What is sin?
Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.
Proofs
- Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God. (1 John 3:4)
Additional Exposition
Section 1
Doth sin suppose a law?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: For where no law is there is no transgression, (Romans 4:15)
Is sin the breach of law?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: For it is the transgression of the law, (1 John 3:4)
Is the omission of what the law requires sin?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: They hearkened not unto my words nor to my law, (Jeremiah 6:19)
And the commission of what it forbids?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: They have trespassed against my law, (Hosea 8:1)
Is sin then aggravated by a knowledge of God’s law?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: And knowest his will, being instructed out of the law, (Romans 2:18)
Section 2
Doth the law of God extend to our thoughts?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: He that looketh upon a woman to lust after her committeth adultery in his heart, (Matthew 5:28)
And to our words?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, (Ephesians 4:29)
And to our actions?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: O do not this abominable thing which I hate, (Jeremiah 44:4)
And to the temper of our minds?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, (Matthew 22:37)
And is every breach of the law sinful?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: For all unrighteousness is sin, (1 John 5:17)