We have learned so far that sin in the eyes of God is a failure to achieve 100% of the standard of holiness set by God. This means a failure to archive 100% compliance to all his laws. The laws of God includes the Ten Commandments and all other laws that are found in the bible. The bible as the very word of God, contains the standard of holiness required by God, and given through the law and how to achieve it. We have also learned so far that from the very beginning sin originated from the devil and came to the world through Adam. The devils makes you question or doubt God and God’s commandments and gives an alternative to God law which he knows our weak flesh cannot resist. The devil uses the desires of the mind, the heart and the body to cause us to sin and to trap us in sin.
Now, how did we as humans get to know about sin. We know that sin has been in the world before the world began, and we know that sin came through Adam and Eve. How did Adam and Eve know that they have sinned? It is because God told them before hand what to do and what not to do. God gave them his commandments which God expected them to follow. They elected through the devils persuasion to disobey God’s commandments and as a results when God came to visit them, they knew that they had sinned against him. If God did not give them the commandments, they would not have known that what they did was a sin to God. So, in this case, Adam and Eve knew about sin through the disobedience of God’s given commandment. As soon as they ate from the tree, they immediately realized that they have disobeyed God’s commandments and therefore have sinned.
After God rescued the Israelites from Egypt, God gave them the law but before he gave them the law, God informed them that:
Exodus 19:4-8 (ESVST)
You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles ‘wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord.
As you can see, God informed them that if they will indeed obey his voice and keep his covenant, they will be his treasured possession among all peoples and they shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. As you can see in verse 8, all the Israelites agreed to obeying God’s voice and his covenant. Immediately after this, God gave them the law and expected them to comply with it. Fom that point onwards, the people of Israel knew that failure to comply with God’s law is a sin against God.
In both cases that I have shown above, disobedience only came in after God, informed the people about his law. They knew the law and then went on to disobey the law and therefore sinned against God. We can therefore conclude that the knowledge of sin came through the law.
Romans 3:20 (ESVST)
For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
I like the way the new living translation has translated this verse:
Romans 3:20 (NLTse)
For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.
Both the ESV and NLT translation of this verse clearly confirm what I have indicated above that knowledge of sin came through the law. Through the law we are able to see how sinful we are because we compare what the law says to what we do. Therefore without the law, we would not have known about sin. Paul agrees with this:
Romans 7:7 (NLTse)
7 Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.”
Over and above this, born again Christians are continuously informed about the law by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit informs born again Christians not only of the written law but also of the unwritten law. John 16:8 (ESVST)
And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
What about those who have not seen the written law?
Romans 2:14-15 (NLTse)
Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. 15 They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.
The above verse clearly shows that even those who have not seen the written law, know the law of God because God has written his laws in their hearts. Instead of the them being convicted by the Holy Spirit, they are convicted by their conscience and thoughts.
So , everyone knows the law and through this knowledge, we realized how sinful we are. We realize this because we compare our lives, what we do or don’t do and what we say or don’t say with what God expects from us through the law and we realize that we do not match up and therefore are all sinners. Therefore the purpose of the law was to show us how sinful we are and by this the knowledge of sin came to us.
We have learned so far that sin in the eyes of God is a failure to achieve 100% of the standard of holiness set by God. This means a failure to archive 100% compliance to all his laws. The laws of God includes the Ten Commandments and all other laws that are found in the bible. The bible as the very word of God, contains the standard of holiness required by God, and given through the law and how to achieve it. We have also learned so far that from the very beginning sin originated from the devil and came to the world through Adam. The devils makes you question or doubt God and God’s commandments and gives an alternative to God law which he knows our weak flesh cannot resist. The devil uses the desires of the mind, the heart and the body to cause us to sin and to trap us in sin. We have also learned that everyone knows the law and through this knowledge, we realized how sinful we are. We realize this because we compare our lives, what we do or don’t do and what we say or don’t say with what God expects from us through the law and we realize that we do not match up and therefore are all sinners. Therefore the purpose of the law was to show us how sinful we are and by this the knowledge of sin came to us.