Seems to me the law of God encompasses everything - thoughts, feelings, motives, words, and behavior. It doesn't merely prohibit sin, it also defines and advocates righteousness. Sin is anything we think, say, or do that misrepresents God our Father. Righteousness is anything we think, say, or do that represents God our Father. However, it would be inarticulate to say sin is the opposite of righteousness. For example, premarital or extramarital intercourse is not the opposite of godly marital intercourse. Or, stealing something is not the opposite of buying it.

How about this: Sin is selfishness.

Well after studying all that was posted and my own study I believe that my belief that sin is transgression of the law of God is true. There were certain things that I couldn't figure out how to relate to the law of God but I see now that any sin could fall under the 1st commandment. Thank you all for your insight and information. This is what really draws me to this website is the amount of knowledge here. I find myself reading through these posts and topics and learning everytime I visit here. This is my favorite site to visit. Thank you!

Thank you, Jibb. It's good to have you here participating with us.

Amen! Also, it helps me to remember that the law is one law - not many laws. Our Lord is one Lord. The law is a transcript of His character. God is one harmonious whole, that's why breaking one of the commandments means breaking the whole law. The Godhead is three in one. And, the law is ten in one. It used to be only two in one, and then God made it ten in one, and then later on He made it 613 in one.

James
2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one [point], he is guilty of all.

613 in one? What is the 613? Or is that just a play on words like everything boils down to the 10 in 1 ?

Jibb, check out the following article. It explains things very nicely. Let me know what you think.

The Mitzvot

Very interesting. I have never seen that before. Please tell me your position on these. I am learning everyday and I may learn something new on this topic as well.

Mike, I wouldn't extend the if-you-transgress-one-you-are-transgressing-all idea to other commandments beyond the 10. The 10 are eternal moral principles, while many of the commandments of the Torah were only ceremonial or temporary.

As to the 10Cs, I would add that the 1st and the 10th are the key to all the others. Before transgressing any other commandment of the law, you transgress the 1st and the 10th (that is, before you sin you have to put your will in the first place and desire something which goes beyond God's will for you).

Jibb, I partially agree with what Rosangela said about it: "The 10 are eternal moral principles, while many of the commandments of the Torah were only ceremonial or temporary." Ellen White wrote this about it:

He did not even then trust His precepts to the memory of a people who were prone to forget His requirements, but wrote them upon tables of stone. He would remove from Israel all possibility of mingling heathen traditions with His holy precepts, or of confounding His requirements with human ordinances or customs. But He did not stop with giving them the precepts of the Decalogue. The people had shown themselves so easily led astray that He would leave no door of temptation unguarded. Moses was commanded to write, as God should bid him, judgments and laws giving minute instruction as to what was required. These directions relating to the duty of the people to God, to one another, and to the stranger were only the principles of the Ten Commandments amplified and given in a specific manner, that none need err. They were designed to guard the sacredness of the ten precepts engraved on the tables of stone. {PP 364.1}

He then came still closer to his people, and would not leave them, who were so readily led astray, with merely the ten precepts of the decalogue. He required Moses to write as he should bid him, judgments and laws, giving minute directions in regard to what he required them to perform, and thereby guarded the ten precepts which he had engraved upon the tables of stone. These specific directions and requirements were given to draw erring man to the obedience of the moral law which he is so prone to transgress. {3SG 299.1}

He who proclaimed the law from Sinai, and delivered to Moses the precepts of the ritual law, is the same that spoke the sermon on the mount. . . .The teacher is the same in both dispensations. God's claims are the same. The principles of His government are the same. For all proceed from Him "with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." {FLB 88.8}

The gospel of the New Testament is not the Old Testament standard lowered to meet the sinner and save him in his sins. God requires of all His subjects obedience, entire obedience to all His commandments. {FLB 88.9}

The ceremonial system was made up of symbols pointing to Christ, to His sacrifice and His priesthood. This ritual law, with its sacrifices and ordinances, was to be performed by the Hebrews until type met antitype in the death of Christ, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Then all the sacrificial offerings were to cease. {PP 365.1}

God's work is the same in all time, although there are different degrees of development and different manifestations of His power, to meet the wants of men in the different ages. Beginning with the first gospel promise, and coming down through the patriarchal and Jewish ages, and even to the present time, there has been a gradual unfolding of the purposes of God in the plan of redemption. The Saviour typified in the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish law is the very same that is revealed in the gospel. The clouds that enveloped His divine form have rolled back; the mists and shades have disappeared; and Jesus, the world's Redeemer, stands revealed. {PP 373.2}

He who proclaimed the law from Sinai, and delivered to Moses the precepts of the ritual law, is the same that spoke the Sermon on the Mount. The great principles of love to God, which He set forth as the foundation of the law and the prophets, are only a reiteration of what He had spoken through Moses to the Hebrew people: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." Deuteronomy 6:4, 5. "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Leviticus 19:18. {PP 373.2}

The teacher is the same in both dispensations. God's claims are the same. The principles of His government are the same. For all proceed from Him "with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James 1:17. {PP 373.2}