We do not realize how psychologized we are. By psychologized, I mean how affected we are by the worldly ideas of man. The Bible, rightly interpreted, must be our source of truth.
True or False: Sins are against God alone.
FALSE. We do sin against people. When someone commits murder, they are sinning against that person and the family. When someone steals, they commit that sin against another person by taking their property. When someone commits adultery, they are sinning against their spouse. When a child disobeys a parent, the child is sinning against the parent.
The sin is against those particular people – and all sins are against God, too.
Every sin is ultimately against God but that does not mean each sin is ONLY against God. When David sinned, he said that his sin was “against you and you only” directed toward God. He was meaning that the weight of his sin was so heavy that all he could see was how it offended God in that single moment! You better believe that he knew his conspiracy to murder Uriah and sexual sin with Bathsheeba was sin against them, too!
Our sins are ultimately against the Lord but they are also against people, too. Thus, we are commanded to FORGIVE others who sin against us (Eph. 4:32; Luke 17:3-4). When we are the offender, we cannot say, “I’ve only sinned against God and I’ve asked Him to forgive me” because He requires us to repent to others.
-Mark (learning to forgive others as Christ has forgiven me)