1 Peter 1:16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

This is a declarative statement. Since God says you are holy then by God you are holy.

In the most simple terms, it doesn’t matter what you think, it only matters what God thinks.

Romans 3:26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Justification is a declared state. God is keeping the books on all mankind. The debt we owe God in this hostage negotiation put us in the red and only God can cancel out that debt based on His sense of justice not ours.

John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

God the Father sent God the Son into the world to be that perfect sacrifice to justify His choice to end obedience to the law as a demand for having a relationship with God the Father.

The basis now for this personal relationship with God is by placing our faith in the atoning work performed by Jesus on the cross. Jesus fulfilled the law taking away the ordinances as a demand for being justified in God’s eyes.

Matthew 5:17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Here money is translated from the Greek mammon, a Semitic word for money or possessions. The idea being that if you place our love of anything before our love of God we have violated the great commandment.

Matthew 22:36-40 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”

Phase two is the first characteristic of that love.

Matthew 22:39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Love needs to be shared because that is what love does. God is love.

Genesis 3:12-13 English Standard Version

12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Yesterday I said “ Here are the important attributes of sin. Sin has accomplices and victims.”

Today we see getting caught in sin causes the blame games to begin. Adam blames Eve and Eve blames the serpent. If they had not been called out for their disobedience they would have not thought to seek to blame someone else for their own choices.

Hidden within Adam’s finger pointing is an accusation against God Himself. “The woman you gave me.” If God had not given Adam the woman he would not have sinned. Or would he? We will never know if Adam would have listened to the serpent because it didn’t happen.

Guess what, if God had not said “don’t” there would have been no knowledge of sin.

Here is the crux of the law, with the law there is knowledge of sin.

Romans 5:13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.

Romans 7:7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”

God said no to just one thing and Adam didn’t obey. What makes any of us think that we could obey all 613 laws of the Torah? If you think 613 laws are too many to obey then you don’t know much about the laws of man.

Congress has enacted approximately 200–600 statutes during each of its 119 biennial terms so more than 30,000 statutes have been enacted since 1789. That does not even include state and municipal ordinances.

Here is a sidebar to Romans 5:13, sin still exists even if they are not counted. Ouch? So what is the point of sin counted or not?

Exodus 3:5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

1 Peter 1:16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

The unholy are not allowed to approach God, therefore no personal relationship because of sin.