There is little doubt that the concept of punishment for sinful behavior has been the foundation of laws and moral standards for hundreds, if not thousands of years. There is also little doubt that a strong factor of superstition has magnified the impact of the basic biblical cautions.

In all probability, the earliest and most primitive groups of humans developed some basic rules of acceptable behavior. It is equally likely that punishment administered by or on behalf of the victims of bad behavior was swift and brutal. No doubt the earliest standard of behavior was “whatever I can get away with.”

Then, along came the ten commandments.

Finally, there was a set of standards that could be acknowledged by everyone, even if they didn’t always adhere to the rules.

The problem was, as simple and basic as the ten commandments were, they were still subject to interpretation and superstition. After all, the old testament texts were full of tales of the wrath of God. Consequently, for a period of time, the earliest Christians took these things pretty seriously – even if they were still prone to “bend the rules” to suit their needs.

Enter the age of reason. As science and education began to merge into a thought process we might call “common sense,” civilization began to doubt and challenge the validity of the ten commandments just as those very concepts began to form the foundation of our legal and moral standards.

And, while those standards began to solidify in rules of civilized behavior, we were presented with a new set of questions. Surely the hard-core rules such as prohibitions against murder or theft were hard to dispute, but some of the others were more of a grey area.

So, what is a “sin?”

Just as people of earlier eras tended to mix biblical standards with superstition to complicate the issue, we in a more modern age are doing something similar by nit-picking the simplest biblical directives, looking for the loopholes.

Let’s ask again – just what is a sin?

As surely as generations have complicated the question, we can easily unravel that question by understanding the source and intent of the ‘Rules.”

It’s actually a simple process. Instead of over-analyzing and nit-picking every phrase of the Bible, all we need to do is step back from the maze of thoughts and interpretations and view the messages of the ten commandments and the new testament.

It’s actually pretty clear. The source of our existence and the power of our universe is the purest form of love.

The goal of our life is to achieve the ultimate level of love. It is a goal that none of us can hope to fully achieve in our human form, but effort is necessary to keep us moving in the right direction.

Therefore, any thought, word, or act that impeeds our journey toward pure love is the definition of sin.