“JUST ONE SIN”

10 “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.”

James 2:10

Heaven is a perfect place ruled by a perfect God who invites people like us, sinners, to live in it. But in order for us to be allowed to enter, we must first be like Him, i.e., perfect. How is this even possible? How do we become perfect?

In our previous blog, we learned that even in our darkest days, we can come to God and receive His forgiveness. Let me give you another thought to ponder.

One Sin is Enough

Today’s verse is a passage from the Book of James in which the writer commands believers to love their neighbors as themselves, i.e., not to prefer the rich over the poor. It appears that some of his readers are showing favoritism. Their sin of partiality, though it seems “small,” is tantamount to breaking the whole law.

If God is holy, then His people should be one hundred percent holy (Matthew 5:48). In an OT sense, it means perfect obedience to the Law of Moses. However, no one (except for Jesus) had successfully adhered to the letter of the Law. Everybody, including the best among the Jews, was found guilty of breaking it in one way or another.

The Bible describes the Law as a complete, unbreakable unit, like a chain. It makes it clear that breaking any one commandment makes the guilty party a violator of the entire Law. The point is that it is impossible to achieve righteousness by virtue of performance; grace is necessary to meet God's standards.

How does this verse apply to us?

We tend to highlight certain sins while completely ignoring the others. Also, we find it easy to find fault in others but don’t seem to see our own misdeeds. Therefore, we can’t be the judge of ourselves—or others, for that matter. After all, for a judge to be effective, he or she must be objectively fair.

Therefore, God, who is the Giver of the Law, reserves the right to stand as Judge of you and me. Jesus subjected Himself to the letter of the Law and perfectly adhered to all its precepts. He alone is beyond reproach. As such, He is the only one qualified to serve as a Judge.

Again, God is holy, so He cannot turn a blind eye to sin, not even a simple lie or a little act of dishonesty. Doing so would make Him unjust—and therefore not holy.

If one sin is enough to make us violators, what hope is there for us?

Thankfully, the Lord Jesus perfectly obeyed all of the requirements of the Law. He was tempted—just like you and me, but He was found pure and untainted by sin. Therefore, His sacrifice on the Cross was accepted by the Father as a pleasing aroma; the wrath of God was satisfied. And the good news—His perfect righteousness is credited to anyone who repents of his sins and puts his faith in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21.

Have you received Jesus' gift of righteousness?

Pursue the Savior today!

Photo by Spenser Sembrat on Unsplash