Leviticus 6:1

Leviticus 6:1 says, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Once more, we are told that this is God's word given to Moses.  If we are sharing the word of God today, we must first make sure that it is His word, and to do that, we must first know what His word says and recognize His voice when He talks to us.  Verse two adds, 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;  God now begins to deal with sin that involves a person's neighbor.  Though these are things done against a neighbor, the are called sins against God.  We, as followers of Christ, represent Him in the world today, and if our actions cause harm to our neighbor, they reflect on God.  Ultimately, all sin is against God, because it breaks our relationship with Him.  God speaks of breaking ones trust with a neighbor by attempting to misuse what the neighbor has entrusted him or her with.  Verse three continues, Or have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein:  Then God, through Moses, speaks of finding something someone has lost and attempting to keep it for one's self, even lying to do so.  We can never justify the finders keepers, losers weepers attitude as Christians.  If we find something, we must attempt to return it to its rightful owner if at all possible, and we can certainly never justify lying to keep it.  Verse four declares, Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found,  God deals with more than one way that a person could be guilty of taking something belonging to his or her neighbor.  It could be taken violently, deceitfully, found, or have been given in trust.  We might notice that God does not distinguish between these acts.  All are sins.  We might judge those more harshly that take things by force, but in the eyes of God, a person is just as guilty if he or she takes something by violating a trust.  Verse five adds, Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; 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.  This verse adds lying to keep something that isn't yours, then specifies the penalty.  Not only was the thing attained illegally to be restored, but a twenty percent penalty was to be added to it.  This was to be done before a trespass offering was offered.  It is not enough to just say that we have asked God's forgiveness and not think that we therefore need to do nothing more.  God expects His people to deal honestly with other people, and when they don't, He expects them to do their best to make restitution.  Not only are we as followers of Christ not above the law, but we are to set the standard for others to follow in obeying the law, unless it somehow directly affects our relationship with God.  Verse six continues, And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest:  After restoration was made, the man was to bring a ram to the priest as an offering.  We must attempt to make things right with those we have offended and then we are to offer our sacrifice to God, which is our true repentance and placing our lives once again in His hands, since Jesus Christ has already made atonement for all our sins.  Verse seven concludes, And the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD: and it shall be forgiven him for any thing of all that he hath done in trespassing therein.  Jesus Christ is our Priest today, and He makes atonement for all our sins, but we cannot just ignore it when we sin, especially if we have hurt our neighbor by saying that God has already forgiven us.  We must take responsibility for our sins and do our best to make things right with our neighbor if we have harmed him or her.