The Bible describes sin as a breakdown of trust and trustworthiness, a stubborn and suspicious unwillingness to listen. Left untreated, sin makes peace impossible. Sin began in heaven, in the mind of God’s most honored and trusted angel. This raises the question, What really went wrong in God’s universe? This question is important because understanding what went wrong helps us to understand the methods God is using to put things right again. In the larger view of the great controversy, the plan of salvation is God’s way of setting things right in such a way that they will never go wrong again.

Before the war in heaven began, there was peace throughout the universe because all the members of God’s vast family trusted each other. They trusted their heavenly Father. And He in turn could safely trust in them. Where you have that kind of mutual trust and trustworthiness, there is perfect peace, perfect freedom, and perfect security.

A crisis of distrust, nevertheless, developed in the family. Our heavenly Father was accused of being unworthy of our trust, of being arbitrary, exacting, vengeful, unforgiving, and severe. Sin entered our universe when angels ceased to trust. As a consequence, they themselves became untrustworthy. And thus sin entered our universe for the first time. For the Bible, sin is much more than a mere breaking of the rules, serious as that might be. Sin changes us, producing fear and mistrust of God. In its essence, sin is a violation of mutual trust, a breakdown of trust and trustworthiness, a stubborn unwillingness to listen to the One who desires only the good of His creatures.

The hazard of regarding sin primarily as breaking God’s rules is that such a mindset tends to encourage an impersonal, even fearful relationship with God. Love cannot be commanded, it cannot be produced by force or fear. When we believe Satan’s lies, we don’t trust God and allow Him to heal us. And the ultimate result of that can be found in Romans 6:23: “Sin pays its servants: the wage is death” (Phillips). So the remedy for sin depends on what sin is. If sin is distrust and its consequences, forgiveness alone will not heal the damage done. Forgiveness does not do away with sin. For there to be lasting peace in God’s universe, trust must somehow be restored. Questions must be answered. Satan’s accusations must be met. God must be seen to be righteous, and infinitely worthy of our trust. How God rebuilds our trust is the subject of the next chapter summary.