2)The fact that God determines that all sins are capital offenses means that no sinner should feel themselves to be more righteous than another. James puts it this way.-to be found guilty of sin at one point is to be guilty of all sins. ( James 2:1-8)
God's Law refuses to distinguish between sins and crimes. As a rule, governments do not concern themselves with moral sins, but rather with social evils that they determine to be crimes. Governments do not concern themselves with what is termed sins (those actions that are against God) but with crimes, (offenses against other human persons).
The capital sins of Leviticus 20 are those sins that the Canaanites would not have considered to be crimes at all. God's people are especially responsible for sins that are not crimes (as those in Leviticus 20 show).
a) the sins which are not crimes are those acts which our culture will encourage us to commit.
b) the sins which are not crimes do not seem to have immediate natural (nor dire) consequences.
When God made certain sins crimes for the Israelites, they were strongly motivated to obey God's Law and to avoid sin because they wanted to live and not be put to death.
Their lifestyle was to be distinct from the people of the surrounding nations. Disobedience and defilement will lead to expulsion from the land promised (Lev.18:24-30; 20;22-26)
God's standards of holiness are much higher than man's sense of morality even at its best. Today's Christians must wake up to the fact that living a godly life requires much more than being a law-abiding citizen. (Some laws are anti-christian and some things that are legal are still sinful). Let us live higher than the law demands for avoiding sin requires this ( Mt. 5:43-48, 1 Peter 2:4). Civil Law can define what is a crime, but God defines what is a sin, not me, not you, not any other being, human, angelic, or demonic.
2)The fact that God determines that all sins are capital offenses means that no sinner should feel themselves to be more righteous than another. James puts it this way.-to be found guilty of sin at one point is to be guilty of all sins. ( James 2:1-8)
God's Law refuses to distinguish between sins and crimes. As a rule, governments do not concern themselves with moral sins, but rather with social evils that they determine to be crimes. Governments do not concern themselves with what is termed sins (those actions that are against God) but with crimes, (offenses against other human persons).
The capital sins of Leviticus 20 are those sins that the Canaanites would not have considered to be crimes at all. God's people are especially responsible for sins that are not crimes (as those in Leviticus 20 show).
a) the sins which are not crimes are those acts which our culture will encourage us to commit.
b) the sins which are not crimes do not seem to have immediate natural (nor dire) consequences.
When God made certain sins crimes for the Israelites, they were strongly motivated to obey God's Law and to avoid sin because they wanted to live and not be put to death.
Their lifestyle was to be distinct from the people of the surrounding nations. Disobedience and defilement will lead to expulsion from the land promised (Lev.18:24-30; 20;22-26)
God's standards of holiness are much higher than man's sense of morality even at its best. Today's Christians must wake up to the fact that living a godly life requires much more than being a law-abiding citizen. (Some laws are anti-christian and some things that are legal are still sinful). Let us live higher than the law demands for avoiding sin requires this ( Mt. 5:43-48, 1 Peter 2:4). Civil Law can define what is a crime, but God defines what is a sin, not me, not you, not any other being, human, angelic, or demonic.
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