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Sin and Crime
The Bible is a book about sin as it is as much a book about God’s grace. Sin is what
separates us from God. Isaiah states, “But your iniquities are separating you from your God, and
your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not listen.” (Christian Standard Bible,
2017, Isaiah 59:2) In other Old Testament books, it is noted that provoking God and rebelling
against Him by not following His commandments stirs anger in Him to a point where He will
destroy us (Christian Standard Bible, 2017 Deuteronomy 9:7, Joshua 1:18). In his writings, Paul
describes the sinful nature of man even further. In his writings to the Romans, Paul tells us, “For
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Christian Standard Bible, 2017, Romans
3:23). Paul dives heavily into the idea it is not just people that are sinful, but it is our flesh that
gives us that sinful nature. This would seem to indicate that sinful nature is something we inherit
just as we are given life. In chapter eight of Romans, he states, “For what the law could not do
since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering.” (Christian Standard Bible, 2017, Romans
8:4).
If sin separates us from God, yet we are made in His image, as the Word states in
Genesis, something must have gotten off track somewhere. As referenced in Isaiah, we see the
first time we were separated from God recorded in Genesis three. Adam and Eve were created
and left to manage the Garden of Eden. They were tricked by the serpent to do the one thing that
God forbade them from, which was eating from that one tree in the middle of the garden. After
eating the fruit of the tree sin entered the world. God was among them according to Genesis,
“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden in
the cool of the day.” When they heard God they hid from Him. They hid so well that God asked,
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“Where are you?” This event showcases the immediate aftermath of sin that Isaiah spoke about.
God was with them in the garden and after eating the fruit they felt shame. This shame is what
led them to hide and not be quickly found by The Lord. God then banished them from the
Garden of Eden, separating them from him, and made it so they could not come back.
In Romans, Paul reveals to us a succinct lineage of sin, “Therefore, just as sin entered the
world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people because all
sin.” (Christian Standard Bible, 2017, Romans 5:12). That same sin that Adam brought into the
world and made him hide from God is the same sin that we partake in today. That sinful nature
that entered the world through one man has been passed down to the rest of humanity. Jesus is
the only one to have been spared from this sinful nature. Arguments have been made considering
the biological reason for this, but what was written by Paul should bring clarity, “For this is the
kind of high priest we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above
the heavens.” (Christian Standard Bible, 2017, Romans 7:26). Jesus was set aside from this sin
nature. The Bible doesn’t answer the biology behind why that may be. Only that He is, and we
should use faith to know it to be true.
Overcoming Sin Nature
Many churchgoers sit in pews every week listening to sermons of repentance. This
message is repeated over and over by pastors nationwide regardless of denomination. Sin must
be defeated and Scripture tells overcoming sin, or at least not how not to be utterly defeated by it.
In James’ epistle, he writes, “Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil he will flee from you...
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” (Christian Standard Bible, 2017,
James 4:7 & 10). Submission to God is a common theme throughout the Old and New
Testaments. Any time “the flesh” is referenced there is a bad connotation. The flesh represents
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our sinful nature. Once again, we land in Romans where Paul writes that “the flesh” is hostile
toward God. Paul dictates that if we have Christ in us then our spirit is not dead because he is
what gives us life. (Christian Standard Bible, 2017, Romans 8: 7 & 10).
These verses, as with so many others throughout scripture talk about submission to God
and noting that the flesh is bad. That sinful nature brought into the world by Adam has tainted
our flesh. It is only by submission and acknowledgment that Christ is Lord that sin can be
combatted. The Gospels and letters reveal extensively how Christ can come into us so that he
may beat back this sin that we were born into. The oft-quoted verse of John 3:16 is used when it
comes to sermons of salvation. If we step back and look at the passage as a whole more truth is
revealed. John writes that believing in the Son of Man gives us eternal life. In this passage, Jesus
goes on to say that people love darkness and not the light. They did so because their deeds were
evil (Christian Standard Bible, 2017, John 3:14-21). We need Jesus to bring that light into the
darkness.
Effects of Sin Nature
Sin is what separates us from God. Sinful nature and God are just wholly incompatible.
Humanity is not perfect, and that will never be so. Paul articulates as much when he says that we
are all sinners and fall short. He also tells how grave the prognosis is when it comes to sin, “For
the wages of sin is death…” (Christian Standard Bible, 2017, Romans 6:26). Sin doesn’t kill you
as so much as it builds that wall that keeps you from God. The sinful nature of man is
highlighted throughout the book of Judges. Often the phrase, “Israel did evil in the sight of the
LORD” is used several times. The period covered is not exceptionally long yet there are many
episodes of Israel separating themselves from God. The biggest culprit was their sin idol worship
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and general disobedience to God. Turmoil in the form of wars, captivity, and death were all
brought on Israel for their sin and disobedience (Christian Standard Bible, 2017, Judges 3-13).
In Mark, Jesus is speaking to his apostles, and he talks about sinful nature. There was a
question raised by the Pharisees about eating unclean food. Old Testament law would have
forbidden Jews from eating bread with unclean hands. Jesus confronts their questioning by
saying, “From within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts,
murders, adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, self-indulgence, envy, slander, pride, and
foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a person.” (Christian Standard
Bible, 2017, Mark 7:21-23). If we study this list of things, we can easily draw a connection to
modern-day criminal law. While some of the actions listed are not crimes, they are indeed the
motive more often than not for the crime itself. The same place that Jesus is supposed to indwell
is where the wickedness comes from. In Paul’s letter to Ephesus he states, “and that Christ may
dwell in your hearts through faith…” (Christian Standard Bible, 2017, Ephesians 3:17). If Chris
is allowed to dwell in our hearts, then he can root out our sin nature. That sinful nature in which
causes us to break the laws of man through sin.
Sin and Crime
Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with ten commandments that not only established a
basis for God’s law but also a foundation for modern-day criminal law. Many laws on the books
throughout America have their roots in being labeled a sin first. Essentially this means that
statutorily it has been acknowledged that many sins should be illegal and punished by the law of
the land. The first half of the commandments serve as God’s law and are not criminal law in non-
theocratic governments. The latter half at some point in history has been a criminal law in many
places. This includes adultery which is a criminal statute in the state of Georgia. Commandment
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ten tells us to not covet which in and of itself is a sin, but not criminal. Coveting people’s things
is oftentimes a motive for the statutory crime.
Mens rea or guilty mind is a widely taught principle in criminal justice and simply means
that for a person to be guilty intent needs to be involved. The Bible covers this and explains that
homicide may not always be sinful. Moses writes in Exodus,
Whoever strikes a person so that he dies must be put to death. But if he did not
intend any harm and yet God allowed it to happen, I will appoint a place for you
where he may flee. If a person schemes and willfully acts against his neighbor to
murder him, you must take him from my altar to be put to death.” (Christian
Standard Bible, 2017, Exodus 21:12-14).
God allows Moses to set up a provision for those who unintentionally killed someone. These
places were called cities of refuge. Biblical foundations exist not just for the connection between
sin and crime but other criminal justice ideals such as mens rea.
Conclusion
Scripture teaches abundantly about what sin is and the sinful nature of man. God has a
spiritual jurisdiction over us and anything against His will must be taken up with Him.
Fortunately, any transgression against Him must be taken to court in the form of Jesus’ death on
the cross. Criminal jurisdiction happens on Earth and while our sins committed from our sinful
nature may be spiritually cleansed the Bible tells us there is worldly punishment. During Jesus’
ministry, he never touches on worldy punishment, but Paul tells us to obey our government. He
writes that God is the one who puts people into power. Worldy governments are given their
authority to rule by God. (Christian Standard Bible, 2017, Romans 13:1).
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Ever since that original sin, humanity has had to deal with the ramifications. Adam and
Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden where they resided in the physical presence of God. It
states in Genesis that God could not find them at first which in Isaiah we learn that sin hides us
from God. We learned that Jesus spoke about evil indwelling our hearts. This evil he speaks of is
the sinful nature that we are born with. Paul explained that our noted sinful heart is where Christ
is supposed to indwell. We have to, by faith, allow him in to fill the room that sin will fill
otherwise.
It is to our great benefit that we are not judged spiritually by earthly statutes. While the
spiritual may overlap with the worldly the worldly will never have a bearing on the spiritual. In
the Gospel of Luke, the crucifixion story details this. Jesus is crucified for blaspheming, which is
something someone would never be punished for today. The two criminals next to Jesus were
guilty of worldly transgressions as well as sinning. Both of these guys would face consequences
from the world because of the worldy rules. Only one however would face spiritual
consequences for their sinful existence. One criminal mocked while the other asked, “Jesus,
remember me when you come into your kingdom. And he said to him, “Truly I tell you, today
you will be with me in paradise.” (Christian Standard Bible, 2017, Luke 23:42-43). This is the
ultimate confirmation that our sinful nature that envelopes us on Earth does not spiritually
bankrupt us. As the criminal did, we have to know that Jesus is King, and we will be with Him in
paradise.
