5. So what is sin?

People talk about 'sins' but no one explains 'sin'.

How do you know if you have it? Can you get rid of it?

Most people think they are good, maybe at a stretch sometimes bad. So what's God's problem?

I finally understand it. I heard someone say their religion is great, they love their children, they want to build a better society, and these people are known for their contempt, humiliation and hatred and I got it! The person was right! Of course they love their own, they can do good to others, infact it has nothing to do with religion whatsoever!!! in fact people can do good despite religion! every culture in the world, past, present and I dare say future, love their children and family. I realise the scripture is true: Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the 'knowledge of good & evil'...they didn't eat from the tree of 'knowledge of evil'that would mean they couldn't do good, the whole problem with sin is that within the good you do it is tainted with evil, like:

a) a vat of milk with a dead rat in it, it should look and taste ok but the contamination is there and ruins the purity of the milk.
b) a house of white carpet and you take one step with your muddy boot on the carpet, it is still all mostly clean but is spoilt / stained possibly forever.
c) an archer not hitting a bullseye.

The part that these three analogies miss is the lethal nature of contamination: 'good' things with a hint of 'poison' is deadly.

A better analogy would be a baked lamb dinner with baked veg, sweet potato, pumpkin, with a small sprinkle of arsenic salt over it.

Is is good? Is it bad? Well its both simultaneously!
There you have sin! It would smell and look perfect but it is lethal. Now the problem with sin is it's in every part of our lives and decision making process....even our most noble decisions!. It is in:
a) every friendly greating where I think to myself "not you again",
b) its visiting someone but preferring to be somewhere else,
c) its in the "I'm sorry" but I think "I'll get you back"
d) in giving money or a gift and thinking I'm going to get something in return
e) sharing something and thinking they are going to share back....the thing that outwardly is good, great, infact excellent but underneath is greed, hate, lust, indifference, misrepresenting truth...all these things make a good thing evil.

Sin is the lethal blend of good with a very small, imperceptable dose of evil ...it is completely deadly.
Evil is the same but without the pretense of 'good'. When 'good' hides 'evil' it is called sin and it permeates our every thought and deed.

And there is no deed / law / rule we can do to deal with this problem. How did we get it?