolutely pure; our sin, then, is not measuring up to that standard. All the "sins" we do are the result of what we don’t do. How far we fall short of the glory of God!

Man’s view of sin is truly distorted, and rightly so; his sinfulness distorts his view of his sinfulness and guilt. But God’s view is clear—man has willfully deviated from God’s law and has fallen far short of God’s standard of holiness. Once again, we thank God for His forgiveness (see January 25).

Scriptures for Study: How many times is sin mentioned in Romans 6? Review what it means to be "dead in trespasses and sins" (see January 12). Thankfully, where sin abounds, what else abounds, according to Rom_5:20 (see February 13-14).

 
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