Sin and the Law

I have recently been studying the theology of sin and I have been disappointed with recent publications on the subject. While I have found many people with opinions on the subject I have found very little biblical scholarship concerning the scriptural nature of sin. Because of this I decided to do my own study on the scriptural teachings concerning sin, what I found surprised me. This is not to say that what I found was out of the ordinary, but that it was something that I had heard so many times before. In scripture there are two words, one Hebrew and one Greek, that are translated as sin. Both of these words hold the idea of missing the set mark or standard.
While there are numerous other words that are normally translated as sin or have to do with the idea of sin they can all be grouped into the same general categories.
(1) Missing a set mark
(2) Transgressing the law of God
(3) Transgressing the laws of government
(4) Offending your personal conscience
In scripture sin is intimately connected with the law. In fact the idea of law is so important to the idea of sin that no definition can be called scriptural without reference to the law. This goes against much of the recent writing about sin which is attempting to respond to the extreme legalism within the church. However I wonder if, in responding to legalism, we have not gone too far in the opposite direction.
We must avoid the extreme legalism that teaches that wearing not wearing a tie in church is sin, or that a male have pierced ears is sin. However, at the same time we cannot forget that the very nature of sin is tied up in the law of God and the laws of men. Sin is a breaking of the law and we must always keep this in mind because without this understanding we cannot understand our own sin, and if we cannot understand our own sin then we cannot understand forgiveness.
So, what does this mean for you and me?
If sin is a breaking of the law then we understand that every time we sin, and when we understand sin in this we we know that that is very often, we break God's law. We offend God with our sins, but more than that we break the sacred covenant that binds us to him. The only thing that saves us is the sacrifice of Christ which serves not to save us from Satan, but from the wrath of God. Hell is NOT the domain of the devil, it is not the torment of Satan that we must fear. Christ told us "do not fear the one who can destroy the body, but fear the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell."
Hell is the embodiment of God's wrath, not a place where Satan reigns. When Satan is finally committed to the lake of fire (see Rev. 20) then he will suffer as much as anyone.
Secondly, when we understand the nature of sin we can begin to understand the nature of forgiveness. The sacrifice of Christ was necessary because we have offended the very nature of God, even one sin offended that nature to such a degree that it shattered the communion between God and his creation. In Christ we have been given the chance to see that relationship repaired. What greater joy could there be than to enter back into the intended communion between God and man?