The context of the power of sin

The Oxford English Dictionary defines sin as ‘A transgression of the divine law and an offence against God, a violation (especially wilful or deliberate) of some religious or moral principle.’ According to this definition, a sin is committed when someone does something wrong: human beings are the subject and sin the object. Without a perpetrator, sin would have no existence. Yet the apostle Paul portrays sin differently. In his letter to the Romans, sin comes to life. Humanity is no longer the subject, but the object. It is no longer the person who commits the sin: rather, sin is at work within the person. In conjunction with death, sin rules over the entire world (Rom. 5:12–21). The law is powerless before it. It exploits the commandments of God for its own ends, using them to provoke the very things they were intended to prevent (7:7–13). Human nature, sold out to sin, is powerless to resist. Those who end up doing the evilthat they deplore recognise, to their dismay, that sin has taken charge of their behaviour (7:13–25). In Romans 5–8, sin is the active agent and humanity its passive victim.

Two recent German monographs have explored what lies behind this distinctive portrait of sin. According to Röhser, sin is not some demonic being that holds sway over humankind. Sin should not be referred to as a power, since this term is colourless and unbiblical. Instead, Paul conceived of sin as a personified deed.