What Is Iniquity aka Lawlessness ?

[JudahYAHites]

Matthew 7:21-23 KJV — Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 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 / lawlessness.

What Is Iniquity aka Lawlessness ?

Using scripture how do you define it?

 

[frederick]

I'll give it a shot.

What Is Iniquity aka Lawlessness ?

In the context you have given, it is the work; what is done, performed, accomplished.

ye that work iniquity / lawlessness.

οι εργαζομενοι την ανομιαν

In e.g. 2 Cor. 6:14 lawlessness (same word) is contrasted with righteousness, so these are opposites; lawlessness is the opposite of righteousness.
John wrote in his first epistle saying, Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness (same word), and sin is lawlessness (same word) (1 John 3:4).
Lawlessness therefore equates with sin - ignoring God's law.
In Titus 2:14 we are told of the salvific work of Jesus Christ who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless (same word) deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
Lawlessness is the violation or breaching of God's righteous standard, and it is from every lawless deed Jesus Christ redeems sinners. He paid the price in His own blood so that He could set sinners free from eternal condemnation. That work of redemption is to purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. This could be understood as works opposite to those activities He condemns in Matthew 7:21-23 above.
Shalom

 

[NS4Liberty]

I come from a church of Christ background. We are known for being legalistic because we believe God tells us what to do and means for us to do it. This often leaves grace to be an afterthought and we need to work on that but there is clearly a "doing" and a "will of the Father". You don't need to do the opposite, you just need to not do the will. For us, this is most glaring when it comes to baptism. On the day of pentecost the crowd was told to be baptized for the remission of sins. Many today do not consider baptism necessary for salvation. We consider this to be a clear example of someone practicing lawlessness, failure to do the will of God that leads to "depart from me, I never knew you."

@frederick is correct to an extent, but I would add there is a sin of omission as well as commission.

 

[Mark C]

Correct: "Lawlessness" is the inverse of "lawFUL-ness" in an English context.

The assertion that it is directly associated with "righteousness" is readily seen, not only directly (such as the obvious first use), in Genesis 15:6, where then-Abram (before his renaming) "believed YHVH" and that was not only "accounted to him" as 'righteousness' (Hebrew word 'tzedekah') but serves as the very definition.

Variants of the Hebrew shoresh (3-letter root word) appear in the form of adjectives and nouns and even proper names (Zedekiah, Melek-tdedik or Melchizedek, et al) almost 500 times in Scripture, and comprise most of the Strong H666x series (H6662, first use describing Noach, through H6667. The first use of the form used by Judah to describe Tamar in Gen. 38:26 is also instructive.)

A tzadik is a righteous man, often translated literally as a scholar of His Word (the word most here know, but might get banned), one who "walks in His ways", and is "just" (generally the same root, by definition. HE is 'just'.) Examples in His Word abound.

Paul even spends a lot of ink on the concept, arguably much of the letter to the Romans, but chapter 7 in particular. Essentially, without His Written Instruction, we wouldn't even know what it MEANS to be "righteous." (or, in contrast, all the alternatives.)

I contend that Yahushua was not speaking Greek to an Aramaic and Hebrew-literate audience, and that the overwhelming preponderance of Scripture, and literally hundreds of uses in those various forms, make the best rendering of His warning in Matthew 7:21-23 of the 'Sermon on the Mount,"
"...And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work torah-less-ness." I.e., "who will not follow My instruction." After all, He also says,
"Why do you call me, 'Lord, LORD, and NOT do the things I say?" (Luke 6:46 - and the context there is critical.)