Sin is, according the Westminster Standards, any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, any law of God, given as a rule to the reasonable creature.
In the beginning when God created man, He created man in His image and likeness (Gen 1:27), and on the sixth day He saw all that He had made, including man, and it was very good(Gen 1:31). God gave man all he needed and commanded “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” Gen 2:16-17.
Man did not heed the command of God, so Eve was deceived by the serpent (Gen3:13) and ate of the tree and gave to Adam. With breaking this command, man first sinned, and with that sin came the fall of all mankind and death (Romans 5:12,19) (Romans 6:23).
We fell in Adam, meaning we had the sin of Adam Imputed to us and that resulted in us having a sinful nature and being guilty before God. That sin has separated us from God.
Sin has corrupted every aspect of our being and we desire to please the flesh rather than God.
1. We see the effects of sin in our heart in Jeremiah 17:9 when it’s said “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick”, also in Gen6:5, Job 36:13, Psalm 10:3,Proverbs 20:9, Mark 7:20-23.Our desires are a reflection of our corrupt, selfish heart. We want more than we give many times. We want more money so we work more hours, neglecting the needs of our family to fulfill our desire for wealth. We want better or more material posessions, so we often incur great debts that’s hard to pay in order to temporarily fill that desire.We hold hate in our heart when wronged by others (1 John3:15) “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him”.
2. The effects of sin on the mind. Romans 8:7 ” because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so”(James 1:14-15, Proverbs 14:12)Impure thoughts of any nature, sexual thoughts about someone other than your spouse, thoughts of harming others or yourself. Any thoughts that dictate your life on a daily basis and keeps your mind so occupied that no thoughts of Christ enter in is sinfull.
3. Sinful actionsThe bible tells us that sin starts in the heart, then our mind and eventually our actions. (Matthew 15:18-19) ” But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.
“The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23) Matthew Henry writes “The pleasure and profit of sin do not deserve to be called fruit. Sinners are but ploughing iniquity, sowing vanity, and reaping the same. Shame came into the world with sin, and is still the certain effect of it. The end of sin is death. Though the way may seem pleasant and inviting, yet it will be bitterness in the latter end. From this condemnation the believer is set at liberty, when made free from sin. If the fruit is unto holiness, if there is an active principle of true and growing grace, the end will be everlasting life; a very happy end! Though the way is up-hill, though it is narrow, thorny, and beset, yet everlasting life at the end of it is sure. The gift of God is eternal life. And this gift is through Jesus Christ our Lord. Christ purchased it, prepared it, prepares us for it, preserves us to it; he is the All in all in our salvation”.
No King but Christ 