JAN 7

1 John 3:4
Memorise Romans 3:23
“and come short of the glory of God.”

In our lives, we are surrounded by rules. Some are clearly spelt out to us, whilst others are more an unspoken sort of guidelines that we understand are there. Everywhere we go, we know there is a sort of decorum that we must have, a certain sort of standard that we must conform to. If we do not obey these rules, there would also be penalties and punishments. 

In the past few days, the term ‘sin’ has been mentioned from time to time. But have we ever stopped to question, what exactly is sin? How do I define it? Based on the text for today, 1 John 3:4, the Westminster Shorter Catechism defined it as such: “Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God”.

Thus simply put, we have two broad overlapping definitions of what is sin: 

1. When we fall short of the standards given in the law of God. When  we do not meet up to the requirements set, when we are in want of (meaning lacking) conformity to God’s law. For example, when we   do not love our neighbours as we ought, or not honour our parents enough, these are areas in our lives where we are actually in sin.  This is as Romans 3:23 says - we have all sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God.

2. When we transgress the law of God, when we break the commandments that God has set for us. This is when we do not do what we are told to do. For example, when we lie, covet, practice idolatry etc. This is the clearer and more easily identifiable sort of  sin in our lives.

Realise that within these two categories, the scope of application is very broad, where there are indeed so many different ways in which we fall short of or transgress against the law of God. Thus as Christians we must be very careful of everything that we do, to guard our hearts, our mouths and our actions from sinning against the holy and righteous God whom we love so dearly. 

Thought: To know sin, we must know the law of God.
Prayer: O Lord, grant me the strength and courage to deal with the many sins in my life.