A common confession of faith, often found in ministry “Statement of Faith” documents is that man sinned through disobedience to God.

I’m not refuting that at all. In fact, disobedience is, in fact, a sin.

But it does set me up a perfect opportunity to share one of my favourite illustrations.

My take on this matter is that disobedience is not sin. It is the result of sin.

When you really look at how much stuff the Bible labels as the “fruit of sin”, or the “fruit of unrighteousness” you start to wonder “If all this stuff is the result of sin, then what actually is sin?”

So what is sin?

An illustration that I first heard from Irwin A. Moon of the Moody Bible Institute sums this matter up clearly. I do not know if it was his original material, or if he got it from someone else. It doesn’t really matter. However, he referred to it as the “Eternal Triangle.”

Wanna hear it? Here it go…

It’s simple. It’s clear and straightforward. It’s profound once you see it.

In the garden of Eden, God had placed a tree whose fruit Adam and Eve had been forbidden to eat because “In the day that you eat thereof, you will die.” Also, in the garden, there is found the serpent. The serpent comes to Eve and says “ye shall surely not die.”

And there you have it. The Eternal Triangle has been set up. One leg has God saying “ye shall die.” Another leg has the serpent saying “Ye shall not die.” And on the third leg, looking at the other two is Eve – making a choice. Her choice is “Who do I believe?” This is important: you will obey the one that you believe.

But examine how the events actually unfold. First she chooses to believe the serpent, and then she disobeys God and eats the fruit.

The sin was that she failed to believe God. The result was disobedience.

But the sin is the failure to believe God. It’s everywhere once you start looking for it. Moses was forbidden to enter the promise land because he sinned against God. What did he do? He failed to believe God and struck the rock twice. God called it rebellion.

The more I thought about this analogy, the more I saw it in operation in every act of sin. In one way or another every act of sin is a failure to believe God. In every act of sin I have ever committed there is God saying “ye shall die” and there is either the serpent or myself saying “I shall surely not die” and then I commit the sin.

That’s why it is even more profound when you consider the salvation offered in Jesus Christ. Faith in Jesus Christ means to believe God. Jesus, when asked “what is the work of God” said this: “That ye believe in him whom he hath sent.”

Now, when you consider sin, think of this “Eternal Triangle” and see how many times you can see it in operation. Every “thou shalt not” carries that implied “because ye shall die” clause. “Thou shalt not murder…” Why? “because thou shalt die if you do.”

“Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; [and Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways] and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” --Ezekiel 18 and 33.