a. Sin in general.
1. The concept of sin.
According to the Scriptures, sin is the non-conformity of man with the norm of the divine law (νόμος) given to man, whether this non-conformity consists in a state (status, habitus) or in individual internal or external actions (actiones internae et externae). This definition of sin is that of Scripture, 1 John 3:4:
632 ><w:t xml:space="preserve">The doctrines of man. [English ed. 528]
ή αμαρτία iouv ή ανομία. Ανομία, etymologically, is a negative term and at first expresses only the lack of conformity to the divine νόμος (carentia conformitatis cum lege). According to the language of Scripture, however, ανομία is at the same time a positive term and denotes unlawfulness, a violation of the law, or a breach of the law. This is evident from the ways of speaking in Scripture: την ανομίαν ποιεϊν (1 John 3:4), οϊ εργαζόμενοι την ανομίαν (Matt. 7:23). That the lack of conformity to the divine law is something positively evil is also evident from the following facts attested in Scripture: 1. Man, as a moral being endowed with intellect and will, is obliged to conform to the divine will every moment of his human existence, as is expressed without any restrictions on the question as to which is the noblest commandment in the law Matt. 22:37-40: "You shall love God, your Lord, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. ... Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." If this agreement with the divine law is not there, then eo ipso lawlessness or godlessness is there. Rightly has been recalled an analogue in human relationships. A servant who fails to fulfill his duties would claim, against all law and against his own conscience, that he has done nothing evil, but has only taken a neutral position with respect to his obligations. — It is psychologically impossible that man, whose nature includes reason and will, could be neutral even for a moment. If man's thoughts and will do not cling to God, he clings to creatures, and this is apostasy from God, as Christ expressly testifies Matt. 6:24: "No man can serve two masters."
The concept of sin does not include that it is done with consciousness and deliberation against God's will. According to the Scriptures, the evil condition that is innate in man and that he cannot change is sin, as is clear from the words Eph. 2:3: "children of wrath by nature". Yes, the Scripture further testifies that the evil state, which man, after becoming a Christian, does not want, does not lose the character of sin, as can be seen from the words of the apostle Rom. 7:19, 24: "The evil I do not want, I do."
633 ><w:t xml:space="preserve">The doctrines of man. [English ed. 529-530]
"I wretched man, who will redeem me from the body of this death!" The Lutheran Church remains with the doctrines of Scripture even on this point in the face of the widespread error. The Apology1563) calls it a pagan error that consciousness or deliberation belongs to the essence of sin: Transtulerunt [the Romans] huc ex philosophia prorsus alienas sententias, quod propter passiones [the innate evil inclinations] nec boni nec mali simus, nec laudemur nec vituperemur. Item nihil esse peccatum nisi voluntarium. [Google] With the papists agree newer theologians like Hofmann: "As long as the ego is still a becoming, one will not be able to say as afterwards that it is the subject of sin, but this it becomes in the measure in which it becomes itself, in which it consciously begins to determine itself or rather to let itself be determined by the innate sin."1564)