Sin's Seriousness

By Richard Sandlin
at TODAY'S JOURNAL

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“There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.” I've heard preacher’s say we do not know what this sin is. If that be the case, then we cannot know how to keep ourselves from it. Nor can we know who and who not to pray for. Because of the seriousness of the text, I refuse to believe that God would keep us in the dark concerning it.

I believe that John is not necessarily speaking of one specific sin, but rather a kind of sin. If we use the Old Testament as our commentary on this Scripture, we find the type of sin John is speaking of is a sin of presumption. Trace this word and its equivalent throughout the Old Canon and you’ll find, more often than not, death is associated with it. If I’m correct (and I believe I am), there was no Old Testament sacrifice for the sin of presumption. Is it any wonder then that David prayed, “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins”?

The following is list of some who committed this sin: Achan, Saul, Ananias and Sapphira, Nadab and Abihu, and some of the Corinthian believers. And what does God say to such people? “Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord God...” It should be noted in each of these cases this presumptuous sin was not committed out of weakness, but wickedness.

Let me say, there should be no guilt complex on the part of Godly believers when God removes the burden of prayer for relatives and friends. Samuel, Jeremiah, and Joshua were told by God to cease their praying. Even Moses, who committed the sin of presumption, when praying about it, was told by God, “[S]peak no more unto me of this matter.” And Jeremiah was commanded of the Lord, “Pray not for this people for their good.”

God still considers sin serious...even if this generation of Christians does not.