Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Sin"

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)

Sin
is "any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of
God" (1 John 3:4; Rom. 4:15), in the inward state and habit of
the soul, as well as in the outward conduct of the life, whether
by omission or commission (Rom. 6:12-17; 7:5-24). It is "not a
mere violation of the law of our constitution, nor of the system
of things, but an offence against a personal lawgiver and moral
governor who vindicates his law with penalties. The soul that
sins is always conscious that his sin is (1) intrinsically vile
and polluting, and (2) that it justly deserves punishment, and
calls down the righteous wrath of God. Hence sin carries with it
two inalienable characters, (1) ill-desert, guilt (reatus); and
(2) pollution (macula).", Hodge's Outlines.

The moral character of a man's actions is determined by the
moral state of his heart. The disposition to sin, or the habit
of the soul that leads to the sinful act, is itself also sin
(Rom. 6:12-17; Gal. 5:17; James 1:14, 15).

The origin of sin is a mystery, and must for ever remain such
to us. It is plain that for some reason God has permitted sin to
enter this world, and that is all we know. His permitting it,
however, in no way makes God the author of sin.

Adam's sin (Gen. 3:1-6) consisted in his yielding to the
assaults of temptation and eating the forbidden fruit. It
involved in it, (1) the sin of unbelief, virtually making God a
liar; and (2) the guilt of disobedience to a positive command.
By this sin he became an apostate from God, a rebel in arms
against his Creator. He lost the favour of God and communion
with him; his whole nature became depraved, and he incurred the
penalty involved in the covenant of works.

Original sin. "Our first parents being the root of all
mankind, the guilt of their sin was imputed, and the same death
in sin and corrupted nature were conveyed to all their
posterity, descending from them by ordinary generation." Adam
was constituted by God the federal head and representative of
all his posterity, as he was also their natural head, and
therefore when he fell they fell with him (Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor.
15:22-45). His probation was their probation, and his fall their
fall. Because of Adam's first sin all his posterity came into
the world in a state of sin and condemnation, i.e., (1) a state
of moral corruption, and (2) of guilt, as having judicially
imputed to them the guilt of Adam's first sin.

"Original sin" is frequently and properly used to denote only
the moral corruption of their whole nature inherited by all men
from Adam. This inherited moral corruption consists in, (1) the
loss of original righteousness; and (2) the presence of a
constant proneness to evil, which is the root and origin of all
actual sin. It is called "sin" (Rom. 6:12, 14, 17; 7:5-17), the
"flesh" (Gal. 5:17, 24), "lust" (James 1:14, 15), the "body of
sin" (Rom. 6:6), "ignorance," "blindness of heart," "alienation
from the life of God" (Eph. 4:18, 19). It influences and
depraves the whole man, and its tendency is still downward to
deeper and deeper corruption, there remaining no recuperative
element in the soul. It is a total depravity, and it is also
universally inherited by all the natural descendants of Adam
(Rom. 3:10-23; 5:12-21; 8:7). Pelagians deny original sin, and
regard man as by nature morally and spiritually well;
semi-Pelagians regard him as morally sick; Augustinians, or, as
they are also called, Calvinists, regard man as described above,
spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1; 1 John 3:14).

The doctrine of original sin is proved, (1.) From the fact of
the universal sinfulness of men. "There is no man that sinneth
not" (1 Kings 8:46; Isa. 53:6; Ps. 130:3; Rom. 3:19, 22, 23;
Gal. 3:22). (2.) From the total depravity of man. All men are
declared to be destitute of any principle of spiritual life;
man's apostasy from God is total and complete (Job 15:14-16;
Gen. 6:5,6). (3.) From its early manifestation (Ps. 58:3; Prov.
22:15). (4.) It is proved also from the necessity, absolutely
and universally, of regeneration (John 3:3; 2 Cor. 5:17). (5.)
From the universality of death (Rom. 5:12-20).

Various kinds of sin are mentioned, (1.) "Presumptuous sins,"
or as literally rendered, "sins with an uplifted hand", i.e.,
defiant acts of sin, in contrast with "errors" or
"inadvertencies" (Ps. 19:13). (2.) "Secret", i.e., hidden sins
(19:12); sins which escape the notice of the soul. (3.) "Sin
against the Holy Ghost" (q.v.), or a "sin unto death" (Matt.
12:31, 32; 1 John 5:16), which amounts to a wilful rejection of
grace.

Sin, a city in Egypt, called by the Greeks Pelusium, which
means, as does also the Hebrew name, "clayey" or "muddy," so
called from the abundance of clay found there. It is called by
Ezekel (Ezek. 30:15) "the strength of Egypt, "thus denoting its
importance as a fortified city. It has been identified with the
modern Tineh, "a miry place," where its ruins are to be found.
Of its boasted magnificence only four red granite columns
remain, and some few fragments of others.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Sin \Sin\, adv., prep., & conj.
Old form of {Since}. [Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

Sin that his lord was twenty year of age. --Chaucer.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Sin \Sin\, n. [OE. sinne, AS. synn, syn; akin to D. zonde, OS.
sundia, OHG. sunta, G. s["u]nde, Icel., Dan. & Sw. synd, L.
sons, sontis, guilty, perhaps originally from the p. pr. of
the verb signifying, to be, and meaning, the one who it is.
Cf. {Authentic}, {Sooth}.]
1. Transgression of the law of God; disobedience of the
divine command; any violation of God's will, either in
purpose or conduct; moral deficiency in the character;
iniquity; as, sins of omission and sins of commission.

Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
--John viii.
34.

Sin is the transgression of the law. --1 John iii.
4.

I think 't no sin. To cozen him that would unjustly
win. --Shak.

Enthralled By sin to foul, exorbitant desires.
--Milton.

2. An offense, in general; a violation of propriety; a
misdemeanor; as, a sin against good manners.

I grant that poetry's a crying sin. --Pope.

3. A sin offering; a sacrifice for sin.

He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin.
--2 Cor. v.
21.

4. An embodiment of sin; a very wicked person. [R.]

Thy ambition, Thou scarlet sin, robbed this
bewailing land Of noble Buckingham. --Shak.

Note: Sin is used in the formation of some compound words of
obvious signification; as, sin-born; sin-bred,
sin-oppressed, sin-polluted, and the like.

{Canonical sins},

{Original sin},

{Venial sin}. See under {Actual}, {Canonical}, etc.

{Deadly}, or

{sins} (R. C. Ch.), willful and deliberate transgressions,
which take away divine grace; -- in distinction from
vental sins. The seven deadly sins are pride,
covetousness, lust, wrath, gluttony, envy, and sloth.

{Sin eater}, a man who (according to a former practice in
England) for a small gratuity ate a piece of bread laid on
the chest of a dead person, whereby he was supposed to
have taken the sins of the dead person upon himself.

{Sin offering}, a sacrifice for sin; something offered as an
expiation for sin.

Syn: Iniquity; wickedness; wrong. See {Crime}.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Sin \Sin\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Sinned}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Sinning}.] [OE. sinnen, singen, sinegen, AS. syngian. See
{Sin}, n.]
1. To depart voluntarily from the path of duty prescribed by
God to man; to violate the divine law in any particular,
by actual transgression or by the neglect or nonobservance
of its injunctions; to violate any known rule of duty; --
often followed by against.

Against thee, thee only, have I sinned. --Ps. li. 4.

All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
--Rom. iii.
23.

2. To violate human rights, law, or propriety; to commit an
offense; to trespass; to transgress.

I am a man More sinned against than sinning. --Shak.

Who but wishes to invert the laws Of order, sins
against the eternal cause. --Pope.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

sin
n 1: estrangement from god [syn: {sinfulness}, {wickedness}]
2: an act that is regarded by theologians as a transgression of
God's will [syn: {sinning}]
3: ratio of the opposite side to the hypotenuse [syn: {sine}]
4: (Akkadian) god of the moon; counterpart of Sumerian Nanna
[syn: {Sin}]
5: the 21st letter of the Hebrew alphabet
6: (colloquial) violent and excited activity; "they began to
fight like sin" [syn: {hell}]
v 1: commit a sin; violate a law of God
2: commit a faux pas or fault [syn: {blunder}, {boob}, {goof}]

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