What kinds of things are considered sinful? Even though these questions seem simple, these are very important questions. Many consider fornication, murder, thieving, lying, and idolatry as the only sins. These are indeed sins, but are these the only sins? Let us seek an answer to this question in this article. In a way, this article is a sequel to our last month’s issue `The Testament of Christ`.
(2) How did Apostle Paul come to know sin? He himself answers that question:“ I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet” (Romans 7:7). Paul explicitly states here that it was only through the Law that he came to know what sin is. If so, we too can clearly define sin if we know what the Law is. Many misunderstand the Law as something that’s made of just the Ten Commandments. No, ‘the Law’ is actually the complete collection of all the commandments given unto Moses (Exodus 24: 3, 4, and 12). According to the calculations of many, there are about 613 commandments in the Law! And going by Paul’s assertion, breaking any of those commandments is a sin. Yes, if someone fails to follow all the many cleansing/purification rites prescribed by the Law, even that too is a sin indeed. Let us heed to what James says: “ For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it“ (James 2:10). Yes, if we were to break even just one of the 613 commandments, that would make us sinners guilty of breaking the whole Law.
(3) That’s why even Apostle Paul declares that none can achieve righteousness through the Law (Romans 3:20). Because, a person is deemed a sinner even if he transgresses just one commandment of the Law. That’s why Paul draws our attention to the beloved of God in the Old Testament – Moses, David and Daniel, and says that they were deemed righteous not because of their works, but because of their faith (See Romans 4, Hebrews 11).
(4) If so, how is it possible for God, who hates sin, to give us sinners the Holy Spirit? How can we be called His children? There was indeed a time when men could not be called His children. Let us listen to Paul describe that pathetic state of man at that time:
“I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7: 10,11,24).
Through these verses Paul describes the torturous plight of mankind – all of Adam’s progeny – who are born in sinful flesh and hence find it impossible to fulfill the Law. Coming to Man’s rescue, God himself brought an end to this suffering, through His own Son. Paul explains it thus:
“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).
(5) True! We know that since Christ died as a ransom sacrifice in place of Adam, God considers the fulfilment of the righteousness of the Law in ALL flesh, including that of Adam. None can achieve righteousness without fulfilling the Law. Today, this righteousness is being freely imparted to everyone through Christ (Romans 3:21-23). People who lived before Christ needed this same righteousness, and through Christ, everyone receives this righteousness freely, Paul says (Romans 3:24). (There are deeper truths in Romans 3:24, and since this article does not have the space to deal with them now, we shall study them in a later issue.) That does not mean that sin has disappeared from us, but since our sins are hidden by the righteousness of Christ, God does not hold them against us. It is this state of affairs that Paul is talking about in his epistle to the Romans: Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin (Romans 7:25). Yes, our flesh still dwells in sin, but we are being renewed by the Spirit. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8: 1). Now some may wonder what it means to be in Christ. To continue to remain in the righteousness of Christ we need to seek the forgiveness of God regularly as taught by Christ in the ‘the Lord’s Prayer’. Yes, that’s what it means to be in Christ (Matthew 6:12). Even John recommends such a purification that we need each day:
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1: 8, 9).
(6) What we understand from all this is that our own efforts are not adequate to rid us of sin. Because, to eliminate sin completely, it would be necessary for us to keep all the commandments of the Law. That is first of all impossible and moreover unnecessary. Doesn’t Apostle Paul himself state that it’s not necessary to honor the Sabbath (Colossians 2:16,17)? That being the case, many get confused by James’ statement that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). What we need to understand is that James refers not to the works of restraining sin, but rather to the works of faith. So what are the works of faith? We can easily understand this from the illustrations provided by James. Especially notice the example of the work of Rahab: “In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?” (James 2:25). Does James suggest here that Rahab was considered righteous because of her sin-redeeming works? No, not at all! In fact, she believed that God had entrusted the land of Canaan to the Israelites (Joshua 2:9), and she offered refuge to the spies of Israel. And this act of hers consequently proved her faith. Yes, James witnesses that this was her works and it was only this that justified her. Yes, it’s easy to claim to have faith in our hearts, but faith is affirmed only by the efforts we take to do the works of faith. Rahab’s work was such that it demonstrated her faith. If she had been caught, she would have been executed for treason against her country. Instead, her faith that God favoured Israel motivated her to do such work. It revealed the depth of her faith, and it is such works of faith that we need to accomplish. We believe in God, in Christ and in the coming of the Kingdom of God. To prove our faith in what we believe, we need to do the work of faith, and as commanded by Christ, we need to preach the gospel. That’s why Paul and the other disciples spent all their strength in preaching the gospel. But, if we fail to do such kind of works, and merely claim to have faith, then as James states, our faith is nothing but dead. Therefore, it’s essential to do the works of faith and prove our faith.
(7) If it’s impossible to attain righteousness through our own efforts to overcome sin, then is it really necessary for us to make an effort to conquer sin? Such a question naturally comes to our mind. The answer is, it’s absolutely essential! It’d be wrong to increase in sin just because we have grace, warns Paul (Romans 6:1). If so, what are the commandments that we as the church must not transgress? And why must we avoid only those transgressions? How do we recognize such sins? Paul answers these questions in his missive to the Corinthians:
“Everything is permissible for me”—but not everything is beneficial” (1 Corinthians 6:12).
Here, Paul reprimands the church of Corinth for indulging themselves in sexual immorality and other sins. As we stand in the righteousness of Christ, God does not take into account the sins we commit in our flesh. Exploiting this privilege, the Corinthians were boldly indulging themselves in sinful activities (1 Corinthians 5:1,2). And it’s because of this that Paul rebukes them. He counsels them that even though everything is permissible, certain activities are to be avoided because they are not beneficial. Certain English translations have them rendered as activities that are not profitable (eg. NASB).
(8) The reason why we need to keep certain commandments of the Law is to enjoy a healthy and vibrant spiritual life. Anything that hinders our spiritual race and destroys the works of faith is a sin that needs to be discouraged, and it is our duty to give it up:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us”(Hebrews 12:1).
If someone fails to do certain things prescribed by the Law like celebrating the festivals or performing the cleansing rites, it would not affect that person’s spiritual life. But our spiritual life would be affected if we were to indulge in activities such as fornication, murder, and thieving that the law condemns as sin. Therefore, if we keep such commandments of the law, it would be beneficial to us. And that’s why even the New Testament Apostles assert the need to avoid such non-beneficial activities.
(9) What we need to keep in mind is that the goal of avoiding such non-beneficial activities is not to attain self-justification. To attain righteousness through our own efforts, we need to obey ALL the commandments of the Law. Merely avoiding the non-beneficial activities listed in the New Testament would not help us attain righteousness. We must never forget that the only reason we are reckoned righteous is because of our faith in Christ Jesus. The reason why we avoid these non-beneficial activities is because they have the ability to destroy the New Creation in us. Any deed that destroys the New Creation is non-beneficial – it could be fornication or it could be simply a silly conversation. Such unprofitable activities have been listed out in many places in the New Testament. These are activities that we should not indulge in. Not only this, but any other activity that can ruin our race must not be encouraged. You may remember that in the previous issue, we had put together a list of non-beneficial activities mentioned in the New Testament. This list was compiled to the best of our ability. There could be other unprofitable activities that we missed. Therefore, along with the list, please read the Bible to get more information on what is non-beneficial behaviour. It is critical that we avoid such unprofitable activities, for if we indulge in these, we would be hurting the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:24-32). It is true that we have freedom and sovereignty through Christ. But let’s listen to Paul when he expounds on how we must employ this freedom:
“You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love” (Galatians 5:13).
In case we commit a sin due to the weakness of our flesh, we need to seek forgiveness in the name of Jesus Christ right away, and give up that activity. On the other hand, if we choose to continue in such sinful activities, it would surely lead us to the second death.
(10) In his first epistle to Timothy, Paul rebukes those who preach the Law against faith (1 Timothy 1:3,7), and he declares that the goal of the Law covenant is love (1 Timothy 1:5). If anyone could obey the Law in its entirety, he or she would develop pure love. God gave us the Law so that this love might develop. Since it’s impossible to fulfil the Law in fallen flesh, God gave His only Son and fulfilled it. And He also gave us his Holy Spirit to create this love in us. Yes, the primary fruit of the Holy Spirit is love. The love that was attained earlier as a result of obeying the Law is now being received through the Holy Spirit. That’s why the Bible says that we are being renewed in the Spirit. We must endeavor to increase in this pure love so that we can become perfect in the Spirit and win this race.
(11) We studied that sin means transgression of the Law. We saw that it’s impossible to fulfill the Law, and hence we cannot attain self-justification through our own works. We found that it’s only through our faith in Christ that we attain the righteousness that comes from God’s grace. We also studied that we absolutely need to do the works of faith to prove our faith. Finally, we must avoid indulging in non-beneficial activities and instead increase in love with the help of the Holy Spirit. May God help us in our endeavor to win this race!