If iniquity will keep us out of the Kingdom, even though we can work miracles in Jesus name, then WHAT is iniquity? The Strong's Concordance of the Greek language assigns the #458 to this word¾iniquity. It means "illegality, violation of law." It comes from the root word #459 which means "lawless, not subject to the law" (Ten Commandments, statutes and judgements). Faith or belief in God is not enough. "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble" (James 2:19). YOU MUST BELIEVE UNTO REPENTANCE! "For as the body without the breath is dead, SO faith without works IS DEAD ALSO" (James 2:26).
"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked FORSAKE his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him RETURN (repent) unto the Lord, and he (God) will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon" (Isa. 55:6-7). Notice, God will forgive ALL of our past sins IF we TURN to Him. "(Jesus) whom God hast set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are PAST" (Rom. 3:25). We can now have a NEW START, as if we had never sinned. What mercy!!! Praise the great God of the universe for wiping our slate clean. If we are to turn FROM our sins to God, then WHAT is sin?
What is Sin?
The church organization I grew up in told me that "sin was doing that which I knew I ought not." In other words let your conscience be your guide. THEY TAUGHT ME THE EXACT METHOD TO ASSURE THE PENALTY OF DEATH. Look what God inspired in Prov. 14:12, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end (results) thereof are the ways of death."
What does the inspired word of God state? "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the LAW: for sin IS the transgression of the law" (I Jn. 3:4). Was the Apostle John alone in this understanding? Or did Paul also understand that sin is transgression of the law?
"What shall we say then? Is the law sin? GOD FORBID. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known LUST (Tenth Commandment), except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet" (Rom. 7:7). The TEN COMMANDMENTS identifies sin when we break them.
Do you want truth? Or the commandments of men that produce death? Paul said that when he looked at the law he recognized he had broken it and DEATH passed upon him (v. 11). Therefore, Paul recognized that "the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good" (v. 12). The law is holy and good, but people break the law and deserve death. God is just and requires perfect justice. You break God's law just once, and you MUST receive the proper judgement ¾ DEATH. The law is PERFECT (Ps. 19:7) and CONVERTS us, but we are the violators. Without the substitution of Jesus' death for ours, we have no hope. "For we know that the law is spiritual: but I (human) am carnal (fleshy), sold (born) under sin" (Rom. 7:14). We are born with a fleshly body or mind that is diametrically opposed to God's SPIRITUAL law; therefore, we cannot live it to perfection as required. Thanks be to God that His Son DIED IN OUR STEAD, or we would be utterly hopeless.
What is sin? What did Jesus Christ shed His blood to forgive? "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without fault to God, purge your conscience from DEAD WORKS (breaking the law) to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption (purchase back) of the transgressions that were under the FIRST TESTAMENT…" (Heb. 9:14-15). Jesus died to forgive our breaking the law given at Mt. Sinai in Ex. 20. Once we are forgiven, we must obey and QUIT breaking that perfect law. Paul told the difference of obedience to the law under the old and new covenant in II Cor. 3:3," …written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone (old covenant), but in fleshly tables of the heart." God's law is to be written in our hearts (Matt. 5, 6, 7; Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 8:6-10).
YOU CANNOT BE SAVED BY KEEPING GOD'S LAW: RATHER, THE LAW IDENTIFIES SIN, SO WE MAY AVOID BECOMING SINNERS AGAIN AFTER BEING CLEANSED BY THE SHED BLOOD OF JESUS. "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified (from past guilt) in his sight: for by the law is the KNOWLEDGE OF SIN" (Rom. 3:20).
The Law (Ten Commandments) convicts us as sinners because when we read them we easily see that we have broken ALL of them. After receiving forgiveness of PAST violations of God's law, we are now obligated to obey them to avoid the death penalty passing upon us again. "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, DECEIVING your own selves.