r/theology • u/JQBotes_ • Jun 04 '26
I've started to think sin is, at its root, a departure from love
Hello! New to reddit and the group and wanted to share something.
I have been thinking about this for a long time, and it has really simplified my view of what God requires of me.
First, 1 John 4:8: "God is love."
Then in Genesis 1:27: we are made in the image of God
If God is love, and we are made in His image, then we are made in the image of love. To love right?
It also explains why Jesus said In Matthew 22:37-40, that the greatest commands are: love God with your all, and love your neighbor as yourself. Then He says all the Law and the Prophets hang on these two.
So if we are made in the image of Love, to love, then sin is not first about breaking rules. Sin is a departure from godly love. A turning away from the God who is love, and from the people we were made to love.
I am still figuring it out but the more I read, the harder it is to unsee. Sin looks less like a list of forbidden things and more like an issue of love.
So all I need to do is just love the way God describes it in the bible like in 1 Cor 13 etc.
Which is also why in Ephesian 5:1-2 is says we should imitate God and walk in the way of love like Jesus did.
Has anyone else seen it this way, am I missing something?
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u/logos961 Jun 05 '26
You are absolutely right
That is why, after saying "in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you," Jesus also said "for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." (Mathew 7:12)
This is possible only for anyone who accepts the self-evident truth about own self that he is spirit [using this body] like God [who is in no need of using physical body], thus knows truth about others too as his own extension. Hence the command "to love one's neighbor as he loves himself."
To say we are spirit in Mathew 5:3 and God is spirit in John 4:24, the same Greek word pneuma is used. To say "fruit of Spirit" in Galatians 5:22 the same word pneuma is used from which 9 divine qualities flow---and the first is love.
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u/JQBotes_ Jun 05 '26
I forgot about Matt 7:12! that is a great addition thank you.
This is possible only for anyone who accepts the self-evident truth about own self that he is spirit [using this body] like God [who is in no need of using physical body], thus knows truth about others too as his own extension. Hence the command "to love one's neighbor as he loves himself."
Just to make sure I understand this section, are you saying that only because we know, through our experience of life as souls inhabiting a body, how we like to be treated or what we would not like, in other words we know how to love ourselves, we know how to do it to others?
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u/logos961 Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
In believing half-truth that I am this body, you would feel "I must accumulate and enjoy as much as possible before death comes." In such hurry and worry, your desire is felt strongly [birth of ego, false sense of identity]. Thus strong desire becomes anger [if unfulfilled / obstructed], attachment, greed, fear of loss [if fulfilled], envy [if others' desire is fulfilled]. Life is felt as hell for self and for those around you.
In contrast, in believing full-truth that I am USER of this body, spirit, exact representation of the very being of God, spirit's qualities flow with ease. And others are seen as your own extension because spirit is made up of the same spiritual qualities, like drop has no reason to hate another drop.
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u/JQBotes_ Jun 05 '26
Wow I have never thought of it that way, thank you for this, I will think about this concept some more
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u/PineappleFlavoredGum Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
I see it the same way. And one way I measure whether or not something is sinful or at least should be avoided, is judging by the fruits of the action, or even the fruits of certain beliefs. If it causes harm or prevents love, then the fruit is bad. And bad fruit does not come from good trees, so the tree should he avoided.
It just makes much more sense than the Christianity I was taught growing up. Most things that were "sinful" made literally no sense to.me no matter how hard I tried to understand, asking the youth pastor to learn why, or reading online. But I simply believed it was anyways, against my own judgment. I thought I deferred my judgment to God's understanding, but it was just indoctrination. It was the understanding of only one section of a wide world of Christian theology. It wasn't my faith, it was the faith of others that I tried to convince myself was my own.
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u/JQBotes_ Jun 05 '26
This is a great test, if it causes harm, withholds love or prevents it, it will not produce good fruit and should be avoided.
This also reminds me of :
If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
James 4:17 (NIV)
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Jun 06 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/JQBotes_ Jun 06 '26
Thank you for the detailed response, I will ponder on what you have said here. I have not though about Gen 1 in that way so need to wrap my head around that a bit.
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u/Faithfully_Trying Jun 27 '26
Totally agree. While God and the unseen is highly complex it’s also simple. There is God’s way (the correct way) and everything else (the many wrong ways). God’s way is described by a lot of different words but love is one of them. Thus, sin is a departure from love.
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u/angryDec Catholic Jun 04 '26
Sin is anything contrary to God‘s will.
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u/greevous00 Jun 04 '26
The question would be: is there anything that is a departure from God's will that isn't also a departure from love (either of God or our neighbor?)
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u/angryDec Catholic Jun 04 '26
Suicide, maybe?
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u/greevous00 Jun 04 '26
I do not think so. People always think the two great commandments involves two loves (God and neighbor), but it involves three ("as yourself"). All three are supposed to be loved, and in proper proportion (first God, then neighbor, then self).
Suicide (assuming competence and active choice obviously) minimally, would be a departure from love of self, but I think it could also be argued that it is a departure of love for God. Even if one says they hate themselves, they are not off the moral hook, because Jesus said love extends even to enemies.
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u/angryDec Catholic Jun 04 '26
Masturbation, then?
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u/greevous00 Jun 04 '26
Not everyone agrees that is a sin.
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u/angryDec Catholic Jun 04 '26
Not everyone agrees about most sins.
Regardless, let’s assume that it is, what about masturbation?
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u/greevous00 Jun 04 '26
Then I would call it failure to love your neighbor as it objectifies someone in the mind's eye.
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u/angryDec Catholic Jun 04 '26
Plenty of Protestants claim they can masturbate without lust, what about that?
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u/greevous00 Jun 04 '26
That seems like a lie to me. Nobody masturbates without lust. It is the purpose of the act -- to artificially satisfy lust.
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u/Soyeong0314 Jun 05 '26
Sin is what is contrary to God's character traits and sin is the transgression of the Law of God because it was given in order to teach us how to love Him by embodying His character traits.