Am I a sinner?

 What is sin? Am I a sinner? Can I be rescued?


The Bible word we know as “sin” literally means to fall short, miss the mark. Imagine standing on a sinking ship in the middle of the ocean.  The only chance for survival is to jump to shore.  How many fall short…all.  In this context, all have sinned.  All have fallen short of shore.  All are sinners. 


 When the Bible says “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23, it means all have fallen short of God’s perfect standard.  Only God is perfect, all fall short of the glory of God.  

Many get offended at the word “sin” and even more so with the label “sinner”.  This happens because the word(s) usually come from a comparative context …or at least interpreted as such.   As when one uses the word(s) to describe the hearer but not the speaker.  

“Sin” and “sinner” cannot be used in a comparative context.  It is irrelevant at best and ludicrous at worst.  Two jump from the ship, one turns to other, “I jumped five feet further!” … Really? 

God’s standard is Himself.  He is perfect.  He performs perfectly, He loves perfectly, He thinks perfectly.  His ways are perfectly just, His actions are perfectly holy, His will is perfectly righteous.   We as human beings simply cannot reach that mark.

Additionally, the Bible speaks of individual “sins”. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor, etc.  However, Jesus explained that sinning goes beyond the individual acts, to the heart behind the acts.  If one looks with lust, they have already committed adultery in their heart Matthew 5:27-28.  They have sinned, and so on. 

True, scripture speaks more harshly concerning some sins than others, but nowhere does it change the standard.  “Big sins” or “little sins” all fall short of the mark.  How far short is irrelevant. And the consequences are the same.  Jump five feet from the ship or ten, minus a rescue from an outside source, I am going to drown.  And in terms of Biblical sin, the consequences are much worse.  

The wages of sin is death Romans 6:23. This is referring to a second death that occurs after the first.  It means to be consigned to a lake of fire forever, forever, and forever Revelation 20:14-15.  I once heard an illustration of the eternity of the lake of fire.  Imagine a rock the size of the largest mountain.  Every million years a dove gently flies over the rock and grazes its wing across the surface.  When the dove will have worn away the rock, one has spent their first second in the lake of fire.  


Going back centuries, people have debated as to whether we sin because we are sinners or are we sinners because we sin?  To phrase it differently, is it possible to jump to shore? The question is moot, no one ever jumps to shore.  Many can argue the possibility, but as yet, no one ever has.  

Further, there are some who question the standard.  They accuse God of demanding too much.  But the simple truth is that man sunk the ship, God didn’t.  The distance between the ship and the shore is humanities doing, not God’s.  And though He would have been no less holy or just if He simply allowed us to drown (burn), He chose rather to rescue us at great Personal cost to Himself.  What cost? 

God sent His only son (Jesus) so that whoever trusts in Him will not perish but be rescued.  To use our analogy one last time, Jesus left the shore, carried us to safety, drowning Himself in the process. He as God, became man.  Lived sinlessly on my behalf, credited that sinlessness to me, took my sinfulness upon Himself and suffered the consequences on my behalf.  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him 2 Corinthians 5:21.  

To God’s accusers, are the requirements too much? I don’t think so.   God fulfills His demands on our behalf.  His only ask is that we admit our inability and by faith receive His rescue


So to sum up our original questions … 

What is sin? -  Falling short of God’s perfection.  

What are sins?  - Doing what God would not do and/or failing to do what God would do.



Am I a sinner? Yes, in every way and by every definition. 

Is there a rescue? – YES! Trust the risen Jesus. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved Romans 10:13

Lord Jesus, I trust You suffered in my place when crucified many years ago. I believe that Your death paid for my sin(s).  I believe that You rose from the dead and that You are in Heaven.  I ask You to forgive me of my sins and save me from their consequences.  Thankyou Jesus for doing so.  Thankyou God for making it possible. Help me now to find a deeper relationship with You.  Amen. 

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