The primary definition of "sin" given in Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary seems to have been
taken straight from the Bible, for it says, "Sin:transgression of the law of God." In 1 John 3:4
we read, similarly, "Sin is the transgression of the law."

It is unfortunate, however, that this is one of the instances where the King James Version supplies
a poor translation of the text. A great deal of misapprehension as to the true meaning of sin can
be traced to the mistranslation of this verse.

To be sure, the transgression of God’s law is included in the domain of sin. But can there not also
be sin in matters concerning which no positive law or commandment of God has been given?
Romans 2:12 states that "as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law." Also,
in Romans 5:14 we and that "death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not
sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression." From the time Adam was expelled from the
garden until the days of Moses, there was no law given for man to transgress. Yet man’s
sinfulness and wickedness were displayed time and time again during that period, as the Book of
Genesis clearly reveals.

What then is sin? The more accurate rendering of 1 John 3:4 is this:"Sin is lawlessness." In other
words, he who sins is one who behaves as if there is no law_as if God has no will for him. Thus,
sin is the spirit of self-will, the spirit of doing what we want to do without regard for God’s will
for us.

There is much instruction in all of this for us today. To consider sin to involve only the
transgression of the law_the breach of one of the commandments given to us in God’s
Word_tends to have a deadening effect upon the soul. One tends thus to become self-satisfied in
the fact that he is not breaking any of the commandments of Scripture (or at least not any of the
ones he considers to be important). And at the same time he becomes lax about those details of
his life concerning which there is no positive commandment to be found in Scripture.

The vital question we need to keep constantly before us is this:"Am I at this moment doing God’s
will, or am I doing my own will?" It must be one or the other. There is no middle ground.

All too often we substitute for this vital question a somewhat different question. This question
takes various forms:"Is there any intrinsic evil in doing such and such a thing?" "Is there anything
wrong with it?" "Will any harm come from this?" But these are all such negative questions! Let
us turn these questions around and rephrase them so that they sound more like our "vital
question":"Is there any good in doing such and such a thing?" "Is there any possibility that God
will be well-pleased with it?" "Will glory and honor accrue to the Lord from this?" "Is it God’s
will that I should be doing this thing at this time?"

In this present age with its generally low moral condition, it is not hard to find children of God
who think they are living upright lives, but who are, in reality, self-willed, "lawless" individuals.
This is possible because they are content to compare their lives with those about them who are

morally corrupt.

How apt we are to be dragged down to the level of those Christians who walk after the spirit of
the age. Thus, how needful it is to have our eyes fixed on Christ; to have Him before us as our
only Object and the only Standard of our lives. Let us not forget that "sin is lawlessness" and
lawlessness_or self-will_is sin. May it be the desire of our hearts, moment by moment, to seek
His will and not our own.