Tag Archives: gospels

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Physics and Definition of Sin, Repentance and Forgiveness – Part 8: What Defines Sin: Gospels

Sin is a broad subject with a lot to talk about.  I don’t want to talk about sin without talking about repentance.  I don’t want to talk about repentance without talking about forgiveness.  The few things I want to cover are:

If you do not understand something I’m saying, please ask.  The concept may be hard to grasp at first but it will change how you see yourself and your life when you do.

What Defines Sin

Deut 32:46-47
46 and he said to them: “Set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today, which you shall command your children to be careful to observe — all the words of this law.
47 For it is not a vain thing for you, because it is your life, and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess.”

Sin is the transgression of the commandments of God.

1 John 3:4
4 Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
KJV

There are generally four sources that are used to define sin:

  1. Torah or Law of Moses which is the first five books of the Bible
  2. Gospels
  3. Apostolic scriptures
  4. Doctrine
  5. We don’t really know but we think . . . and then make something up that sounds religious

Gospels

The gospels contain the words and life of Jesus yet you will not find any commandments in them that aren’t found in the Torah.  Why?

John 14:6-21
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak of Myself; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.
11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever —
17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
19 “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.
20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Almost like a tongue twister for the mind.  Jesus wouldn’t have added or taken away anything from the Torah for several reasons:

  1. He is the Torah made flesh like we talked about earlier.
  2. The Torah says not to add to it or take away from it.  In other words, it is perfect.  If Jesus would have added or taken away from it, he would have been breaking Torah and thereby have sinned thus he wouldn’t have been without sin which carries a whole host of negative ramifications.  He was accused of this several times by the religious leaders and this is what he has to say:Matt 5:17-19
    17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
    18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
    19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

    To fulfill is a Hebrew expression which means ‘rightly interpret’.  If scripture was incorrectly interpreted, it was called ‘destroying’.

  3. Physics don’t change.  Like we looked at earlier, the commandments in Torah are for physical reasons even if we aren’t able to understand them yet.  Jesus didn’t come to restore all things the first time he was here, he came to bring redemption.  When he comes again, it will be to bring reconciliation.  Some time after that there will be restoration and even then, physics won’t change; the corruption factor will be removed.
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Physics and Definition of Sin, Repentance and Forgiveness – Part 7: What Defines Sin: Torah

Sin is a broad subject with a lot to talk about.  I don’t want to talk about sin without talking about repentance.  I don’t want to talk about repentance without talking about forgiveness.  The few things I want to cover are:

If you do not understand something I’m saying, please ask.  The concept may be hard to grasp at first but it will change how you see yourself and your life when you do.

What Defines Sin

Deut 32:46-47
46 and he said to them: “Set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today, which you shall command your children to be careful to observe — all the words of this law.
47 For it is not a vain thing for you, because it is your life, and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess.”

Sin is the transgression of the commandments of God.

1 John 3:4
4 Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
KJV

There are generally four sources that are used to define sin:

  1. Torah or Law of Moses which is the first five books of the Bible
  2. Gospels
  3. Apostolic scriptures
  4. Doctrine
  5. We don’t really know but we think . . . and then make something up that sounds religious

Torah

Most people don’t use the Torah as the source which defines sin, including Judaism.  Torah is better defined as ‘instruction’.  The reason it is translated into Law in English is because of the Greek step.  In Greek, nomos, law, means instruction.  In English, law means red and blue lights, the fuzz is coming to get you.

Literally, Torah means the ‘direction one is to walk in life’.  Remember, righteousness means to ‘walk a strait path’.  Pictographically, it means ‘Behold, the firstborn nailed to a cross’.  Firstborn is the raysh (ר) which first appears in Gen 1:1 and is a title for Jesus.  This is another reason why John said, ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.’ (John 1:14).  Jesus is the physical embodiment of the Word of God.

Torah has a sister named Morah (מורה).  Morah is an archer.  Remember, chatah – sin means to ‘miss the mark’?  The Torah, if you will, is the bow and arrow that is used when aiming for the mark or goal which is Jesus.

Torah has another sister named Yarah (ירה) which means rain (as in water).  Drought is caused by a lack of rain.  When there is drought somewhere, it is usually an indication of the lack of the Word of God.  That is why it didn’t rain for three and a half years during Ahab’s reign until Elijah cut the bull and gave the people an ultimatum of who they’d serve (1 Kings 18:21).

Torah has an uncle named Y’ar (יאר) which means river.  What is a river but life?  Every river has a source.  The purest water you will find is at the headwaters of a river.  As a river flows down stream, things get added to it, fish/ life get taken out, it get polluted, turns color, and at its end is an ocean or body of salt water which will kill anyone who drinks too much of it.

We know that the source of the Word of God is God.  His instructions are life.  When we add to it or take away from it, it becomes polluted.  The more polluted it becomes, the more toxic it becomes to the point where it can kill you.  That is why he commands us:

Deut 12:32
32 “Whatever thing I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.

Why am I going through all this?  God is so smart that he knew men would come along and intellectualize his word.  So he embedded his word in things we can touch and feel and identify with.  This is why most every child’s first drawing is a picture of a house, a tree, the sun, grass and his family.  This is why Paul says:

Rom 1:20
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
KJV

A picture is worth 1k words.  This is why at its base, Hebrew is a pictographic language.  The more you study Hebrew words and take them back to their mountaintop purest meaning, the more you will see a picture and be taken back by the simple yet profoundly detailed beauty of the Word of God.  I’m trying to show you part of that picture hoping you can see what I see.

In total, there are traditionally 613 commandments.  I haven’t taken the time to go through and personally count them all.  Many commandments are gender specific, job specific or disease specific.