By Richard Sandlin
at TODAY'S JOURNAL
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.