INTRODUCTION

The scripture provides several examples of sin. According to Proverbs 21:4An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.
See All..., “An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.” Proverbs 24:9The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men.
See All... adds, “The thought of foolishness is sin.” Romans 14:23And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
See All... says, “whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” James 4:17Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
See All... declares, “to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” 1 John 5:17All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.
See All... broadens the scope by stating that “All unrighteousness is sin.” Although all of these thoughts serve to help man’s understanding of sin, none seem to completely identify exactly what constitutes sin. However, First John clearly and definitively defines sin: “sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
See All...).

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

• (For children): We sin when we disobey God's commandments (Exodus 20:3-17 [3] Thou shalt have no other gods before me. [4] Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. [5] Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; [6] And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. [7] Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. [8] Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. [9] Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: [10] But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: [11] For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. [12] Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. [13] Thou shalt not kill. [14] Thou shalt not commit adultery. [15] Thou shalt not steal. [16] Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. [17] Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
  See All...). Read what David said when he broke the sixth and seventh commandments (2 Samuel 12:9Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
  See All..., 13a); Achan when he broke the eighth and tenth commandments (Joshua 7:20-21 [20] And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: [21] When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.
  See All...); and Saul when he broke the first commandment (1 Samuel 15:24And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
  See All...). Have you ever broken the fifth commandment? Then that is sin.
• (For everyone): What is the relationship of sin and the law of God? Why does law have to exist before there can be sin? What kind of laws did God have in place before the law of Moses?
• What are some things you would consider to be sin? Which laws of God are violated by these actions?

PRAYER NEEDS

• Ask God to give you a greater understanding of sin.
• Ask the Lord to give you His hatred for sin.

HYMN

MY SAVIOUR’S LOVE

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