Q. 14.  What is sin?

A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.

Q. 18.  Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?

A. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin; together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.

Q. 19.  What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?

A. All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever.

Many are familiar with Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” In this short story, two con artists trick a king by posing as weavers and promising the king a new set of clothes that would only be visible to one fit for the king’s position. Of course, they don’t actually weave any clothes but the king can’t admit that or otherwise he would be confessing his unworthiness. Eventually, the day comes for the king to show off his “new clothes” to the people and he marches through the street naked. Everyone pretends they can see the clothes out of fear of reprisal from the king until one little boy blurts out the obvious: “But he isn’t wearing anything at all.” The spell is broken, the crowd breaks into laughter, and the king returns home in humiliation.

It’s a parable of how far people will go to deny the obvious. And yet we often take the same approach when it comes to sin. One person referred to sin as “the problem everybody has but nobody talks about.” Some deny sin even exists. Others declare that sin is becoming less of an issue and will eventually fade away as we march forward to ever-increasing perfection. Still others will simply define sin as “the really bad things” people do, like murder, and thus only an issue for a very small percentage of the population.

God, through the Holy Scriptures, however, is like the little boy in the story, crying out that we all have a big problem. For just one example, we can go to the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 3. In summarizing his argument about the nature of man apart from God, he quotes various Old Testament Scriptures, such as “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God... no one does good, not even one” (vv.11-12). And then his grand summary statement in v. 23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” And Psalm 51, David’s song of repentance, shows forth that the way to deal with sin is not by denying it but confessing it and doing that clearly (cf. vv. 1-4)

The Westminster Shorter Catechism (WSC) covers this topic in questions 13-19. We covered some questions in last week’s blog. There are several key features to note from the three questions listed above.

- Sin is defined according to a standard external to ourselves.  We don’t get to develop the standard; God does (“law of God”).  Sin is also more than doing bad things (“transgression of…”) but includes the good things we fail to do (“want of conformity unto..”). As one confession of sin puts it, we confess we have sinned against God “by what we have done and by what we have left undone”.

- Sinful acts flow from a sinful nature. The problem of sin is not external only. It deals with the very nature of who we are even as we are born into this world. People aren’t born neutral or basically good. Instead, because of our connection with Adam, our natures are corrupted. This corruption extends to all the parts of who we are as people (body, mind, emotions, etc.), though it does not mean that every part is 100% utterly corrupt.

- This sinful state is not a pleasant one but one of misery. Our relationship with God is no longer like our first parents who enjoyed sweet fellowship with God. Instead, it is one of enmity. And this misery of living under God’s wrath and curse is not only for this life but is experienced in death itself and extends into eternity.

Not a pretty picture, is it? It is understandable why we are tempted to live in denial of this obvious and significant problem. And the more we consider ourselves in light of the law of God, the more we see how deep the problem is. It is no small matter for any of us. As one writer has stated, “Cheer up, church! You’re worse off than you think.” And yet, acknowledging there is a problem is the necessary first step towards embracing the solution. And lest I leave you completely in despair, know that the next question in WSC asks if God has left us in this state of sin and misery. The answer is a resounding NO! And in that reality, we find our hope of something better.