“I acknowledge MY SIN unto thee, and mine INIQUITY have I not hid. I said, I will confess my TRANSGRESSIONS unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the INIQUITY OF MY SIN. Selah.” (Psalms 32:5 KJV)
“And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all TRESPASSES;” (Colossians 2:13 KJV)
“All unrighteousness is SIN: and there is a sin not unto death.” (1 John 5:17 KJV)
“And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the TRANSGRESSIONS that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” (Hebrews 9:15 KJV)
We see Jesus and Apostle Paul use the words SIN, INIQUITY, TRESPASSES and TRANSGRESSIONS.
Are they all just ‘sin’? Ask yourself why not just write ‘sin’ when they translated the Bible to English then? Sometimes sin and these other words are used in the same verse even. If we look into the Hebrew and Greek in Strongs Concordance we gain some more light about this.
SIN: Strongs, ‘hamartía, ham-ar-tee’-ah; from G264; a sin (properly abstract):—offence, sin(-ful).’
TRANSGRESSIONS:
》 Old Testament: Strongs, ‘peshaʻ, peh’-shah; from H6586; a revolt (national, moral or religious):’
》 New Testament: Strongs, ‘parábasis, par-ab’-as-is; from G3845; violation:—breaking, transgression.’
TRESPASSES: Strongs, ‘paráptōma, par-ap’-to-mah; from G3895; a side-slip (lapse or deviation), i.e. (unintentional) error or (wilful) transgression:—fall, fault, offence, sin, trespass.’
INIQUITY: Strongs, ‘anomía, an-om-ee’-ah; from G459; illegality, i.e. violation of law or (genitive case) wickedness:—iniquity, × transgress(-ion of) the law, unrighteousness.’
It is true that all these words are sins, but each word has specific definitions or classifications of sins, since each word have different meanings that give more details from passages using each word.
TRANSGRESSIONS are specifically all out rejection IN REVOLT against God by breaking The Law of Moses (613 Laws including the Ten Commandments.)
TRESPASSES are a lapse, a slip up, fall or stumble of a person, unintentional or willfully, into a sin.
INIQUITY is breaking The Law of Moses (613 Laws including the Ten Commandments. ) by a wrong view IN RELIGIOUS BEHAVIOR.
When you read verses using each word you see this more clear.
Example: Matthew 7:22-23,
“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done MANY WONDERFUL WORKS?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that WORK INIQUITY.”
Some teach this as if this ‘work iniquity’ just means any type of sin. But that is not the case. Jesus is telling them that ‘many wonderful works’ will not save a person from condemnation. Only belief on Jesus as Messiah and His finished work on the cross can save. His Work on the cross, not our good works. Believing in ‘works for salvation’ is false RELIGIOUS BELIEF. That is the iniquity and it fits Strongs Greek definition. Jesus was not talking about all sins in Matthew 7. By the context of the entire chapter, He was refuting false ‘works for salvation’ which is actually boasting in the sin of pride. Paul taught the same in Ephesians 2:8-9,
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV)
Use these specific definitions and see the context of a passage to see the truth.
