Quote:
Originally Posted by KeptByTheWord
Opening this discussion back up again...
1 John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
Sin in this scripture is identified as "transgression of the law".
2 questions:
1. Is the Apostle John referring to Torah law in this passage, or is it a broader form of lawlessness not necessarily referring to Torah?
anomia: lawlessness
Original Word: ἀνομία, ας, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: anomia
Phonetic Spelling: (an-om-ee'-ah)
Short Definition: lawlessness, iniquity
Definition: lawlessness, iniquity, disobedience, sin.
http://biblehub.com/greek/458.htm
2. Is there a case to be made that John was implying that not keeping all of Torah law was sin? |
1. If John was not referring to the commandments of God, then nobody would be able to know if they were sinning. If God Himself is not the only decider of what is sin, then who else is? When sin is "transgression of the law" then sin = crime. So then, can anything be a crime that is not defined by law? If that were possible, then crime becomes an arbitrary thing and the people would have no way to know what was illegal and what was legal.
Therefore, sin is the transgression of the law, and cannot be anything but transgression of the law. Think about it: How can something be a sin that is not a violation of God's commandments to man? How can something be sinful unless it is contrary to the will of God? And how can the will of God be known unless it is revealed? And how is the will of God revealed to mankind, if not by His Word?
Note: God may reveal His personal will TO YOU, consisting of His will FOR you personally. To violate that would of course be sin, although you could never convict someone ELSE of it as sin since it was a command given specifically to YOU (which command, by the way, would not be in violation of His Word). But that becomes sin under the law that "thou shalt serve the LORD thy God". One cannot serve a king by disobeying his specific instructions to you, for example.
2. Not keeping the commandments of God is of course sin. But one must rightly understand what commandments pertain to what classes of people and under what conditions. Jesus interpreted the Law perfectly and we are followers of Him (as disciples). We therefore follow His "interpretation and application of Torah".