Introduction (wis)

It appears numerous Christians do not know what sin is, under the new covenant. If you ask them what sin is they will say, "The only commandment is that we love one another." Or, "We are not under the law but under grace." It seems everyone in the world knows what sin is except Christians.

According to the New Testament, sin is the breaking of the moral law as expressed in the Ten Commandments. Yet it is clear from the Scripture that when we take our place with Christ on the cross the Law of Moses has no jurisdiction over us.

What is the answer to this seeming contradiction?

What is sin? According to the New Testament, sin is breaking one or more of the Ten Commandments.

Sin is sin. Adultery is sin under the Law of Moses. Adultery is sin under the new covenant. Sin is always the same because it is a transgression of the eternal moral law of God. The eternal moral law of God reflects God’s Character and so it will never change. The horrible error of contemporary Christian doctrine is its implication that God somehow has changed so sin is no longer sin.

The only reason God is able to exercise such forbearance and kindness toward us today is that Christ suffered the penalty of sin on the cross of Calvary.

Those who teach or imply that the God of the Old Testament was harsher than the God of the New Testament do not comprehend the unchanging Nature of Almighty God.

When we say that righteousness is imputed to us when we place our faith in Jesus Christ, do we understand what that righteousness is? It is the righteousness that would have been ours had we been able to keep the Law of Moses perfectly.

For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3,4—NIV)

The above verse is referring to the righteous requirements of the Law of Moses, that is, the Ten Commandments.

Sin against God is sin against God under both covenants, the Mosaic and the new. The difference is not what sin is, the difference is in the manner in which God deals with sin.

I understand that many of the stipulations of the Law of Moses were of a ceremonial, covenantal nature, such as the dietary regulations and the feast days. In this brief essay I am referring only to the moral law of God, which is eternal and of which the Ten Commandments are an abridged version.

Under the Law of Moses, the Israelite who sinned could bring an animal to the priest and the priest would make an atonement for the sin. The Israelite would return to his home, his fellowship with God restored.

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary made an eternal atonement for everyone who enters the new covenant by faith. There is, however, a monumental difference between the covenants. The Law of Moses could not deliver the Israelite from the compulsions of sin. Under the new covenant we have the grace of the Holy Spirit and the born-again experience to make it possible for us to be delivered from the compulsions of sin.

We often hear in the churches that all God requires of us is that we love God with all of our heart and our neighbor as ourselves. This is true. But we can’t do it and so our religion becomes powerless to help us.

In First John we notice that when we sin we are to confess our sin to God. Then God is faithful and righteous to forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

In order to be delivered from a particular sin we do not go to God and confess that we have not loved God with all of our heart and our neighbor as ourselves. This is too broad a brush and no deliverance is obtained.

In order to be delivered we have to confess that we lied or stole or committed adultery or harbored unforgiveness or slandered or spoke spitefully to someone.

When we confess what we have done, God forgives us. Then He either delivers us instantly from the compulsion to sin or else He leads us in such a manner that finally we are cleansed from all unrighteousness. But He does deliver us if we follow Him obediently. Christ does destroy the works of the devil in us.

The Epistle of First John makes it clear that sin is the breaking of the Ten Commandments. It is likely this epistle was written as a warning against those who were teaching that it is not necessary for Christians to keep God’s commandments.

Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know he appeared so he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. (I John 3:4-6—NIV)

Please consider the above passage very carefully. It tells us what sin is. Sin is the breaking of the law. The Apostle John, being raised as a devout Jew, would be thinking of the Law of Moses.

Christ appeared in order to take away our sins, not just forgive our sins but actually remove our sins.

When we are abiding in Christ we do not keep on sinning, we do not keep on breaking the laws of God. The member of the Christian religion who continues to sin has never seen nor known the Lord, and the Lord has never known the believer who continues to break the laws of God.

Then I will tell them plainly, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" (Matthew 7:23—NIV)

Do you know of any part of God’s Word more in need of emphasis today? We American Christians have departed from the Word and this is why we are not having success in persuading our government to practice righteousness.

We know we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. (I John 2:3-6—NIV)

How did Jesus behave? Jesus behaved lawfully, obeying the moral laws of God at all times. John informs us that if we claim to be living in Jesus we must be behaving as Jesus did.

The fruit of abiding in Christ is to behave as Jesus did and always does.

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