The Meaning of Sin

The word sin is found throughout Scripture, and both the Hebrew and Greek share the same basic meaning. The Hebrew word חָטָא chata means “to miss the target, or to lose the way,” and the Greek word ἁμαρτάνω hamartano is defined as “miss the mark, err, or do wrong.”

Could Jesus Sin?

A question that has troubled theologians for many years is whether Jesus, during His time on earth, could have sinned? The Bible teaches that Jesus is undiminished deity combined together forever with true humanity into one Person, which in theology is called the hypostatic union. At a point in time, God the Son took upon Himself true humanity and walked on the earth. He lived a sinless life and died a substitutionary death for all mankind (1 Cor 15:3-4; John 6:69; 9:16; Rom 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb 4:15; 7:26; 1 Pet 2:22; 3:18; 1 John 3:5). The Bible teaches that Jesus faced real temptations (Matt 4:11), and whether one believes that He could not sin, or would not sin, it clearly teaches that He did not sin (2 Cor 5:21; Heb 4:15; 1 John 3:5). Jesus did not manufacture any personal sin for which He needed to atone, for if He had sinned, He would have disqualified Himself from going to the cross as an atoning sacrifice for others. Jesus died on the cross, bearing the sin of the world, dying in the place of sinners (John 3:16; Rom 5:6-8).