@WayneV
I appreciate your input.



I realize that. It can apply to any of the Ten Commandments, and not just the one Paul was talking about in that chapter. I just tried to keep it short.



So you have found a way to sin without breaking the Ten Commandments, right? And you say that making a decision against the revealed will of God for money, power, benefits, fame, convenience, etc, does not violate any of the Ten Commandments?

James 4:4 ...the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Why? Because Satan is the god of this world:

1 John 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not..

So that would be breaking the 1st commandment, which says thou shalt not worship Satan, the god of this world.

Matt. 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
4:9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

There's also the 10th commandment to consider:

1 Tim. 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

This covetousness causes some to "err from the faith". The faith of Christ is the only thing that keeps you from sin.

Of course there are a lot of things this world will get you to do. If I wanted money more than my salvation, I would be working on the oil riggers for $25 / hour, but I'd have to work 7 days a week and get a week off every 3 or 4 weeks. But I settle for $8 / hour and am happy as long as I have food and clothing, as Paul said: "And having food and raiment let us be therewith content", (1 Tim. 6:8).



I understand how you feel, but "Whatever is not of faith is sin" is not even a definition. It's mistaken for a definition.

That's saying what "IS SIN" and not what "SIN IS"

SIN IS the transgression of the law.

Whatever is not of faith IS SIN.

Lying IS SIN.

Stealing IS SIN.

Etc.

None of these IS SIN statements give a definition, but tell that something falls under the catigory of sin.

Besides you don't see "whatever is not of faith" defined by a law which has been chiseled in stone anywhere. Unless you count the Ten Commandments.

I know we have a tradition of defining sin with ambiguous terms, but it's not that complicated. Sin is breaking God's law. Nothing more. Nothing less. God will never condemn someone for something that is not defined in the Ten Commandments which where written in stone by His own finger and which are the only thing God Himself ever spoke to a great multitude, which was over a million souls. To say otherwise is to downplay the Holy Law of God.

But if you disagree then find a quote from the Bible, or at least Ellen White, that calls something a sin which it does not break any of the Ten Commandments. Then I will retract my statements and be instructed by you.

"Tea and coffee drinking is a sin" Ellen G. White CD 425

Did Elisha sin? After all, they had in fact found both the road and the city (and the man) they were looking for.

rush4hire

I will probably be labeled a heretic for what I am about to post, but here goes...

We can use mental gymnastics to make any sin fit into the breaking of the ten commandments. But let's come at this from the reverse for just a moment. Let's ask, "If one of the ten commandments is transgressed, has a sin necessarily occurred?" For example, in the fourth commandment it is stated:

Emphasis mine.

Then we read that Jesus' disciples, as well as the priests in the temple, broke the fourth commandment yet, according to Jesus did not sin. See:

Again, emphasis mine.

An argument can even be made that Jesus transgressed the fourth commandment and admitted it! See:

Again, emphasis mine.

I don't believe that anyone would say that the priests, disciples, or Jesus actually sinned in these instances. But, neither do I believe that you can make an argument to a reasonable person that they didn't break the fourth commandment.

In each of these instances, the needs of people were put above the ten commandments, or the "letter of the law." In other words (mine), Love won out.

And this is just one of the ten!

If we combine what you have tried to illustrate with what I have tried to illustrate, could we say that, "When you sin, you will have transgressed one of the ten commandments, but if you transgress one of the ten commandments, you will not necessarily have sinned"?

But Jesus didn't sin. He was showing the apostles that the Pharisees made more of the law than was true. In fact they put themselves in the place of God by putting something into the law that Jesus is now saying is wrong. IMHO Nothing Jesus did on the Sabbath was for gain. Therefore we are not to do anything on the Sabbath for gain.

I used to work weekends in a hospital and got paid handsomely for it. But then again, I didn't care whether or not I was sinning or not. Even now, I don't really know if that was a sin. Perhaps whether something is a sin depends on the motives of a person in some cases.

Yes. Love Won Another ...

Yes, sin is more of a rebellious attitude against God ... than a particular act.

The Ten Commandments are put in the negative but they are really best understood in the positive sense. For instance, the injunction, "You shall do no murder," means, "You shall promote life."

Not everyone who drinks tea or coffee dies from them, of course, but practicing those things tend toward ill health and certainly don't promote health. I think we could include smoking in the same category.

*We shouldn't forget that this does not include some very healthful, herb teas.

That's certainly taking liberties with God's word.