sin
Sin.
sinned Sin, Summary: The literal meanings of the Heb. and (Greek - ἀλεκτοροφωνία sin," "sinner," etc)., disclose the true nature of sin in its manifold manifestations. Sin is transgression, an overstepping of the law, the divine boundary between good and evil Psalms 51:1 ; Luke 15:29 , iniquity, an act inherently wrong, whether expressly forbidden or not; error, a departure from right; Psalms 51:9 ; Romans 3:23 , missing the mark, a failure to meet the divine standard; trespass, the intrusion of self-will into the sphere of divine authority Ephesians 2:1 , lawlessness, or spiritual anarchy 1 Timothy 1:9 , unbelief, or an insult to the divine veracity John 16:9 .
Sin originated with Satan Isaiah 14:12-14 , entered the world through Adam Romans 5:12 , was, and is, universal, Christ alone excepted; Romans 3:23 ; 1 Peter 2:22 , incurs the penalties of spiritual and physical death; Genesis 2:17 ; Genesis 3:19 ; Ezekiel 18:4 ; Ezekiel 18:20 ; Romans 6:23 and has no remedy but in the sacrificial death of Christ; Hebrews 9:26 ; Acts 4:12 availed of by faith Acts 13:38 ; Acts 13:39 . Sin may be summarized as threefold: An act, the violation of, or want of obedience to the revealed will of God; a state, absence of righteousness; a nature, enmity toward God.
Verse Meaning
Jesus proceeded to clarify what He meant. He prefaced His declaration with a strong affirmation of its truth (cf. John 8:51; John 8:58). Everyone who commits acts of sin becomes sin"s slave. The Greek present participle poion ("who commits sin" or "who sins") implies continual sinning rather than an occasional lapse. This is a general truth that applies to both believers and unbelievers. People who continually commit sin become the slaves of sin. Sin tends to become habit-forming and addictive. This type of slavery is more fundamental and personal than mere political slavery. [source][source][source]
How does this revelation harmonize with Paul"s teaching about the believer"s relationship to sin that he wrote in Romans 6? In Romans 6 , Paul explained that at regeneration God broke the chain that makes the believer the slave of sin. Sin does not have the power to enslave us that it did before we believed in Jesus. However believers can become sin"s slaves by practicing sin ( Romans 6:16). We do not need to be its slaves any longer since God has broken its enslaving power over us. We are no longer its slaves, but we can still choose to live as its slaves by submitting to temptation. Sin gains power over us when we yield to temptation. [source][source][source]
Similarly a heroin addict cannot break his or her addiction without radical treatment. The treatment can result in total rehabilitation, but the former addict can choose to become a slave again by returning to his or her habit. However he or she does not need to return since liberation has taken place. Another illustration is Israel in the Old Testament. Having experienced liberation from the Egyptians the Israelites chose to return to slavery under the Assyrians and Babylonians though they did not need to do that. By continually sinning they set themselves up for these strong enemies to take them captive. [source][source][source]
Context Summary
John 8:31-38 - The Source Of True Liberty
Sin is not a necessary part of our being. The servant abideth not in the house for ever. Your child is an integral part of the household; he has become one with it. However far he travels, he can never break the link of indissoluble connection. But it is different with a servant, especially under the provisions of the Levitical law. In like manner, a man may have served sin, but, though tightly held, it has no necessary rights over him. The trumpet of Jubilee may sound, and he may go free. It is not freedom to do as we like. Jesus sets us free from the trap and the bird-lime, that is, from the unnatural conditions fastening and confining us from being what God meant us to be. The swallow would not thank you to be freed to live on carrion, but only to mount again into the sunny air.
Jesus frees us by the truth. The slave-girl will no longer serve in the house of her cruel oppressor, when she learns that the act of emancipation has passed and he has no longer any claim upon her. When we understand that we are accepted and triumphant because of our union with Christ, we begin to exercise our privilege and to draw upon the grace which he has made available. Thus we become free. [source]
Chapter Summary: John 8
1Jesus delivers the woman taken in adultery 12He declares himself the light of the world, and justifies his doctrine; 31promises freedom to those who believe; 33answers the Jews who boasted of Abraham; 48answers their reviling, by showing his authority and dignity; 59and slips away from those who would stone him
Greek Commentary for John 8:34
Every one that committeth sin is the bondservant of sin [πας ο ποιων την αμαρτιαν δουλος εστιν της αμαρτιασ] The Western class omits της αμαρτιας tēs hamartias (sin), but that is the idea anyhow. Note the use of ποιων poiōn (present active participle, continuous habit or practice), not ποιησας poiēsas (aorist active participle for single act), precisely as in 1 John 3:4-8. Note also John 3:21 for ο ποιων την αλητειαν ho poiōn tēn alētheian (the one who practises the truth). Sin, like the worst narcotic, is habit forming. Hence the problem today for criminologists for paroled or pardoned criminals nearly always go back to crime, sink again into sin, the slaves of sin. Xenophon has this notion of the slavery of sin (Memor. IV. 5. 3). So Paul clearly in Romans 6:17,Romans 6:20 “slaves of sin” (δουλοι της αμαρτιας douloi tēs hamartias). [source]
Whosoever committeth [πᾶς ὁ ποιῶν] Rev., more correctly, every one that committeth. [source]
Sin [τὴν ἁμαρτίαν] The definite article, the sin, shows that Jesus does not mean merely a simple act, but a life of sin. Compare 1 John 3:4-8, and doeth the truth (John 3:21); doeth the righteousness (1 John 2:29). [source]
The servant [δοῦλος] Or, a servant. Properly, a bond-servant or slave. See on Matthew 20:26. [source]
Of sin [] A few authorities omit, and read whosoever committeth sin is a bond-servant. Compare Romans 6:17,Romans 6:20. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for John 8:34
John 10:1Verily, Verily [Αμην αμην] Solemn prelude by repetition as in John 1:51. The words do not ever introduce a fresh topic (cf. John 8:34,John 8:51,John 8:58). So in John 10:7. The Pharisees had previously assumed (Vincent) they alone were the authoritative guides of the people (John 9:24,John 9:29). So Jesus has a direct word for them. So Jesus begins this allegory in a characteristic way. John does not use the word παροιμια parabolē but εις την αυλην των προβατων paroimia (John 10:6), and it really is an allegory of the Good Shepherd and self-explanatory like that of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. He first tells it in John 10:1-5 and then explains and expands it in John 10:7-18. Into the fold of the sheep (αυλη eis tēn aulēn tōn probatōn). Originally αω aulē (from αναβαινων aō to blow) in Homer‘s time was just an uncovered space around the house enclosed by a wall, then a roofless enclosure in the country where flocks were herded as here and John 10:16. It later came to mean the house itself or palace (Matthew 26:3,Matthew 26:58, etc.). In the papyri it means the court attached to the house. Climbeth up (αναβαινω anabainōn). Present active participle of αλλαχοτεν anabainō to go up. One who goes up, not by the door, has to climb up over the wall. Some other way (αλλοτεν allachothen). Rare word for old εκεινος allothen but in 4Macc 1:7 and in a papyrus. Only here in N.T. The same (κλεπτης εστιν και ληιστης ekeinos). “That one” just described. Is a thief and a robber (κλεπτω kleptēs estin kai lēistēs). Both old and common words (from ληιζομαι kleptō to steal, κλεπτης lēizomai to plunder). The distinction is preserved in the N.T. as here. Judas was a kleptēs (John 12:6), Barabbas a robber (John 18:40) like the two robbers (Matthew 27:38,Matthew 27:44) crucified with Jesus erroneously termed thieves like “the thief on the cross” by most people. See Mark 11:17. Here the man jumping over the wall comes to steal and to do it by violence like a bandit. He is both thief and robber. [source]
Greek Commentary for John 8:34
The Western class omits της αμαρτιας tēs hamartias (sin), but that is the idea anyhow. Note the use of ποιων poiōn (present active participle, continuous habit or practice), not ποιησας poiēsas (aorist active participle for single act), precisely as in 1 John 3:4-8. Note also John 3:21 for ο ποιων την αλητειαν ho poiōn tēn alētheian (the one who practises the truth). Sin, like the worst narcotic, is habit forming. Hence the problem today for criminologists for paroled or pardoned criminals nearly always go back to crime, sink again into sin, the slaves of sin. Xenophon has this notion of the slavery of sin (Memor. IV. 5. 3). So Paul clearly in Romans 6:17, Romans 6:20 “slaves of sin” (δουλοι της αμαρτιας douloi tēs hamartias). [source]
Rev., more correctly, every one that committeth. [source]
The definite article, the sin, shows that Jesus does not mean merely a simple act, but a life of sin. Compare 1 John 3:4-8, and doeth the truth (John 3:21); doeth the righteousness (1 John 2:29). [source]
Or, a servant. Properly, a bond-servant or slave. See on Matthew 20:26. [source]
A few authorities omit, and read whosoever committeth sin is a bond-servant. Compare Romans 6:17, Romans 6:20. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for John 8:34
Solemn prelude by repetition as in John 1:51. The words do not ever introduce a fresh topic (cf. John 8:34, John 8:51, John 8:58). So in John 10:7. The Pharisees had previously assumed (Vincent) they alone were the authoritative guides of the people (John 9:24, John 9:29). So Jesus has a direct word for them. So Jesus begins this allegory in a characteristic way. John does not use the word παροιμια parabolē but εις την αυλην των προβατων paroimia (John 10:6), and it really is an allegory of the Good Shepherd and self-explanatory like that of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. He first tells it in John 10:1-5 and then explains and expands it in John 10:7-18. Into the fold of the sheep (αυλη eis tēn aulēn tōn probatōn). Originally αω aulē (from αναβαινων aō to blow) in Homer‘s time was just an uncovered space around the house enclosed by a wall, then a roofless enclosure in the country where flocks were herded as here and John 10:16. It later came to mean the house itself or palace (Matthew 26:3, Matthew 26:58, etc.). In the papyri it means the court attached to the house. Climbeth up (αναβαινω anabainōn). Present active participle of αλλαχοτεν anabainō to go up. One who goes up, not by the door, has to climb up over the wall. Some other way (αλλοτεν allachothen). Rare word for old εκεινος allothen but in 4Macc 1:7 and in a papyrus. Only here in N.T. The same (κλεπτης εστιν και ληιστης ekeinos). “That one” just described. Is a thief and a robber (κλεπτω kleptēs estin kai lēistēs). Both old and common words (from ληιζομαι kleptō to steal, κλεπτης lēizomai to plunder). The distinction is preserved in the N.T. as here. Judas was a kleptēs (John 12:6), Barabbas a robber (John 18:40) like the two robbers (Matthew 27:38, Matthew 27:44) crucified with Jesus erroneously termed thieves like “the thief on the cross” by most people. See Mark 11:17. Here the man jumping over the wall comes to steal and to do it by violence like a bandit. He is both thief and robber. [source]
Lit., “work sin.” Compare Matthew 7:23; Acts 10:35; Hebrews 11:33. The phrase is rather stronger than the more common ἁμαρτίαν ποιεῖν , to do sin John 8:34; James 5:15; 1 Peter 2:22. The position of sin is emphatic: “it is sin that ye are working.” [source]
Not ἐγένετο cameinto being. See on John 1:3; see on John 8:34; see on John 8:58. It was already existing when the succession of life began. [source]