As we delve into this rather unpleasant subject, we are immediately confronted with two robust facts:

1. Mankind makes so-o-o little of sin.   As some commenters to this blog have demonstrated, there is a commonly  held belief that sin is an illusion – a religious mirage – the work of fanatical megalomaniacs.  It is denied, ridiculed, snickered at, and embraced!  There are also many believers who continue in sin – while fully believing sin exists – with little thought to its penalty.
2. God makes so-o-o much of sin.  But what did God actually say about sin?  “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”  [Ezek. 18:20]  And – “The wages of sin is death.” [Rom. 6:23]  ALL sins are an abomination unto God and He hates those who work iniquity.  “All that do he unrighteously, are an abomination unto the Lord.” [Deut. 25:16] 

The origin of sin

It is one of the mysteries of the Bible.  Where did sin originate?  The following verse should be memorized.  It is up to the Lord what He will reveal, and to whom He will reveal it!  Deut. 29:29 – The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.  

The origin of sin is one of the “secret things” that will remain wrapped in obscurity.  In the Bible, sin is first noted in the heart of Satan.  He was created a perfect being until. . . Ezek. 28:11-19 –

¹¹ Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

¹² Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

¹³ Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

¹⁴ Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

¹⁵ Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

¹⁶ By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

¹⁷ Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

¹⁸ Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

¹⁹ All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

Satan fell from his perfect created status when he exerted his will above God’s will.  Is. 14:12-17 –

¹² How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

¹³ For thou hast said in thine heart,  I will ascend into heaven,  I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:  I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

¹⁴  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;  I will be like the most High.

¹⁵ Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

¹⁶ They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;

¹⁷ That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?

Five times he said “i will,” exerting his will over God’s will – that is sin. 

Many cultures have some sort of accounting for the origin of sin.  If not for the Bible and God’s record of the fall of man – the entire concept of sin would have been left up to conjecture. 

Jude 1:6

King James Version (KJV)

And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.