“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.”—Isaiah 1:18
Talking about sin is difficult. Talking about forgiveness is comforting. The object of this lesson is to give a better understanding of what sin is and how God forgives sin.
Thoughts for you to consider:
We must examine the question, “Are you a sinner?” first in light of the definition of sin. Sin is described in the Bible as not obeying God. We first read about this in the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve first disobeyed God (please read Genesis chapter 3). Since the time of Adam, everyone has sinned. I know what you must be thinking, “This applies to other people but not me. I’m not that bad of a person.” You might be right. However, King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 7:20, “Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins” The prophet Isaiah even said “all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment” (Isa 64 6). The New Testament writers understood the same truth, as Paul states in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” King David gives us more insight into the extent of our sin. In Psalm 51:4, he said, “Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight. . . .” Our sin is against God! The Hebrew for “sin” חָטָא (chata) means to “miss” the mark.[1] What does this mean? Sin might be a new concept to you. It is not making a mistake. Sin is missing the mark in terms of disobeying God—not living up to God’s standard. What is God’s standard?
Questions to consider:
- Do you believe God has given us a standard regarding how we can live our lives?
- If you answered, “Yes,” have you lived up to God’s standard?
- If you answered, “No,” do you have your own standards for your actions?
- Do you believe God has a right to judge us on this standard?
Thoughts for you to consider:
What are the consequences for sin? You might be thinking, “So what? Everyone sins. God even knows this.” This is correct; God does know everyone sins. However, you might never have considered the consequence of sinning against God. The reality is sin has caused a separation between God and humanity. The prophet Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 59:2, “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.” God is holy; we are not. We cannot live up to what God wants. Further, we cannot live our lives without understanding there are consequences for making our own decision regarding this fact.
Paul, in the New Testament, writes of these consequences in Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death.”
Therefore, many of us are unhappy with our lives. We lack peace in our souls, and this lack of peace is a result of our broken relationship with God.
The Hebrew word for peace is שָׁלוֹם (shalom). You might think this word means “hello.” However, its root verb can mean to “stay sound, healthy . . . make amends . . . restore.”[2] The bad news is sin has broken our relationship with God. The good news is He has provided a way to bring us back into relationship with Him.
Questions to consider:
- As you view the problem of evil, human suffering, and experience an overall lack of peace, what are some alternatives to the biblical view?
- What is your view regarding the resolution of sin?
- Has your view kept you from personal pain and broken relationships?
- Do you think you have hurt God by your own sin?
- Has anyone hurt you? How has this impacted you?
Thoughts for you to consider:
How does God forgive our sins? Many of us have attempted to make amends for wrongs we have committed through personal effort. Personal efforts may include volunteering for a worthy cause, sacrificing our time, or giving to charity. There is, indeed, merit attached to these endeavors; however, does God forgive us based on our good works? The prophet Isaiah tells us how God looks upon our good works, “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment . . .” (Isaiah 64:6).
We have this sense of how God judges us by our actions. We envision God weighing our good deeds against our bad deeds on a scale, making a decision on our passing or failing.
The writings of the Jewish sages, called the Talmud, describe how, on Rosh Hashanah, God opens up the book of life (Rosh Hashanah 16b). We have ten days for our names to be inscribed in this book before He closes it at the end of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). We try our best to get our names written in the book of life. It is as though we are working out our own atonement. Have you ever considered what the word “atonement” means? We know the rabbis encourage us to fast, attend services, and cry out to God for forgiveness. However, the answer is revealed in the name of the Holy Day itself, Yom Kippur. The root of kippur comes from the Hebrew word כּפר (kafar), meaning “to cover”—specifically, to cover with the blood from the sacrifice of an innocent animal.[3] In the Torah, God is very specific regarding what happens on the Day of Atonement. In Leviticus 16:21, we read,
Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness.
In the New Testament, we read in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Messiah died for us.”
Questions to consider:
- Do you pray to ask God to forgive you?
- Do you think it is odd God would sacrifice an animal (goat or lamb) to forgive you of your sins?
- Why do you think God designed the system of forgiveness in this way?
- Why is there the need for the sacrificial system in Judaism?
- Do you think it is possible God would reveal His plan for forgiveness to Jewish people through this system?
- If you can work to atone for sins, why would there be the need for the Messiah?
Final thoughts for you to consider:
In this lesson, we have looked at the concept of sin and how God forgives. Whether or not you consider yourself a sinner, we have seen from the Scriptures how all have sinned and fallen short of God’s standard. Therefore, every human being needs God’s forgiveness. His forgiveness is not based on our good deeds or our prayers, even though these are admirable. However, is it not significant how, on the Day of Atonement, we find forgiveness through the death of a goat who carried all of our sin? God set it up this way for a purpose. You might find what Jesus (Yeshua) said to the Jewish leadership quite insightful, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me” (John 5:39).
In our next lesson, we will examine what the Scriptures say about Yeshua being the Messiah.
[1] William Lee Holladay and Ludwig Köhler, A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament: Based upon the Lexical Work of Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, 12. corr. impr. 1991, reprinted (Leiden: Brill, 2000), 100.
[2] Holladay and Köhler, CHALOT, 371, 73.
[3] Holladay and Köhler, CHALOT, 163.
