by Bible League International

Verse of the Day and Devotion

Anyone who sins breaks God's law. Yes, sinning is the same as living against God's law.  - I John 3:4 ERV

Devotion

According to our verse for today, there is such a thing as God's law, God's divine law. The Lord God is the King who rules and reigns over all things and, as one would expect from a King, He has established certain moral laws that govern the conduct of humankind. For example, as Jesus pointed out, there is the law that we should "‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind"' and there is the law that we should ‘"Love your neighbor the same as you love yourself.'" (Matthew 22:37) The Bible tells us about many other moral laws as well.

According to our verse for today, to sin is to break God's law. If there was no law, or if a law no longer applied, then there could be no sin. God's law defines what it means to sin. No human, in other words, may define what it means to sin. Indeed, any attempt to redefine what it means to sin is itself a sin. This is God's world, not our world, and He has the right to establish what is sin and what is not sin. Humans do not have that right. Thus, if someone fails to comply with God's divine law, then that someone is guilty of sin against God.

As the Bible teaches, "All have sinned and are not good enough." (Romans 3:23) Although God has made provision for this unhappy state of affairs, although He has graciously made provision through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ to save us from the consequences of our sin, the law still holds. Just because Jesus saves us from our sin does not mean that the law no longer applies and that we are free to sin. Indeed, if you check the context of our verse for today, that seems to be the point the Apostle John is trying to make in bringing up the subject.

No one, of course, can keep from sinning through human effort alone. That's why David, after he had fallen into the grievous sins of adultery and murder, cried out to God, "Your help made me so happy. Give me that joy again. Make my spirit strong and ready to obey you." (Psalm 51:12)

If you're struggling with sin today, then may God make your spirit strong and ready to obey Him as well.