Sin and Repentance
Turning around — from hamartia to metanoia
Sin in Scripture is not primarily a list of forbidden acts but a condition — a missing of the mark, a turning from God, a crookedness that runs through everything human. But Scripture's response to sin is not condemnation but an invitation: turn around. The biblical words for repentance are vivid, physical, and full of hope.
ἁμαρτία — Missing the Mark
a sin (properly abstract)
Also rendered: offence, sin
Hamartia originally meant to miss the mark, as an archer might miss the target, but in Scripture it describes the human condition of falling short of what we were made to be and do. Every person, Paul argues, has missed the mark — 'for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.' Hamartia is not just bad behavior; it is a condition that shapes everything we do.