So How Are We to Think of Sin as an Action Today?

There is the condition of sin that is in human DNA.
There is the condition of sin that is in the lost man's spirit.
There is the entity of sin (possibly Satan) that wants to devour people (Genesis 4:7, John 8:34, Romans 6:14, 7:14, 1 Peter 5:8).
There are the actions of sin that were all laid on Christ.

The law is over, sin is not charged where there is no law (Romans 4:15,5:13) & because of Jesus' death God no longer charges people with the action of sin (2 Corinthians 5:19). While the flesh of lost & saved people still produce actions of sin & the dead spirits of lost people still produce actions of sin those sinful actions were charged to Jesus instead of mankind and judged at the cross so the sins were "taken away."

God did something magical at the cross, He took whatever past present and future sin we could have been charged with and condemned them in the body of Christ. Judgement for our sins happened before we were formally charged in our lifetime, thus we are not charged in our lifetime. His mercy was so great that He reversed the chronological order of judgement for the people who live after His death!

So how do we think of the action of sin today? That is a question I often ponder. Here is how I see it..
1. Just like an ex-con who has served His time still committed the crime in the first place to earn that time today's actions of sin were still laid on Christ. Knowing that always points us back to Him with gratitude which is the best thing to help us live more lovingly in this world.
2. There is to be no sin consciousness because we have been cleansed for all time by the sacrifice of Christ. I take "sin consciousness" to mean "a counting of our own sins" & "labeling our actions as sin." The opposite of sin consciousness is being "dead to sin but alive to God." Alive to God is key, it means you love God & love others. You don't have to be sin conscious to be love conscious.
3. We are to regard no one according to the flesh. The flesh is the only part of the Christian that produces sin. Lost people have a dead spirit that needs to meet Jesus to be reborn.

In my mind sin is an optional label you can put on unloving actions to hold those actions against yourself or others. I think sin is a completely unnecessary label for actions unless:
1. You are recognizing what Jesus took for you on the cross.
2. You are pointing a non-Christian to the fact that they have the spiritual condition of sin so they will come to trust Jesus for the cure.
3. You are trying to make a Christian aware of their harmful behavior towards other people so that they will walk by the spirit and not by the flesh.

Amazingly the only "consciousness" of sin that is appropriate is the kind that points to the finished work of Christ on the cross. If whatever you think of sin or call sin doesn't easily point to the cross I think you are looking at sin the wrong way. Christ became sin, doing so didn't just bring salvation but it also made it so any legitimate (biblical) thought of sin points you to Him. People have gone "label happy" labeling or viewing most things as sin and thus they miss what it means for Christ to have "taken away the sins of the world." Yes, a lie is still a lie & a lie is still unloving but I don't think it is appropriate to label it as a "sin."

If sin is not charged to us for two reasons (because there is no law to do so & because God refuses to do so) & it has already been judged how can we call an action sin? If there is no law, if the judge refuses to charge you, & any debt you could possibly incur has already been over paid how can you call something a crime? Our lives are not about sin, they are about our relationships with God & others. God can & does look at you apart from your actions. God still lovingly walks us out of destructive behaviors. Sin truly is taken away & for Christians it is as far as the east is from the west. In reality sin as an action is a dead concept for Christians, that is why we must CONSIDER ourselves dead to sin.

It is kinda hard to wrap our minds around because we are desperately trained to call out sin as we see it. God doesn't see all sins the same because He has no eyes for sin at all. He cannot look upon sin because it is gone. What is there for Him to look at? All that is left is trust or unbelief. Truly it is finished.

"The Messiah has finished the transgression, made an end of sin, made atonement for iniquity, brought in everlasting righteousness, & given His holy people His Holy Spirit." (Daniel 9:24, New Covenant Paraphrase)

God's approach is different than ours, He helps you up without saying "that was stupid." He is loving enough to not charge you with fault yet still realize your need. Like the prodigal's father He never breathes a condemning word about your short comings. To charge someone with sin is condemnation. We think we have to be charged with a crime first to prevent repeating it. May we all learn how untrue that is! God doesn't require flesh based efforts to invoke change in how we behave. His loving kindness captures our hearts & that is all we need, to have our heart in His hand.