Sin vs. the law

Lady Justice is blind to represent impartiality, yet she is armed

to exact a fair punishment for the sins committed under her jurisdiction

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

The Evolution of Sin

The church tells us that committing a sin is wrong, but not all of us can articulate why much less who decides what constitutes a sin. We may assume that sinning is the same as breaking the law, but that assumption would be wrong. So, what is the difference between committing a sin and breaking the law? Here’s my definition:

• To commit a sin is to violate God’s rules that are intended to protect us (both corporately and individually).
• To Break the law is a violation of society’s rules that are intended to protect “the greater good”– society itself. Society does not exist to protect any one individual, they exist to protect the masses. 

Thus, sin is personal and the law is impersonal. How did we get to this point? Did God influence the laws society adopted, or did society influence what God calls a sin? For those who understand the power and nature of God, they know that God is not influenced by humanity, except through the power of prayer.

The Evolution of the Law

The answer to this question is simple: study the history of civilization. Over 4,000 years ago, human behavior was dictated based on what best enabled them to survive. Initially, “god” was loosely associated with “nature” because humanity’s survival depended on the cycles of nature—something humans neither understood nor controlled — thus, it was “god-like.” If someone rose up and declared that they knew how to appease the “gods” of nature, they were revered and followed (until proven wrong). During those times, “sins” were defined as any action that displeased the “gods” of nature and/or compromised the health or safety of the community.

Eventually, small communities evolved into larger gatherings that formed cities. With more people came more problems, and laws were needed to preserve peace and order. History records three places where the first formal laws were enacted. They were:

• The Laws of Ur-Nammu (~2100 BCE): Sumerian laws derived from ancient Mesopotamia dealing with criminal and family law.
• The Code of Hammurabi (~1754 BCE): Babylonian laws covering criminal and family laws.
• The Ten Commandments (~1440 BCE):  Laws given to Moses and the Israelites by God as recorded in the Bible — also covering criminal and family laws.

Historians find it curious that the laws developed in these three distinctly different civilizations (separated by both time and location) were amazingly similar. Some even say that Moses just copied the Ten Commandments from his predecessors, and God had nothing to do with it. But think about this for a minute. What are the odds of three very different cultures developing almost identical standards by which they’d live? Is it possible that we all have an inner code telling us what to do? If so, where did it come from?

What made the Ten Commandments different was, for the first time in history, the laws were attested to being given by the very God of the universe, not an intermediary. And this God demanded respect, recognition, and honor. Following His laws was one way in which they did that. The reason why so many previous cultures came up with similar laws could only be explained in one way — it is encoded into our DNA! We all have a god-given moral conscience that defines what we all believe to be “right” or “wrong?”

The Case for a Moral Conscience

Most people agree that they have a conscience, but few understand what it is or how it came about. The Bible provides some amazing insight into this question if we are open to it. As recorded in my previous blog, Adam and Eve were created in God’s image and, for a moment, were without sin. God made clear to them that there was only one rule in the Garden: do not eat from just one tree. According to the Bible, once they did, the first thing they noticed was that they were naked and that was uncomfortable for them — suddenly, it seemed wrong. Take a look at the “before” and “after” of this event:

Once they ate from the “Tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (the name says it all), something clicked in their brains (“their eyes were opened“)—suddenly, they knew what was right (that which was approved by God) and wrong (that which was not approved by God, i.e., sin). Said another way, God implanted in our brains a trigger (or an inner voice) that would activate whenever we were about to do something wrong (our conscience). Can you relate? Sometimes we think we’re the only ones who struggle with the temptations of life. Yet, one of the leading and most revered apostles of Jesus, Paul, confessed to having this same problem:

¹⁷ But I am not really the one who is doing these hated things; it is sin living in me that does them. ¹⁸ Yes, I know that nothing good lives in me—I mean nothing good lives in the part of me that is earthly and sinful. I want to do the things that are good, but I do not do them. ¹⁹ I do not do the good things I want to do, but I do the bad things I do not want to do.Romans 7: 17-19 NCV

As humans, this is our universal struggle. For the rest of God’s creatures, the rule seems to be “survival of the fittest,” “kill or be killed”—the basic rules of the jungle. We alone have to deal with something called a conscience—that nagging little voice in the back of our head that tells us what is right or wrong. If we believe what the Bible teaches, that voice was implanted in us by God, and it is His way of protecting us from the evils forces of this world who want to destroy us.

What to do with that “voice?”

We all have “the voice.” The question is—what do we do with it? And, the voice has two sides: one that listens to what we know is right (our conscience), and one that tempts us with what we know is wrong (the devil). Thus, our struggle is against two opposing voices, attacking our:

• Preservation of Self: Some associate the voice as being a part of our inner self that (to violate it) would be equal to ignoring (or denying) a part of who we are. Listening to this voice protects our sense of self.
• Preservation of Authority: Some associate the voice as coming from our parents or the church reminding us of what it takes to be good. Listening to this voice protects the values instilled in us by our parents or the church.
• Preservation of Status Quo: Some associate the voice as being a royal pain in the neck. If we grew up being taught to “do the right thing,” the voice we hear the loudest in our head may be advocating to “try something different,” or “live on the wild side” for a change. Listening to this voice will lead us to  rebel against doing what is safe or right. This is Satan telling us to buck the status quo and test what will happen if we do something “bad” vs. always trying to be “good.” What we tell ourselves is not much different from what Satan told Eve in the Garden, “God knows that if you eat the fruit from that tree, you will learn about good and evil and you will be like God!” (Genesis 3:5 NCV) Let’s face it, when we listen to this voice, the status quo sounds boring and the promise of “being like a god” is tempting. Yet, like Adam and Eve, the reality is, responding to the voice of rebellion never results in any good.

Final Thoughts

For those who choose to listen to their good voice, there will be a lifelong struggle trying to follow what it tells us to do. Others will look at their good voice as something that is trying to control them, a barrier that keeps them from being free to do whatever they want. What they don’t realize is that your inner voice is “God’s safety valve” – designed to protect you from where your evil desires can and will take you. Without God’s safety valve, there is nothing to stop us from accepting the rules of the jungle, where the only person who matters is YOU. When you ignore your good voice, it’s OK to hurt people. Stealing is acceptable if it enriches you. Murder is simply another person discovering that you really don’t care if they die. Survival always means that someone has to pay the price for YOU to continue your existence. If you were listening to your good voice, it would be screaming STOP!!! It takes a lot of concentrated, purposeful effort to deaden our ears to that outside voice of rebellion! What may have started as a simple rejection of authority, can (if pursued with conscious diligence) result in unmitigated cruelty, greed, and an unbridled lust for power. We don’t have to look far to find examples of such people in history. So, listen to your inner voice telling you to do that which is good — it is the voice of God, lovingly trying to protect you.

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