Sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God (1 John 3:4; Romans 4:15), in the inward state and habit of the soul, as well as in the outward conduct of the life, whether by omission or commission (Romans 6:12-17; 7:5-24). It is “not a mere violation of the law of our constitution, or of the system of things, but an offence against a personal lawgiver and moral governor who vindicates his law with penalties.” – Hodge’s Outlines via Easton Bible Dictionary.

The paragraph above makes it clear that anytime one fails to conform to the law of God or transgresses it outright, that person sins. It could be a state of the person’s inward being or in the outward conduct of that individual’s life – what they do or fail to do – deliberately or unintentionally, such nonconformity to God’s law is still sin. You can see that this is such a serious, if not impossible, matter to deal with.

Big Or Small?

The question before us is, is this a small matter? Can any nonconformity to or transgression of the law of God be considered ‘small’? There are at least two instances of violation of God’s instructions in scripture that by human judgment, you would think they are ‘small’ matters.

In Genesis 3, man was instructed by God not to eat from or even touch the fruit of the tree that was in the middle of the garden, otherwise death would follow. Think about this: if you are a parent and you kept some apples in your refrigerator with an instruction to your children, that no one touches them, yet one or two of them does, will you kill them? Isn’t that a small sin undeserving of death? Why should all your children subsequently die because of that one transgression?

The second is in 2 Samuel 6, where David, together with Israel were conveying the ark of God, celebrating with all their might before the Lord. Suddenly, the oxen that bore the ark stumbled and Uzzah reached out his hand and took hold the ark, to keep it from falling. God’s anger burned against Uzzah and God struck down Uzzah and he died there beside the ark. Even David was angry because of the LORD’s wrath and the movement of the ark to Jerusalem that day was stopped. Humanly speaking, wasn’t it a ‘small sin’ that the ark that represented the presence and glory of God was about to fall as the oxen that bore it stumbled, and someone who cared for the glory of God reached out to stop that from happening? It wasn’t Uzzah’s fault that the king and the Levites failed to carry the ark on human shoulders as had been commanded but opted to use animals. Yet, God made an example of him.

God’s ways are not human ways; his way of seeing things is also infinitely higher. Return to the opening paragraph and you would see that sin is “not a mere violation of the law of our constitution, nor of the system of things, but an offence against a personal lawgiver and moral governor who vindicates his law with penalties.” Sin is an offence against God and therefore there is no smallness about it. Sin against the constitution of your country, made by mortals, may be a small matter to you, but sin against God is not. Look at it this way: when you multiply one by zero, what you get is zero. If you multiply a trillion by zero, you will come up with the same answer – zero. If you change what you multiply against, from zero to say a trillion, your answers will change. Multiplying even a small number like one by a trillion will give you a trillion. So you see, the crux of the matter is what number you multiply against; a big number will give you a big result. So it is with sinning against God. Your transgression against a mere mortal’s regulations may be a small matter, but transgression against a big God, nay, the Almighty God, can never be a ‘small’ matter; it is always big, with life and death consequences.

Your transgression against a mere mortal’s regulations may be a small matter, but transgression against a big God, nay, the Almighty God, can never be a ‘small’ matter; it is always big, with life and death consequences

One problem with us as humans, is that our sins have clouded our understanding and perception about the infinite worth, might and holiness of God. Our living in the dispensation of grace is also something that we many times abuse to our detriment. It is worth repeating: God is a great God, he is holy, holy, holy and infinitely glorious. Sin against such a personality cannot be a small matter. If it is to you, you need to have your perceptions checked. Like I said earlier, God is a personal lawgiver and moral governor who vindicates his law with penalties. He defends his honour and his law with penalties and the earlier we realize that, the better for us all. Joseph knew this. Whereas Mrs Potiphar thought that sex outside her marriage wasn’t such a big deal, Joseph knew otherwise. He asked her, “How then can I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9).  If it was only against Mr Potiphar that he was going to sin, perhaps the matter wouldn’t be as big. But sin against Mr Potiphar violated not just him but God’s moral law and Joseph correctly saw the weight of the offence: all sin in God’s world is sin against God. It is he who made the world and built into it a system of right and wrong. It is therefore an insult to his boundless holiness to violate that, and it cannot be a small matter.

It is worth repeating: God is a great God, he is holy, holy, holy and infinitely glorious. Sin against such a personality cannot be a small matter.

It is right at this point to pause and pray, that God would give you a fresh view of his unspeakable and immeasurable worth, his infinite holiness and the vileness of sinning against such a person; that you would see how just and deserving of utter damnation all of us are as sinners against him. Pray that you would stop seeing some sins as small. One area where many fall short is the matter of lying. You hear people talk about small lies or white lies, as though the colour of a lie (whatever that means) makes it any less a severe sin. The Bible doesn’t. In Revelation 21:8 it says, “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” In your human judgment, you may think of idolaters, the sexually perverse and murderers as more woeful sinners and deserving of damnation by fire and brimstone, and yes, they may not be equal in magnitude, but none is ‘small’; all are rightfully deserving of death. As far as the Bible is concerned, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

The Gift of God

That “the wages of sin is death” is popular and oft quoted. But that is not the gospel or where that verse ends. Here is it in full: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Sin, as earlier said, is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God in the inward state and habit of the soul, as well as in the outward conduct of the life, whether by omission or commission. That definition places before us the impossibility of being sinless in ourselves. You may not outwardly conduct a wrong, but what about the inward state or habit of your soul? Is it clean 100% of the time? That helplessness needs a saviour, and in Christ Jesus we have one. The consequence of all your sins is death, BUT. But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Anyone who is in him is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). For those in Christ, the case is closed. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Him (Romans 8:1). Are you in him? Rejoice, for your sins are forgiven and covered. If you are not in him, now is the opportunity to come to him and receive rest from sin and for your soul.