Leviticus 6:2 If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbour.
Have you ever known someone who was outwardly pious but was just not decent with other people? They were dishonest, had a razor-sharp tongue, were not fair, or were just cantankerous all the time. Sometimes it is easy to think that if someone is very pious or religious in their outward appearance, especially at church, it doesn’t matter how they treat other people. Nothing could be further from the truth because your relationship to God is tied to your relationship to others.
Leviticus 6:2 says it this way, “If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbor, or hath found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein: then it shall be.” Then the Bible gives a prescription of what shall be done.
Notice the Bible begins this passage by saying, “If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour.” Well, who is this person sinning against, God or his neighbor? The answer is, “Yes.” He is sinning against both because one’s relationship to others affects one’s relationship to God.
There are many ways in which I can do wrong by others. The Bible actually takes one essential wrong here and gives many different colors to the crime. For instance, I can lie to my neighbor about that which was “delivered… to keep.” In other words, someone gives you something for safekeeping, and it just disappears. “Or,” the Bible says, “in a thing taken away by violence.” Here is a guy who is stronger than you and he has a big club. So, he whacks you over the head, takes your purse, and runs.
It continues, “Or hath deceived his neighbor.” As I understand it, fifteen or twenty years ago a lot of the agents in the FBI did not have a criminal justice background. They had a law or accounting background. Why? It was because there was a need to go after “white collar crimes.” You don’t need to have a bigger club or bigger muscles; you just have to be smart enough to deceive other people. This is the same sin in a different shade.
“Or have found that which is lost,” the Bible says, “And lieth concerning it.” This describes the philosophy of “finders keepers; losers weepers.” So the Bible says that “in any of all these that a man doeth” he is sinning against both God and his fellow man.
There are many ways to do wrong by other people. Perhaps someone protests, “Well, I didn’t punch my brother in the nose.” That may well be, but you cut him to ribbons with your tongue! You committed the same kind of sin in a different way. So while there are many ways to do the wrong thing, the wonderful, simple truth is that there is but one way to make it right.
Leviticus 6:4 says, “Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took.” Verse 5 continues, “He shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the day of his trespass offering.” So, an offender was to make things right towards God and towards his neighbor.
The good news is that I can be right with God and know it when I do right by people. There is more to it than that, but certainly any practical relationship with God involves doing right by people. How can I say I love God Whom I have not seen and hate my brother whom I do see? That is in essence what I John says.
Friend, sometimes the way to make things right with God is to make things right with people. My relationship to God is the most important relationship I have, and it is connected to the way I treat other people.