The question immediately arises: Why, given all Israel had witnessed of the greatness and graciousness of God, and in view of the precious and very great promises He held out them – why did the people have such a difficult time getting in step with His Law?

The answer is found in yet another unseen component of the worldview which we begin to discover in the Law of God: sin.

Sin, as the Apostle John explained, is transgression of the Law of God (1 Jn. 3.4). When we break the Law, we sin; but why do we sin?

Becauseof sin.

The rebellion of Adam and Eve introduced the unseen power of sin into the cosmos, focused in the souls of human beings (cf. Rom. 5.12). Sin affects every aspect of creation, beginning in the hearts, minds, and consciences of people. Our natural set-of-the-soul is affected bysin and therefore untosinning. Sins and sinning we can see; sin, we cannot. But it is the reality of sin that makes sinning and sins a problem to be reckoned with by all people.

God knew this full well when He gave the Law; nevertheless, He lamented the lack of a “heart” within His people, and He looked forward to the day when He would “operate” on their hearts so that, overcoming the power of sin, they would hear and obey Him (cf. Deut. 30.1-10; Ezek. 36.26, 27).

At the same time, He commanded His people to walk in the ways of His Law and, knowing they would fail, provided means, through offerings, sacrifices, and Sabbaths, for them to be continually renewed in His grace.

The Law of God takes into account the sinas well as the sinsof people. The Law does not excuse disobedience, because of sin; rather, it commands obedience, because of grace. Grace ever exists from God to carry us through our transgressions into His favor once again. In the Law this grace could be known through sacrifices and offerings, which served to cover, for the time, the sins of God’s people.

Yet beyond this, these served to point the people forward to the final Sacrifice and Offering, even our Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. 7-9). In Him the Law is fulfilled, the sacrifices are complete, and grace is available to even the most wretched of sinners. In Him not only are sins forgiven and cleansed, but sin itself is destroyed forever.

Forgiveness of sins, and the renewal of our souls, sets us, by God’s Spirit, on a path of obedience in which grace carries us step by step into greater degrees of Christlikeness (2 Cor. 3.12-18). God still commands us to obey His Law (Rom. 7.12; Matt. 5.17-19; 1 Jn. 2.1-6). But now He gives us the heartand His Spirit to enable us to will and do according to overcome the evil of sin with the power of Christ’s righteousness, enabling us to fulfill His good purposes (Rom. 12.21; Phil. 2.12, 13).

Sin still has a powerful place in the worldview we find in Scripture beyond the Law, but the true believer, clinging to Christ and walking in God’s Word and Spirit, is set free from the power of sin into the newness of grace (Jn. 8.31-36).

Act: Meditate on 1 John 1.8-10 and Psalm 139.23, 24. What is our responsibility with respect to the lingering remnants of sin in our lives?

T. M. Moore

The book of Ecclesiastes is a crucial resource for understanding the Biblical worldview against the backdrop of our secular age. Follow T. M.’s studies in Ecclesiastes by downloading the free, weekly studies available in our Scriptorium Resources page at The Fellowship of Ailbe. Click hereto see the weekly studies available thus far.

Want to learn ore about the unseen realm? Order a copy of The Landscape of Unseen Things, T. M.’s 24-lesson study of that realm which anchors our Christian worldview.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.