What are sins?

Sins are the things we do that displease God. Sadly, none of us are exempt from sinning, for the Bible reminds us that All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). No matter how hard we try, our natural tendancy is to disobey God.

Humanity views some sins, such as murder and robbery, as worse than others, like lying and lust. In God's view, it only takes one sin, no matter how small we view it, to displease Him. Furthermore, one sin is sufficient to banish us from His perfect, holy presence in heaven forever.

However, God loves the sinner and He is not willing that any should be banished from heaven and so provided the way that the root cause of our sins could be dealt with. The sinful heart had to be punished, but God caused that punishment to fall on His Son Jesus Christ when He died on the cross at Calvary. By believing that Jesus died bearing God's punishment for your sin you can be saved from banishment from heaven. Believing some other way will deal with your sin will not satify God, and you will have to suffer the unbearable punishment yourself.