GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
COLOSSIANS 1:14b
the forgiveness of sins.
Paul uses the phrase “the forgiveness of sins” just four times, twice in his letters (see Ephesians 1:7) and twice in his preaching Acts (Acts 13:38 and 26:18). But the impact of this phase cannot be understated. It is the core of our faith.
What are sins? As a concept, a sin is anything that violates the will of God, including the command to be perfect (Matthew 5:48). It is an aberration of the divine law. “Everyone who sins breaks the law” (1 John 3:4). The Bible has a whole catalog of terms for sin. In Hebrew, the abstract concept of sin can be called:
■ chatah / chata “sin” (Gen 20:9; Lev. 19:17)
■ avon “iniquity” (Hos 12:8, Job 7:21)
■ bushah “shame, guilt” (Obadiah 10)
■ pesha “trespass / transgressing” (Amos 4:4; Micah 1:5)
■ parah “rebellion, deviation” (Deut. 13:5; Isaiah 1:5; Jer 28:16)
■ ma’al “unfaithfulness, treachery” (Ezek 15:8; Dan 9:7)
■ marah “rebellious” (Zeph 3:1)
■ tame’ “be, become defiled” (Haggai 2:13)
■ shagaga “error (of ignorance)” (Eccl. 5:6; 10:5; Lev 4:2)
■ nabalah “folly, wickedness” (Job 42:8; 2 Sam 13:12)
■ aven “iniquity, guilt” (Isaiah 13:12)
■ asham “guilt” (Gen 26:10; Num 5:7-8)
■ and ‘ebrah “pride, wrath” (Isaiah 16:6; Jer 48:30; Prov 21:24).
Other concrete Hebrew terms include ra’ “evil” (Psalm 51:4) and resha’ “wickedness” (Psalm 5:4).
A few portions of the Old Testament were written in Aramaic (Daniel 2-7, Jeremiah 10:11, and parts of Ezra). In these we find:
■ marad “rebellion” (Ezra 4:15; 4:19)
■ chata’ah “sin” (Ezra 6:17; Daniel 4:24)
■ ‘avayah “perversity, iniquity; guilt” (Daniel 4:24)
In the New Testament, there are a lot of Greek terms:
■ hamartia “sin, miss the mark” (John 1:29; Col. 1:14)
■ anomia “lawlessness” (Matt 7:23)
■ adikia “unrighteousness” (Rom 1:18)
■ parabasis “transgression” (Gal 3:19)
■ parakoē “disobedience” (Heb 2:2).
Two that might be accidental sins are paraktoma “misstep” (Met 6:14-15, in the Lord’s Prayer) and planē “error” (Acts 3:26). There is also kakia “malice” (1 Cor 5:8) and poneria “wickedness” (Eph 6:12).
These names for sin include every kind of sin: the original sin we’re born with, the sins we commit by mistake, the sins we commit on purpose, the sins we commit through ignorance, sins of omission, and the sin of trying to obey God but failing (missing the mark).
With such a burden of sin, we must never be tempted to try to redefine what sin is. Sin is real; sin in our status before God. Sin is what infects us through and through.
The word “forgiveness” that Paul uses (aphesis, ἄϕεσις) is to send something away. This can be a release from captivity (Isaiah 49:9), a pardon from a prison sentence (Joel 3:21), or the cancellation of a debt (Matthew 18:27). So by offering himself, his own body, as the sacrifice to atone for our sins, what did Christ accomplish?
Our original sin is no longer counted against us.
God’s judgment: It never happened.
Sins that are mistakes are overlooked.
God’s judgment: It never happened.
Sins that are outright rebellion are removed from our record.
God’s judgment: It never happened.
Sins committed in ignorance are brushed off.
God’s judgment: It never happened.
Sins of omission are set aside.
God’s judgment: It never happened.
“I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34). “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). This is what it means to be forgiven. Christ’s perfect life and atoning death cover the guilt of every one of our sins, sins of every single kind. It is as if none of it ever happened. Through Jesus, we are right in God’s sight. We are holy. We are saved.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Archives by Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: http://www.wlchapel.org/worship/daily-devotion/
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota