What are the similarities in the above two verses? God is mentioned in both, but other than that they have nothing in common. Is it mere “religious” rhetoric when both are used in “evangelism?” In the context surrounding Romans 3:23, Paul the Apostle is speaking to those at Rome and telling how no flesh can be justified through the works of the law because the purpose of the law was to bring the knowledge of sin to Israel. He speaks of how the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus had been manifested and had also been witnessed by the law and the prophets. Paul specifically said that this “righteousness” came to ALL through belief in Jesus Christ and that there was no distinction “for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.” He is simply telling them that ALL must come to believe on Jesus; yet the emphasis is always on the “sinfulness” of all.

Jesus also spoke of the law and the prophets who foretold of His coming, in Luke 24:44-49. He caused the people to open their minds to understand the scriptures as He spoke of His death and resurrection and how “repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” In speaking of “repentance and remission of sins” He tells how they must turn (repent) and receive the good news that He had pardoned (made remission for) ALL sin. This message of His has been changed to one in which people are told they must ask forgiveness for their sins, rather than be told that Jesus made remission for (made pardon for) all sin on the Cross. Both the NIV and NAS “Bibles” changed the word “remission” to “forgiveness,” which only adds to this erroneous teaching.

The reason we find the word “sin” in the New Testament is because much of the message was addressed to the Jews who were very sin-conscious after thousands of years of making atonement for sin. And because forgiveness was granted upon the shedding of blood for atonement, “forgiveness” is also used in the New Testament when reference is made to the finished work of the Cross.

Did Jesus speak of sinfulness or forgiveness in His words in John 3:6? No! He told Nicodemus that because he was born flesh it was necessary to be born anew – this time by the Spirit. This is the true gospel of Jesus Christ from His own lips. Not once did He say that man must ask for his sins to be forgiven. Not once did He say that man must say a "sinner’s prayer." Not once did Jesus say that He is watching to see when man “sins” so that He can judge him and sentence him to eternal damnation.  NO! Jesus said that He did not come to judge, but that man is already judged because he is born a mortal soul. That is, until that mortal soul comes to believe (rely on) on Jesus, at which time he is now born from above by the Holy Spirit who begins His work of renovating His new temple.Of course, with that “renovation” comes fruit of the Spirit – the first of which is LOVE.

After Jesus said that through belief in Him we would have life, why is it that we are told we must ask Him to forgive our sins? If you have read the previously mentioned chapter on forgiveness, you will know the incorrect usage in the New Testament of the word “forgive.” So now, let’s look at what “sin” is.

In 1 John 3:4, we are told, “Every one that does sin does also lawlessness: and sin is lawlessness [Greek: violation of law].” We must follow this with Paul’s words from Romans 5:13: “For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.” If Jesus fulfilled the Law so that sin is not imputed, how does asking forgiveness for sins make us a new creation in Christ?

That may be a question we need to take time and think through. Let me help you a little. The Law of Moses was given to Israel to reveal their sinfulness in not acknowledging God as the LORD God. Through the law, which consisted of 613 different commands, it was impossible for Israel to perfectly obey. As I wrote in my book, the sin sacrifices of the Law were a part of pointing them to Jesus; the One Pure Lamb who would come to “take away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) Why would we ask Jesus to “take away” (forgive) our sins when He already took them away on the Cross? If Jesus came and fulfilled the Law, taking away the sin of the world, what “law” is being violated? That leads us back to the question, “what is sin?”

In Romans 14, Paul was speaking to them about judging others by one’s own beliefs and causing the others to stumble, if to them doing a thing was wrong. It was all about having faith in God. He said that the “kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Verse 23 says, “But he that doubteth is condemned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: and whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” So THAT has been the definition of sin ever since Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Jesus Himself made that point clear in John 16:8-11: “And he, [Holy Spirit] when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye behold me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world hath been judged.”  We must keep in mind that “faith” and “believe” are translated from the same Greek word.

In the well-known “faith” chapter, Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto God: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after [Greek: crave] him.”

A new commandment

In Mark 12:28-31, one of the scribes had heard a discussion taking place and he challenged Jesus, and asked Him “What commandment is the first of all?” Jesus’ reply was very simple: “The first is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. The second is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Romans 13:8-10 tells us, “Owe no man anything, save to love one another: for he that loves his neighbour has fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet; and if there by any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love works no ill to his neighbour: love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.” To hold up the Ten Commandments as “law,” expecting adherence to produce righteousness, is to go against everything Jesus accomplished on the Cross.

Paul also said, in Galatians 5:13-14: “For you, brethren, were called for freedom; only use not your freedom for an occasion to the flesh, but through love be servants one to another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”

In another passage, Luke tells of an expert (“lawyer”) in the Law of Moses who asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. So Jesus asked him what the Law said, at which the lawyer replied, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” “This do, and thou shalt live” were Jesus’ next words. (Luke 10:25-28)

Is it possible that the true gospel is that simple? Is “Love” the key? Jesus told the man steeped in the Law of Moses, that for him to have life he simply must love the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind and strength and his neighbour as himself. The above verses are not the only ones in the Bible where we find those words.

Jesus also said this: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:33-34)

This is how John describes Jesus’ one commandment: “And this is his commandment, That we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he gave us commandment.”  What a simple message! We must trust in the Name of God’s Son, whose Name means “Jehovah frees,” and love one another. Is “loving one another” an easy thing to do? It is, when God abides in us and we abide in Him, as the next verse tells us.  “And he that keeps his commandments abides in him, and he in him.  And hereby we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.” (1 John 3:23-24)

Look at more of what John said earlier in that same chapter. “And you know that he was manifested to take away sins; and in him is no sin.  Whosoever abides in him sins not: whosoever sins has not seen him, neither knows him. My little children, let no man lead you astray: he that does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that does sin is of the devil; for the devil sinned from the beginning. To this end was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is begotten of God does no sin because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is begotten of God.” (1 John 3:5-9) When we understand that “sin” is “unbelief and failing to love,” the reality of the fact that we “cannot sin” becomes clearer. When God, Who is Love, abides in us and we abide in Him, it is impossible to sin. By the same token, if we do not abide in Him, we are “in sin” because we have not seen Him and do not know Him, as verse 6 shows. In 1 John 4:19 we are told that “We love, because He first loved us.”

Jesus prayed a heartfelt prayer, as recorded in John 17. One of the things He prayed was that the love with which God loved Him would be in His followers, just as He would be in them. (John 17:26)

Love covers sin?

Have you ever pondered the meaning of “Love covers a multitude of sins”? I have. And through the Holy Spirit’s revelation of “Love” it has become quite clear. Is this “love” something we do in our own strength in order to have life? No! Our salvation would be through works, if that were the case. How then does this next verse come into play? “Above all things, being fervent in your love among yourselves: for love covers a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8) Paul touched on it in this passage: “Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love: having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:4-6)

One real life example the Lord brought to my attention was found on a forum I occasionally visit and participate in. The topic had to do with sin and sinfulness and someone there posted a story of a well-known figure from many years back who had done things we might rightfully consider unwise and even sinful. Another well-known person, desiring to speak to the other about “their sinful deeds,” entered a room where this “sinful” person was crying out in loving worship to God and pleading for souls to come to Him in a meeting which was to follow. The man whose intention it was to confront the other person, stopped short in his tracks and God heard the question on his mind. He told this man that “for that kind of love, I will forgive anything.”

That statement from our Lord’s lips stuck with me for days and caused me to see even more clearly what He was teaching me.

The story of David and Bathsheba is one we all know. David was a man after God’s own heart. (1 Samuel 13, 14, 15, 16) Did he sin? Yes, he sinned greatly. He had Bathsheba’s husband murdered so he could have her for himself, and they lost their first-born because of it.

David was a worshiper, and his great love for God is evident all through the Psalms. He had a real relationship with his God. He knew the truth regarding his heredity as a creature of flesh, and he said, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5) He was not saying that his mother committed a sin when she conceived him. He was saying that he was born in “sin,” as a creature of flesh, even from the moment of conception. Psalm 51 is his prayer of sorrowful repentance over his transgression with Bathsheba.

When we look at David’s lineage, we see Rahab the harlot, the mother of Boaz who married Ruth (a descendant of Moab, the offspring of incest between Lot and his daughter) whose grandson was Jesse, the father of David who became King. It was this same lineage God chose for His Son Jesus.  If God is “hung up” on man’s “sins” how can all this make sense?

It is all about relationship – it’s all about Love! Read these words spoken by Paul to the Philippians: “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment; so that ye may approve the things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and void of offence unto the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:9-11)

James also referred to “life” and “love,” when he said, “Blessed is the man that endures temptation: for when he has been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to them that love him.” (James 1:12) And later, James said “My brethren, if any among you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he which converts a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins." (James 5:19-20)

Indeed, if the whole book of James is read, a beautiful “picture” emerges. In James’ letter to “the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion” he explains how the law under the Old Covenant is replaced by the “law of liberty” in the New Covenant. That new “royal law” is “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” (James 2:8) Please check out the link in this paragraph and read James’ epistle.