Lev 6:2-7 | TNotes | STEP | 6:2 sins against your associate ... unfaithful to the Lord : For believers, there really is no such thing as a “secular” sin. All sin involves God, even sin directed against another person or group. In the sins requiring a guilt offering, God’s forgiveness was needed, but restitution to the injured individual had to be made first (6:5-7 ; cp. Matt 5:23-24 ). Unlike offenses against sacred property (Lev 5:14-16 ), both accidental and intentional offenses against secular property could be forgiven.

cMatt 5:23-24►

dLev 5:14-16►

fExod 22:1-15►

‏ Leviticus 6:2-7

6:2 ^a sins against your associate ... unfaithful to the Lord: For believers, there really is no such thing as a “secular” sin. All sin involves God, even sin directed against another person or group. In the sins requiring a guilt offering, God’s forgiveness was needed, but restitution to the injured individual had to be made first (6:5-7 ^b; cp. Matt 5:23-24 ^c). Unlike offenses against sacred property (Lev 5:14-16 ^d), both accidental and intentional offenses against secular property could be forgiven.
6:5 ^e The instructions for the guilt offering assumed that a person’s conscience would induce voluntary reparation; when restitution was voluntary, the surcharge for loss of use to the owner was always 20 percent. Penalties were more severe in other cases (cp. Exod 22:1-15 ^f). There is a clear difference between voluntary confession and simply admitting sin after being caught.
6:7 ^g will purify you before the Lord, making you right with him: God graciously gave his people a way to atone for their sins. See also study notes on 1:4; 4:20.