Sin Involves More Than You Might Think (We'll Explain)

Summary

This video script explores the biblical concept of 'sin', translating from 'Khata' and 'Hamartia', which fundamentally means 'to fail' or 'miss the goal'. It delves into the profound diagnosis of human nature, where sin is viewed as a failure to love God and others with the respect they deserve. The script highlights how sin is often unrecognized or misinterpreted by individuals, and is deeply rooted in selfish desires leading to relational breakdowns. It also discusses the New Testament's perspective on sin as a ruling force, and concludes with the redemptive narrative of Jesus overcoming sin, offering hope and transformation.

Takeaways

• 📖 The Bible often discusses human imperfection using archaic terms like 'sin', 'iniquity', and 'transgression', which can sound odd to modern readers.
• 🔍 Despite its archaic language, the Bible provides a profound diagnosis of human nature through these terms.
• 🌐 The word 'iniquity' suggests behavior that is not straight or honest, while 'transgression' implies breaking trust.
• 🎯 'Sin' is the most frequently used term in the Bible for moral failure, translating from Hebrew 'Khata' and Greek 'Hamartia', meaning to 'fail' or 'miss the goal'.
• 💡 The concept of sin in the Bible is not merely religious but is fundamentally about failing to fulfill a goal, specifically the goal of being a true image of God.
• 👥 The Bible posits that every human, being made in God's image, should be respected and loved, and sin is the failure to do so.
• 🔑 The Ten Commandments illustrate the dual nature of sin, with half addressing the failure to love God and the other half addressing the failure to love people.
• 🤔 The Bible often portrays individuals as being unaware of their sin or even believing they are doing good, highlighting the human tendency to deceive oneself.
• 👶 The first mention of 'sin' in the Bible involves Cain and Abel, suggesting that sin is a powerful, wild force that can consume humans if not controlled.
• ⛓ Apostle Paul describes 'sin' as a force that enslaves humans, indicating that it is deeply ingrained in human desires and selfishness.
• 🚶 The story of Jesus in the Bible is presented as a solution to sin, showing him as a human who did not fail in love for God and others, and who took on the responsibility for humanity's failures.
• 🎉 The Bible's narrative of Jesus offers hope by depicting his resurrection as a means for humanity to 'die to sin' and 'live to righteousness'.

Q & A

What does the term 'Khata' signify in the context of the Bible?

In the context of the Bible, 'Khata' translates to 'to fail' or 'miss the goal', highlighting a fundamental concept of sin as a failure to achieve a set goal or purpose.

How is the term 'sin' used in the Bible to describe human nature?

The term 'sin' in the Bible is used to describe a failure to fulfill a goal, specifically the goal of being a true image of God, which includes loving God and others with the respect they deserve.

What is the biblical understanding of the relationship between failing to honor God and failing to honor people?

The Bible sees a deep connection between failing to honor God and failing to honor people, as both are forms of sin that stem from a failure to love and respect the image of God in oneself and others.

How does the Bible illustrate the concept of sin in the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife?

In the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife, sin is illustrated as a failure to honor a human made in God's image. Joseph's refusal to sin against God by not sleeping with Potiphar's wife shows his understanding that to sin against a person is to sin against God.

What does the Bible suggest about the nature of sin when people are failing but are unaware or believe they are succeeding?

The Bible suggests that sin is not only about doing bad things but also about self-deception and redefining bad decisions as good ones, as illustrated by examples like Pharaoh and King Saul.

Why does the Bible describe sin as a wild, hungry animal in the story of Cain and Abel?

The Bible uses the imagery of a wild, hungry animal to depict sin as a powerful, consuming force that can control humans if they do not choose what is good, as seen in the story of Cain and Abel.

How does the New Testament view 'Hamartia', the Greek word for sin?

In the New Testament, 'Hamartia' is viewed as a power or force that rules over humans, making them slaves to sin and causing them to act contrary to their better judgment.

What is the biblical perspective on the human condition in relation to sin?

The biblical perspective on the human condition in relation to sin is that it represents a failure to be fully human, an inability to judge moral success or failure accurately, and a deep-seated selfish impulse that drives much of our behavior.

How does the story of Jesus in the Bible offer hope in the face of the human condition described by the concept of sin?

The story of Jesus offers hope by depicting him as the one who did not fail to love God and others, thus not sinning, and who took responsibility for humanity's failures, offering the gift of his life as a covering for their sins.

What is the purpose of the video series called 'The Bad Words of the Bible'?

The purpose of the video series 'The Bad Words of the Bible' is to explore and explain the profound and often misunderstood concepts in the Bible, starting with the word 'sin', to enhance understanding and offer insights into the human condition.

Outlines

00:00

📖 Biblical Understanding of 'Sin'

This paragraph delves into the biblical concept of 'sin', starting with the misconception that the Bible only highlights human imperfections. It explains that the term 'sin', derived from 'Khata' in Hebrew and 'Hamartia' in Greek, essentially means 'to fail' or 'miss the goal'. The script explores the idea that sin is not just about religious transgressions but a failure to love God and others as they deserve. Highlighting the Ten Commandments, it shows how sin is tied to both the failure to honor God and to love people. The paragraph also discusses the self-deceptive nature of sin, where individuals often fail to recognize their moral failures, using examples from biblical figures like Pharaoh and King Saul. It concludes by framing sin as a deep-seated, selfish impulse that affects human behavior, leading to relational breakdowns, and is depicted as a force that humans struggle to overcome.

05:03

🎥 Introduction to 'The Bad Words of the Bible' Series

The second paragraph serves as an introduction to a video series called 'The Bad Words of the Bible', which aims to explore and explain terms in the Bible that may sound odd to modern audiences. The speaker invites viewers to visit thebibbleproject.com for more content and acknowledges the crowd-funded nature of the project. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of viewer support in creating videos, podcasts, and other resources, expressing gratitude for the audience's involvement and contribution to the project.

Keywords

💡Sin

In the context of the video, 'sin' is derived from the Hebrew word 'Khata' and the Greek word 'Hamartia', which fundamentally means 'to fail' or 'miss the goal'. It is central to the video's theme as it represents a failure to fulfill the goal of being a true human image of God, which includes loving God and others. The script uses the example of the Ten Commandments to illustrate how sin can be a failure in both loving God and people.

💡Iniquity

'Iniquity' is used in the script to describe behavior that is crooked or not straightforward. It is one of the biblical terms for moral failure, which, along with 'transgression' and 'sin', helps to paint a comprehensive picture of the human condition as seen through the lens of the Bible. The term is used to emphasize the deceptive nature of sin.

💡Transgression

'Transgression' refers to the act of breaking trust, as mentioned in the script. It is another term used to describe moral failure in the Bible. The concept ties into the theme of the video by showing how humans not only fail to meet their own goals but also break trust with others, which is a form of sin.

💡Human Condition

The 'human condition' in the video is explored through the lens of biblical vocabulary, highlighting the inherent failures and moral shortcomings of humanity. It is the overarching theme that the script examines, using terms like 'sin', 'iniquity', and 'transgression' to delve into the depths of human nature and our tendency toward self-deception.

💡Khata

'Khata' is the Hebrew word for 'sin', which means 'to fail' or 'miss the goal'. The script uses this term to explain the basic meaning of sin in the Bible, emphasizing that sin is not just a religious concept but a fundamental human failure to achieve what is expected or desired.

💡Hamartia

'Hamartia' is the Greek word for 'sin', and like 'Khata', it carries the meaning of missing the mark or failing. The script explains that this term helps to understand the concept of sin in the New Testament, reinforcing the idea that sin is a universal human experience of moral failure.

💡Image of God

The term 'image of God' is used in the script to describe the inherent dignity and sacredness of every human being, as they are created in the likeness of God. This concept is crucial to understanding sin as a failure to love God and others, and to treat them with the respect they deserve.

💡Ten Commandments

The 'Ten Commandments' serve as a biblical code of conduct in the script, highlighting the ways in which humans can fail to love God and others. The commandments are used to illustrate the interconnectedness of sins against God and sins against people, emphasizing the video's theme of moral failure.

💡Self-Deception

'Self-deception' is a key concept in the video, illustrating how humans often fail to recognize their own moral failures or even perceive them as successes. The script provides examples such as Pharaoh and King Saul to demonstrate how self-deception can lead to significant moral errors.

💡Chain Reaction

The 'chain reaction' in the script refers to the ripple effect of sin, showing how one act of moral failure can lead to a series of relational breakdowns. It is used to explain the far-reaching consequences of sin and its impact on human relationships.

💡Apostle Paul

The script quotes the Apostle Paul to describe 'Hamartia' as a power or force that enslaves humans, indicating the pervasive and controlling nature of sin. Paul's words are used to emphasize the inherent struggle humans face in overcoming sin and the need for redemption.

💡Jesus

In the script, Jesus is presented as the embodiment of the true human who did not sin, yet took responsibility for humanity's failures. His life, death, and resurrection are depicted as the means of overcoming sin and offering redemption, which is the hopeful message of the video.

Highlights

The Bible uses words like 'sin', 'inequity', and 'transgression' to describe the human condition, which may sound odd to modern readers.

Despite being unfamiliar, these terms offer a profound diagnosis of human nature.

The term 'inequity' describes behavior that is not straightforward or honest.

'Transgression' refers to the act of breaking trust, indicating a failure in relationships.

The word 'sin' is derived from the Hebrew 'Khata' and Greek 'Hamartia', meaning to 'fail' or 'miss the goal'.

In the Bible, sin is viewed as a failure to fulfill the goal of being created in God's image.

The Ten Commandments illustrate the dual failure of not loving God and not loving people.

Sin is deeply connected to the failure to honor both God and fellow human beings.

Joseph's refusal to sin against God by not sleeping with Potiphar's wife exemplifies the interconnectedness of honoring God and humans.

Sin is not just about doing bad things; it also involves self-deception and redefining bad decisions as good.

The Bible suggests that humans are poor judges of their own moral failures and successes.

The story of Cain and Abel provides insight into the origins of sin as a force that humans struggle to control.

Sin is depicted as a wild, hungry animal in the Bible, symbolizing our deep-rooted selfish desires.

The Apostle Paul describes 'Hamartia' as a power or force that enslaves humans, indicating our inherent inability to resist sin.

The story of Jesus in the Bible is presented as good news, offering a life that did not fail to love God and others.

Jesus is portrayed as taking responsibility for humanity's failures and offering redemption through his life and resurrection.

The biblical perspective on sin provides a realistic and robust description of the human condition, including our failures and selfish impulses.

The video series aims to explore the 'bad words' of the Bible, offering deeper understanding through crowd-funded resources.

Transcripts

Word Study: Khata - "Sin"

Most people assume the Bible has a lot to say about how messed up humans are, and that is true.

It is also true that the Bible's vocabulary about this topic sounds odd to modern people,

using words like: sin, iniquiity or transgression.

So, the Bible's perspective on the human condition is often ignored or treated as ancient and backwards.

This is really unfortunate.

Because, through these words, the biblical authors are offering us deeply profound diagnosis of human nature.

Iniquity describes behavior that is crooked,

while transgression refers to breaking trust.

Sin is actually the most common of this bad words in the Bible.

So, let's focus on it for a few minutes.

"Sin" translates the Hebrew word "Khata" and the Greek word "Hamartia".

The most basic meaning of sin isn't religious at all.

"Khata" simply means "to fail" or "miss the goal".

Like when the Israelite tribe of Benjamin trained a small army of slingshot experts,

they could sling a stone at a hair and not "khata", that is "fail" or "miss".

Or, there is the biblical proverb that warns against making hasty decisions

because you are likely to "khata" your way, miss your destination.

So, in the Bible; sin is a failure to fulfill a goal.

What is the goal?

Well, on page 1 of the Bible, we learn that every human is a image of God,

a sacred being who represents the Creator and is worthy of respect.

In this way of seeing the world, sin is a failure to love God and others

by not treating them with the honor they deserve.

You can see this idea in the famous code of conduct given to the Israelites - the Ten Commandments.

Half of them identify ways you can fail at loving God.

The other half names ways you can fail at loving people.

The fact that both kinds of failure are combined shows that failing to honor God is deeply connected to failing to honor people.

This is why, in the Bible, sin against people is sin against God.

Like when Joseph refuses to sleep with the wife of Potiphar, he says,

"How could I sin against God?"

In Joseph's mind, failing to honor a human made in God's image is a failure to love God.

So, sin is a failure to be truly human.

But there is more.

The fascinating thing about sin in the Bible is that most of the time that people are failing,

they either don't know it, or even worse, they think they are succeeding.

Like when Pharaoh wants to build Egypt's economy and protect national security.

In his mind, this justifies enslaving the Israelites.

He thinks it is good.

He is totally unaware that it is an epic fail.

Or when King Saul is chasing David around the wilderness trying to kill him,

he thought he was bringing a criminal to justice.

Until he realizes he is the corrupt one and he says, "I have sinned, I am the failure."

So, sin is about more than just doing bad things.

It describes how we easily deceive ourselves and spin illusions to redefine our bad decisions as good ones.

So why are humans such bad judges between moral failure and success?

The first appearance of the word "sin" in the Bible offers an insight.

There are these two brothers, Cain and Abel.

Their parents had just given into this beastly temptation to redefine good and evil by their own wisdom.

Now Cain is faced with a similar choice.

He is jealous and angry that God has favored his brother.

So God warns him, "If you don't choose what's good,

Khata is crouching at the door.

It wants you, but you can rule over it."

In these stories sin, or moral failure, is depicted as a wild, hungry animal that wants to consume humans.

We know how that story ends.

The Bible is trying to tell us that failed human behavior, our tendency toward self deception, it runs deep.

It is rooted in our desires and selfish urges that compel us to act for our own benefit at the expense of others.

It leads to this chain reaction of relational break down.

This is why in the New Testament, the apostle Paul describes Hamartia as a power or a force that rules humans.

In his words, "We are slaves to sin."

He even says, "Sin lives in us so that the things I don't want to do, that's what I do."

With the word "sin", the biblical authors are offering a robust description of the human condition.

It is a failure to be humans who fully love God and others.

It is our inability to judge whether we are succeeding or failing.

It is that deep, selfish impulse that drives much of our behavior.

This is not a pretty picture of ourselves.

But, if we are honest, it is realistic.

This is why in the Bible, the story of Jesus is such good news.

He is depicted as the Creator become a truly human one who did not fail to love God and others.

That is, he did not sin.

And yet, he took responsiblity for humanity's history of failure.

He lived for others and he died for their sin.

He was raised from the dead to offer them the gift of his life that covers for their failures.

Or in the word of the apostles,

"He committed no sin yet he carried our sins in his body on the cross

so that we might die to our sins and live to do what is right."

That is the story behind the biblical word for sin.

Hey, everybody! That was the first video

that we are doing in a series called the bad words of the Bible.

We have a lot more coming out,

and a lot more videos, that you can checkout and everything we are up to at thebibbleproject.com

This entire project is a crowed funded en-devour

and we can make videos and our podcasts and other resources because of the generous support of

people like you, so thank you for being a part of it with us.