THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF SINS

In the beginning, God wanted to have a relationship with mankind, so, when He created mankind; He created them, both male and female, in His own image and likeness (Gen. 1:26-27).  And while the Scripture does not say so specifically, Adam and Eve must have walked and talked to God on a regular basis.  We are told that after Adam sinned (Rom. 5:12), he and Eve hid from God, knowing God's daily routine of walking in the garden in the cool of the day (Gen. 3:8).

Note:  The Word says God created; the Word also says Jesus is God, and that it was He that created all there is (Jn. 1:1-3, 14; Col. 1:15-17; Heb. 1:1-3; etc.)  We know the manifestation of God who walked in the garden, had to be the pre-incarnate Christ, for no man has ever seen the Father (Jn. 1:18; 1 Jn. 4:12).  So, whenever the Scriptures say someone saw God, they are referring to Jesus.

In the beginning, Adam and Eve knew only God.  When Satan approached them, they did not know him, for they had not yet partaken of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen. 3:1-7; Rev. 12:9; 20:2).  Instantly, they knew the difference between good and evil:  they knew God was good and that Satan and they were evil (Gen. 3:7-8, 13). 

From that moment on, mankind has known the difference between good and evil; what God says is good, is good, and what He says is evil, is evil!  To make sure mankind understands His will, God revealed it to Moses in the Law.  All of the Law, all of the Commandments of God, according to Jesus, can be summed up in just two commands:  "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Mt. 22:37-40).  The Apostle Paul even condensed it further by suggesting that when we love others, we are, in fact, loving God.  He wrote:  "For ALL the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Gal. 5:14)!  In other words, love is the fulfillment of God's will (Rom. 13:10)!

So, it is clear; sin is thinking, speaking, or acting contrary to God's Law:  "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law" (1 Jn. 3:4).  But there is another kind of sin which is overlooked:  it is the sin of omission!  James wrote:  "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin" (Jam. 4:17).  I find it interesting that the majority of religious people want to know what they are not permitted to do.  Those who are born again, have a strong desire to demonstrate their gratitude to God for saving them, by going about doing good to those in need!  It is all a matter of perspective!

 

It is as important to know what God loves, as it is to know what He hates!