Sins and legitimate power.
The story of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3) not only demonstrates God's omniscience and His reward and coercive power, but offers the first instance of God's legitimate power of equity, based on a compensatory norm. Such a power base stems from the target's obligation to obey the agent to atone for an inappropriate or hurtful act that the target has committed previously. Guilt seems to play such a role in many religions. The concept of sin also serves this purpose, not only in invoking guilt, but with the threat of punishment that accompanies it. Augustine, in a particularly harsh doctrine, stated that Adam's and Eve's descendants must consider themselves as having committed this original sin for having disobeyed God. This sin is passed on through the sexual act, and believers must atone for it by complete surrender and obedience. For those who believe that we are born in sin, and from birth, the sense that we should feel an obligation to atone for it, the Lord's legitimate power of equity would be overwhelming, and supported also by coercive power, the threat of extreme punishment after death. But, for some branches of Christianity, the words of Paul give some relief, in stating that Jesus suffered and died on the cross "for our sins," thus granting collective atonement. But those who accept this interpretation are not completely off the hook, for it is emphasized that they now have a special obligation to the Lord, in the name of Jesus, to love and obey Him:(5) the legitimate power of reciprocity. For some Christians, the original sin is washed away in baptism, thus freeing the baby from even this obligation. But, in adulthood, there is renewed emphasis on behaviors in which almost everyone engages, and which are seen as sinful, invoking guilt and an obligation to comply.

In traditional Christianity, the confession of sins is made both collectively and individually, again with a vow for compliance with religious law in return for expiation. In the Jewish most holy Day of Atonement there is a recitation of every possible sin, which, the worshipper says, "we have committed"; the worshipper then assumes a collective obligation not only for his/her own past misdeeds but for those committed by others. In asking forgiveness, the penitent also vows to adhere to proper behavior and thought in the future. This same device is used to emphasize God's legitimate power of reciprocity: After all, it is important for all Jews to feel that they were each personally freed by God from slavery in Egypt. For this, they are all eternally obligated. The Lord's extreme legitimate power of reciprocity is further strengthened by the account of the Covenant on Mount Sinai: The Jewish people, in return for a promise of protection and continued support from the Lord, pledged themselves to complete obedience and acceptance only of the one Lord.

But this was further strengthened by the words of Joshua, warning, with extreme coercive power, that if they did not honor the covenant with the Lord, he would destroy them (Joshua 24:24). This is demonstrated dramatically in the tragic story of Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron, Moses's brother. They had obeyed the words of the Lord in performing a series of rituals, none of which could be seen as having a rational basis other than that they were commanded to do so. Then they slipped and took into the tabernacle burning incense, other than what the Lord had commanded. As punishment the Lord immediately sent out flames that consumed them. That event is then recounted several times to emphasize the extreme coercive power of the Lord, with severe punishment for even for the slightest disobedience, regardless of reason or rationality (Leviticus 9, 10).