In his 1996 song “That’s the Point,” Charlie Peacock sings, “Sin is a sickness, not just a thing you do from time to time,” and “Sin is a cancer, not just a thing you do from time to time.” These lines illuminate a crucial distinction between the fundamental condition of sin—a deep-seated spiritual misalignment—and the individual acts of sin people commit periodically.
The New Testament employs two primary Greek words translated as “sin.” The verb hamartano means “to miss the mark” when describing specific sinful actions. The noun hamartia carries the same core meaning but addresses the inner state or condition of sin—a persistent spiritual disconnection rather than isolated transgressions. (Hamartia can also denote a controlling principle or power, but that’s a topic for another discussion.)
Significantly, the Apostle Paul uses these terms with distinct emphasis. Throughout his epistles, Paul employs hamartano (the concept of committing a sinful act) only 14 times, compared to 55 instances of hamartia (the underlying sin condition). This pattern is even more pronounced in Romans, where Paul uses hamartano merely 6 times but hamartia 39 times—clearly indicating that Paul’s primary concern in Romans addresses the condition of sin rather than individual sinful behaviors.
At its core, this sin condition can be understood as “seeing yourself not made in the image and likeness of God.” This definition emerges from Genesis 3:4-6, where the serpent deceives Eve by suggesting, “For God knows that in the day ye eat of it your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be like God, knowing good and evil.” The deception lies in the implication that Adam and Eve needed to do something to become like God. However, Genesis 1:26-27 had already established that “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” The first humans were already made in God’s image—they needed no additional action to attain this status.
Sin as a condition, therefore, represents the fundamental misperception of our true nature—a spiritual blindness to our divine origin. When we fail to recognize ourselves as already made in God’s image, we become disconnected from our life source. This disconnection explains how “death entered the world” as referenced in Romans 5:12: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.”
In my recent series “Christ Is the End of the Law,” I examined Paul’s statements in Romans 5 and 7 regarding “sinful passions which were aroused by the law” and how sin “abounded” when the law was instituted. Initially, these passages might suggest that the law generated more sin or intensified sinful desires. A closer examination reveals that Paul wasn’t referring to sinful acts at all.
The term “passions” in this context actually signifies hardships or pain—not heightened desires to sin. Moreover, translators added the word “aroused.” A more accurate rendering might be “the affliction of sin that came with the law.” Paul’s message is that the sin condition—seeing ourselves as separate from God’s image—existed before the law; the law simply illuminated this condition by defining sin. The law didn’t produce more sinful actions—it exposed the underlying misalignment that was already present.
In contrast to sin, righteousness can be understood as seeing yourself properly—made in the image and likeness of God. This represents alignment with our true nature as divine image-bearers.
When Paul speaks of sin “abounding” or being “aroused” by the law, he addresses not individual transgressions but the deep-rooted condition within humanity—a spiritual disconnection as serious as a disease. While sinful behaviors indicate this condition exists, they merely symptomize the actual problem. Just as someone might exhibit cancer symptoms without comprehending the disease itself, sinful actions merely reveal our deeper spiritual misalignment.
The law’s purpose was to make this sin condition visible and hold everyone accountable—from Adam to the final human. Once the law fulfilled its role of exposing the sin condition, it no longer needed to function in the same capacity. It was effectively “nailed to the cross,” making way for Jesus Christ’s ministry—the ministry of life that restores our awareness of being made in God’s image.
As Galatians 3:22 declares, “But the Scripture has confined all under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.”