To sin is to do something contrary to the will of the Lord. It is to be willfully disobedient. Transgression, on the other hand, is the violation of a law or rule that may or may not be against the will of the Lord. Thus, all sins are transgressions but not all transgressions are sins.
Sin is breaking a law with knowledge that a law is being broken. Adam didn’t have knowledge of good and evil before partaking of the forbidden fruit, so his act was a transgression of the law, not a sin against the law.
The Bible clearly notes a difference between sin and transgression
– Psalms 25:7 -> “Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O Lord.”
– Joshua 24:19 -> “And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.”
The first mention of sin in the Bible is in regards to Cain.
Genesis 4:6-7 -> “And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.”
Adam and Eve’s partaking of the forbidden fruit is referred to as transgression.
Romans 5:14 -> “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.”
5 comments
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June 20, 2009 at 12:10 am
Santo Jude
thank you joey,
you have inspired me to explore for myself
June 20, 2009 at 11:10 am
Jessica
Hi Joey,
I did a post on this topic last week and I talked about how these words (sin and transgression) are used interchangeably in scriptures such as Romans 5. Also, 1 John 3:4 says “sin is the transgression of the law.” I also took a look at these words in the Greek and, especially at Romans 5 that identifies Adam’s transgression as a sin.
I’d love to hear your thoughts about my post:
January 22, 2010 at 9:56 pm
Sam
hello,
Thanks for having it clear about the difference between sin and transgression.Im a member from philippines and also an RM.Thanks and Godbless.
February 2, 2012 at 10:40 am
Genatone
Oh! my God this is so amazing! God bless you!!
March 11, 2012 at 12:33 pm
Darrell
Thank you for this posting. I was in Sunday school today when the question was raised about the difference between sin and transgression. I and my lass found this to Beverly informative.
Thanks again
Darrell