Between you and I ~
I believe an unsaved, un born again men -
IS dead, by and because of in his sins and trespasses.
ONLY God can forgive Sin - and
Men and God can forgive Trespasses.
I believe SIN is the transgression THAT is personally AGAINST GOD.
naturally born - is Against God
doesn't believe - is Against God
corrupts his soul - is Against God
no faith - is Against God
doesn't know God - is Against God
no spiritual connection to God - is Against God
These are the THINGS, a man WHO begins learning and believing are AGAINST God,
ARE the THINGS, the SINS AGAINST God, that God FORGIVES, when a man repents and submits to God.
(also included in that forgiveness, IS mans TRESPASSES against other men)
Once FORGIVEN - God does the restoring, changing, fixing, so that nothing whatsoever, of the man can ever again STAND AGAINST God, which WAS Sin Against God, is forgiven, and shall be forever, forgiven, covered, forgotten SIN, and the man shall NEVER again be ABLE to SIN.
Now about the TRANSGRESSIONS of men TRESPASSING AGAINST men?
Sure thing ~ happens all the time - intentionally and unintentionally.
And? Run and whine to God about it? Beg his forgiveness? pfft, no.
Go to the person you trespassed Against, ask "their" forgiveness!
And? What if a man trespasses Against you?
He asks you for forgiveness....Give it to him.
He doesn't ask you for forgiveness.....Forgive him anyway.
And? Why?
Because all trespasses of men against men, whom men forgive, so too has God forgiven that forgiving mans own trespasses.
Do you have to run to God and tell him about it? No. It's a given He knows all things, and has already FORE-TOLD, all trespasses a man forgives, his own trespasses against men ARE forgiven.
So, WHEN Scripture teaches, only God forgives SIN, and a man IS Forgiven his SIN AGAINST GOD, and God restores and changes the man; that the man CAN NEVER AGAIN STAND AGAINST GOD - it is to say, the man CAN SIN MORE. The man CAN NOT SIN, He can NOT EVER again Stand Against God. Future SIN of that man IS NOT POSSIBLE!
Transgressions of Trespassing of men against men? Yes.
So why is Scripture "seemingly" confusing, calling SIN and TRESPASSING the same thing?
It started in the BEGINNING, when men first learned about SIN being against God.
Then teaching men (Moses' laws) of men against God, against men; every violation was called a SIN.
The "doing" good, was known, to "do" as God taught was "doing" right.
The word "sin" was introduced, as the word, of NOT doing good or right.
Gen 4
[7] If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.
Then the word "trespass" was introduced.
Gen 31
[36] And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?
Forward through the OT of laws, between man and God, and between men and men; Sin and Trespass, were words used interchangeably, sometimes for the same things, sometimes not.
Forward from the beginning, THRU, 4,000 years, of tradition and man needing Gods forgiveness of SIN against God and TRESPASSES against men....God provided times, dates, festivals, dinners, temples, alters, etc. that men could work and do, to have places and things specific to BE forgiven their Sins against God and Trespasses against men.
Jesus arrives - The Word of God in the FLESH. Having many things to accomplish -
Fulfilling prophecy, fulfilling mans laws, teaching by example, showing, among other thing....AND revealing Wisdom and Understanding according to God.
Inanutshell and brief -
Every thing OF a man NOT in belief - IS AGAINST GOD, thus that, man is IN SIN and the man COMMITS SIN.
He may ALSO trespass AGAINST other men.
HOWEVER - every thing of a man IN belief, SAVED, BORN AGAIN, IS NEVER again AGAINST GOD. Such a man CAN NOT SIN, can never again, not believe, never again, stand Against God.
Trespass against other men? Yes. Is that a SIN? No. It is a transgression of a Trespass against a man.
What you are calling - "wilful sin" - IS what the unbelieving do. They willfully choose to stand against God. A saved and born again man, can never stand against God, He can not sin.
Think about it - what you think and do against men - is what you are calling "sin". It isn't. It is trespassing against men. It is the man you trespass against you are told to forgive.
Since it is revealed ONLY God can forgive SIN; then you should have discovered, you can not SIN against men, nor could a man forgive you of a sin against him. And tells you to go ask men, and give men forgiveness. Of what? Trespasses.
Does the NT, still mix the traditions of men, calling Sin and Trespass the same thing?
Sure. Tradition of 4,000 years, didn't disappear overnight, nor does "understanding" according to God, come to a man overnight.
However there is enough revealed in Scripture for one to realize the difference between SIN being man against God, and TRESPASSES being man against man.
And when a man IS reconciled unto God, become born of God, the man NO LONGER CAN SIN. He IS freed from SIN. He can not SIN. He IS in standing WITH the Lord forever.
YOU WERE dead, IN trespasses and sin, and forgiven, and can SIN no more.
And any future Trespasses - YOU forgive, and deal with.
Eph 2
[1] And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Matt 6
[14] For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
Mark 2
[7] Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?
Luke 5
[21] And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?
1 John 3
[9] Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
A man "born of God", CAN NOT SIN. He can not stand against God.
God KEEPS the man faithful to God FOREVER, BY HIS POWER.
Can the same man TRESPASS against other men? Absolutely. It is a SIN? No.
All the talking about wilful sin, oops sin, is simply men without understanding of the difference between SIN is Against God, and TRESPASSES are Against Men.
Stick with the facts revealed. Not so much what men KNEW, but rather the UNDERSTANDING of the knowledge revealed.
And keep in mind, OT men, even early NT men, and many today, ARE without "understanding" of the knowledge of the Scriptures.
Understanding "according" to Gods understanding; IS a GIFT, from God TO, men who have become sons of God........AND whom such men, continuously seek , knock, call out, ask God to give them His Wisdom and His Understanding. God is faithful, He will give, to those who seek.
Continue reading and ASK HIM, that you may understand the Scriptures according to His Wisdom and Understanding. That is Gods WILL, that his servants serve God on His behalf, according to His wisdom and Understanding.
God Bless,
SBC