QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION WITH PASTOR CHRIS OYAKHILOME.
WHAT IS THE BENCHMARK FOR DEFINING SIN?
I’ll just give you a little idea of what this is, and that will begin to help your personal study. I’ll read you a few scriptures. The first one will be from Romans chapter 14. In discussing what to eat and what not to eat and whether eating food made for idols was right or wrong and so on, Paul made a conclusive statement that is very enlightening: “And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin” [Romans 14:23].
Now, that’s the first thing you have to understand because we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7 tells us “…we walk by faith, not by sight”. The Bible says in Romans 9:8 that those who are the children of the flesh [which means the children of the senses] are not the children of God. Those who are the children of God are the children of faith. The Bible says that we are the children of faith because we are the children of faithful Abraham. So, we walk by faith.
The bible says “Without faith it is impossible to please God” [Hebrews 11:6]. That tells you how important faith is–-without it, it is impossible to please God. You can’t please Him without faith, no matter what you do. So, you need faith and faith is encapsulated in the gospel. When you hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, faith comes with it. When you accept the gospel, faith is automatically imparted to your spirit from day-one that you gave your life to Christ. That’s what the bible tells us in Romans chapter 12, when you read from verse 3: “…God hath dealt to everyone the measure of faith” [Romans 12:3]. It’s that seed of faith that’s in the gospel. So, that’s the first thing you need to know: that anything that is not of faith is sin. That establishes it. So, in your walk with God, you must walk with Him by faith because whatever you do outside of faith, God says it’s sin.
The second thing, you’d learn from the next scriptures I’ll read to you. Romans Chapter 13, beginning with verse 8: “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law” [Romans 13:8]. He that loves another hath fulfilled the law. Now, he’s talking about the law God gave to Moses–the cardinal law of God. That’s what he’s looking at. Then he goes on in verse 9 to say: “For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” [Romans 13:9]. Then in verse 10, he says “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” [Romans 13:10]. Love is the fulfilling of the law. So, there are going to be two things to look at here: fulfilling the law or transgressing the law. You’re either fulfilling the law or you’re transgressing the law. So, he says if you walk in love, you fulfill the law. Alright, let me read to you from the 1st epistle of St. John Chapter 3 in verse 4: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” [1 John 3:4]. Now that’s pretty simple: if love is the fulfilling of the law, it means to “not-walk-in-love” is the transgressing of the law. If you don’t walk in love, you transgress the law. Love is the fulfilling of the law and the opposite of love is selfishness. So, he says “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” [1 John 3:4]. The statement he just made is based on the principle. He says “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for [which means because] sin is the transgression of the law” [1 John 3:4]. So, that’s a principle like he gave us a principle that we read earlier, that whatsoever is not faith is sin. And now he says sin is defined as the transgression of the law and love is the fulfilling of the law.
So, if you don’t walk in love, you transgress the law. If you want to know the benchmark for sin–how do you measure sin? How do you know when your act is an act of sin? Or your thought is a thought of sin? Two things: one, is it by faith in God, his Word? Does it fulfill the requirements of love? Which means is it in love? Because “faith works by love.” Otherwise, faith would be no faith. Faith in God, faith in His word functions by love. So, this is the simple principle for understanding sin, the simple principle for measuring what sin is: Faith and Love.
So, he tells us that all the commandments are fulfilled in one statement to love your neighbor as yourself. Then, Jesus took it higher, He says, you’re to love not as yourself but as Christ loved you. Then, He said “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” [John 15:13]. So, you go beyond – sometimes, some people say I can’t please you and displease myself. No! You can please someone even when you didn’t have pleasure in giving up what you had to give up. See, your pleasure becomes doing what you’re supposed to do. You take pleasure in fulfilling God’s righteous requirements; when you fulfill the righteousness of God, that should be your joy, not when you fulfill your own desires.
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