All are under sin. Sin is a word that is used to describe a failing to hit a target or reach a standard, a failing to obey authority. To be under sin is to be dominated and controlled by this nature. The standard, target, authority is defined by the Creator God of the Bible. Sin is going contrary to God, retreating from God, turning one’s back on God, defying God, ignoring God; that is, in essence, playing God. Sin is living, serving, pleasing the self without reference to Him. Sin is living independent of this God, keeping Him at a distance, living a life without acknowledging Him. Sin is making decisions based on one’s own standard of reference rather the standard He has defined. Sin is lawlessness, living in violation of His moral law. Sin is not believing what He says and acting upon it. Sin is pride and self-absorption. There are those who know this God, but who do not honor or worship Him. This is sin. There are those who know this God , who know and teach His law, but do not practice what they preach. This is sin. Sin then is missing the target, the standard that the God of the Bible has set for a life of peace and happiness.

The difficulty all face is that, according to the Bible, they are hopelessly under the domination of this sin condition. All are under condemnation by God’s holiness and rightness because of their attempts to be like God in their own efforts, their own religious practices, their own morality. This state of condemnation produces the human emotions of guilt, shame, anger, bitterness, and the like. Within themselves, all do not have the ability to obey God’s commands, to love Him and serve Him. In God’s sight, there is always something corrupt in every human action since that action originates with their righteousness apart from that which is defined by God. God will accept no other rightness except that which is defined by Him. All are then under the wrath of God, an enemy of His, and sentenced to death for their disobedience.

If all are hopelessly bound to a life driven and dominated by this human nature, what are they to do? After seeing they are incapable of reaching the mark or standard in their own efforts, becoming aware of their helpless condition, what are they to do? How is it possible for them to be free from the perplexing dilemma of a life of guilt and shame because they do not measure up to the standard for a life of peace given by the God of the Bible?

The good news is this: The same God who has set the mark for a life of peace, the One who has deliberately produced the dilemma in the mind of man, is the same God who has made Himself approachable in a relationship with Him. In His nature, He provides forgiveness and acceptance for missing the mark. He has provided a way for anyone to be forgiven of the offenses against Him and His law. In God’s plan to establish this relationship, He has required a sacrifice of blood as a penalty for the violent, arrogant response of indifference and disobedience to His perfect law. After centuries of gradual revelation through an animal sacrificial system as pictured in the Hebrew Scriptures of the Old Testament, a Person was born approximately 2000 years ago. He made claims of being the perfect and final sacrifice necessary for anyone among the human race to be forgiven for any and all offenses against God’s law. That Person is Jesus of Nazareth, the Jewish Messiah promised in Hebrew Scripture, whom His followers of the first century called "Lord," "Messiah or Christ," and "Savior," and who is now the Messiah for all, both Jews and Gentiles.

The good news is that anyone who receives the claims of Jesus can be free from a life under the control of the sin nature and begin to experience what He called "eternal life." They can find a Person who will forgive them, accept them for disrespectfully disregarding God’s standard of morality and goodness as defined in Jesus. They can learn to live at peace with God through the work of Jesus the Christ. Anyone can also become free from the rule or bondage of a life under law as a means of living a holy life. When Jesus of Nazareth perfectly kept God’s law, He satisfied the demands of the law on behalf of the one who believes. The debt or obligation of the law against the believer has been canceled because the requirements of the law have been met in the life of Jesus Christ, the One whom the believer has received as Savior and Lord of their life.

The response of a person to the claims of Jesus the Christ is called faith, that is, turning to God for forgiveness, knowing and do God’s plan to free the person from a life controlled by the sin nature. As that person begins to learn of God’s ways, they will turn from a life once dominated by self. They will have a change of mind about life decisions and issues after knowing God and His ways. This is called repentance. Faith - believing God - and repentance - a change of mind toward God’s ways - become marked characteristics of the believer's life.

After beginning this relationship with God through Christ Jesus, the person will experience His forgiveness as a way of life by

1. admitting guilt when a thought or action is against God’s way;

2. then confessing to God (and in some cases other Christians) that He is right;

3. believing in and receiving Christ as the satisfactory and sufficient substitute for the disobedience; and finally,

4. thanking Him for His forgiveness and acceptance through the Person and work of Jesus the Christ.

Investigate for yourself the claims Jesus of Nazareth makes and those of His followers. Read these portions of the Bible: Matthew 5-7; John 6:63; 7:37, 38; 8:58, 59; Romans 1-8; 1 Corinthians 2; 15; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Galatians 5; Ephesians 2:1-10; Colossians 2; 2 Peter 1; 1 John 1; 5; Revelation 1; any of the gospels in their entirety.