Sin and Your Junior Higher, Part 1

February, 2007

by: Jay Underwood

Starting this month I will be doing a series for the Calvary Review on “Sin and Your Junior Higher.” In it I hope to answer questions like, “Why does my Junior Higher sin?”, “What are the sins of a Junior Higher?”, “What’s the difference between my Junior Higher just ‘acting their age’ and them sinning?”, “What happens when my Junior Higher’s sin seems to be affecting the whole family?”, “What’s a parent to do about the sins of their Junior Higher?,” “Can I get my Junior Higher to stop sinning?”, “Should there be consequences for my Junior Higher’s sin and if so, what?”, “How should I discipline my Junior Higher?”, “How can I help my Junior Higher if I’m a sinner myself?”, “What part, if any, should the church or the youth pastor play regarding my Junior Higher’s sin?” and probably the toughest one of all, “Is my Junior Higher even saved from their sin?” I’m sure there will be plenty of other questions to come up along the way.

Let’s simply start off with a definition of sin. One of my seminary theology professors said that “Sin is any personal lack of conformity to the moral character and desire of God.” Even more simply put, sin is disobedience toward God. The Bible has many different words in the Old and New Testaments to describe this disobedience some of which are “sin” which literally means missing the mark, missing the road, or erring; “iniquity” which means perversity or crookedness and “transgression” which denotes rebellion or trespass. Others are wicked, evil, unrighteous, ungodly, lawless, to turn aside, deceitful, guilty, disobedient and any other words or phrases that indicate acts which are wrong or sinful in God’s eyes.

We won’t go too in depth here about the origin of sin, but suffice it to say it originated in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve (Gen 3) and has since been passed on to every generation, literally to every person since then, including your Junior Higher. Check out these passages for a mini-study about the pervasiveness and extent of sin upon the human race and individuals: Gen 6:5, 11; Gen 8:21; 1 Kings 8:46; Ps 51:5-7; Ps 143:2; Prov 20:9; Eccl 7:20; Is 53:4-6; Jer 17:9; Mk 7:20-23; Eph 2:1-3; Eph 4:17-19; Rom 1:21; Rom 3:10-20.

Of course sin is indeed the very thing that we (and your Junior Higher) need to be saved from. God’s gift of salvation stems from the greatest need we as human beings will ever have: the need for a savior. And fortunately, our merciful and gracious God has given us just that in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ and that all who would believe in Him, trusting in His work on the cross and resurrection from the dead to save them, would not perish in Hell, separated from God forever but have eternal life and fellowship with Him in Heaven (Jn 3:16). First thing regarding your Junior Higher and their sin would be to, as best you can, ascertain whether or not they are saved (this might also be a question you would want to ask yourself). This will help you in determining your next course of action. To help you in answering this question, I would refer you to my Review articles in the Nov. and Dec. ’05 issues. In next month’s article, we will continue with “Unsaved Sinners vs. Saved with Sin.”