“Our wisdom, insofar as it ought to be deemed true and solid wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.” (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion)

When it comes to the knowledge of God, it’s a long journey. How can creatures grasp the fullness of what it means to say that the Creator is “holy, holy, holy?” (Isaiah 6, Revelation 4) How can we fathom concepts like aseity, immutability, and the Trinity? How can finite beings even begin to understand an infinite God? Because God has revealed himself to the creatures he created in his image, we can have real knowledge of God – but because we are mere creatures, our knowledge of God is always by way of analogy, and never comprehensive in scope.

The other side of Calvin’s famous quote is our knowledge of ourselves. This knowledge is impossible apart from a real knowledge of God, and this knowledge centers on three areas of anthropology. One, we need to know who we are as image bearers, and this involves both epistemology (who we are) and teleology (what we’re here to do, or accomplish) Two, we need to know who we are as sinners – people who have fallen short of the glory of God – people who deserve wrath, despair, and death. Three, we need to know who we can be in Christ – born again, redeemed, justified, adopted, sanctified, and one day glorified.

In my opinion, the trickiest piece of anthropology for most people to wrestle with is the second piece – the truth about our sin. To this end, we ought to humbly listen to the Word of God as it diagnoses our sinful condition. We also ought to be willing to study and learn from those who have thought deeply about the biblical teaching about human depravity. In my study of the doctrine of sin, I recently came across Fallen: A Theology of Sin, edited by Christopher Morgan and Robert A Peterson. In chapter three, Paul house makes this comment about the challenge of studying the biblical doctrine of sin:

“Reading and writing about sin can be similarly tiring, for it forces readers and writers to face squarely our common human spiritual disease (see Jer. 17:9). It requires us to succumb to God’s outlook on our serial faithlessness to him and its effects on us, on others, and on the world around us. Frankly, it is easier to look away from sin’s wreckage to more positive topics, preferably God’s redemptive work in Christ. But taking God’s perspective on sin requires perseverance.” (Fallen, “Sin in the Former and Latter Prophets and the Writings,” p. 80)

As we seek to grow in our knowledge of God and self, may we persevere in the difficult study of the doctrine of sin. To that end, here are five truths about sin, taken from the conclusion of House’s chapter in Fallen.

1. “First, sin is perversion.” This idea is captured in the Hebrew word avon, or iniquity. Sin was not part of God’s good design for the world. Rather, sin is an intruder, a twisting, a perversion of what was originally good. As such, sin is never a step up or an advancement. It is always a downgrade, a degrading.
2. “Second, sin is active.” Yes, sin is a condition human beings inherit from Adam. However, as it plays our in our lives, sin is always active. This active nature of sin may take the form of actions or words or thoughts or emotions – but in each case sin is something in which we participate, something we “do.”
3. “Third, sin is relational.” This truth is on vivid display in the story of Adam and Eve eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Their relationship with God was broken and marked by shame, fear, and resentment. Additionally, their relationship with each other was immediately changed for the worse.
4. “Fourth, sin is pervasive.” This is the doctrine of “total depravity.” This doctrine doesn’t mean that we are all as depraved as we could possibly be. Rather, this doctrine teaches that the totality of who we are has been marred by sin. There is no part of us or our existence that hasn’t been impacted by sin.
5. “Fifth, sin is deadly.” God told Adam and Eve that in the day they ate of the tree of the knowledge and good and evil, they would surely die. Truly, the wages of sin is death. This death involves spiritual death, physical death, and eternal death. We want to believe sin sets us free – but it only and always results in death.

None of these truths are particularly enjoyable to learn or meditate on. Nevertheless, these truths are true. If we would know God and know ourselves, we must look squarely into the unflattering mirror of God’s holy word. What’s more, if we would know the glory of the gospel and the hope of life in Christ, we must first understand the hopelessness of our situation as sinners.