Q. 25. Have you perfectly kept all of God’s commandments, as his law and holiness requires?

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I have sinned. There is no one who can say, “I have never sinned.” “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6). “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).

Against God. Although David sinned against Bathsheeba, her husband, and the nation of Israel, he recognized that all sin is ultimately against God, the just judge of all: “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment” (Psalm 51:4).

Doing. Violations of God’s law are commonly called actual sins, as distinct from original sin, the sinful condition of human nature due to the fall (Q. 11).

Leaving undone. The law exposes and condemns not only sins of commission but also sins of omission—duties to God and others that we neglect and for which we are accountable. “Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (James 4:17).

His glory. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We can only begin to understand the gravity of our sin and the depth of our depravity when we compare ourselves with God and his perfect holiness. After proclaiming woes upon the people of Israel for their sins, the prophet Isaiah had a vision of God on his throne, with angels crying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:3). Only then did Isaiah recognize his own sinfulness and proclaim a woe upon himself: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5).