The Sin unto death

Most of us are aware that not all sin is the same. The apostle John makes the distinction between sin not unto death and the sin unto death. We are also aware of the distinction found in the Old Testament between sins of ignorance and presumptuous sins. The writer of Hebrews alludes to this in chapter 10 - "If we sin willfully after having received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no sacrifice, but only a fearful expectation of judgment"

While we can recognize these distinctions, many of us may still lack sufficient clarity or confidence to name presumptuous sin or the sin unto death. For those who can relate to my own experience, I want to offer these thoughts for our consideration.

Peter and James quote the writing of Solomon from the LXX - the Septuagint - Proverbs 3:34 - "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." I had never made the association with these verses and the sin unto death, until recently. I now believe that the truth expressed in this verse is a simple and concise summary of this distinction.

What led me to this is what I set before you for your consideration. I offer it not as a conclusive argument, but for testing and discussion, in the spirit of desiring greater understanding with my brothers and sisters in Christ.

I was reading in the book of Numbers in the LXX and came to verse 30 of chapter 15 which I will translate -
"And a soul who shall do by hand through pride from the native born or from the proselytes, this one provokes God and that soul shall be utterly destroyed from out of his people." In the LXX - υπερηφανίας - is the word chosen by those who translated the Hebrew to the Greek. This is the same word for pride that Solomon, James, and Peter used.

Although I recognized the word right away, and began to make the connection between pride and the sin unto death, I sensed the need to search the matter further to see if the scriptures would confirm the connection.

I am so grateful for the men God has used to create programs that allow us to search the scripture using the original language. We owe them a great debt for their service. Using the tools readily available, I searched out other uses of υπερηφανίας (pride) to see if it was used in the same way.

Deuteronomy 17:12-13 "And the man whoever should do by pride not to obey the priest standing beside to officiate in the name of the Lord or the judge whoever should be in those days, then that man shall die and you shall lift away the wicked one from out of Israel. And all the people hearing shall fear and shall not be ungodly anymore."

The use of υπερηφανίας in both contexts indicates a conscious refusal to submit to clearly established,God given, authority. Therefore, it is not a sin of ignorance, but presumptuous sin, willful sin with full knowledge of the truth. For this sin unto death there was no provision of sacrifice. God instructed the people to annihilate any person who openly defied the authority of the Law. Open defiance of God is a deadly contagion that must be rooted out of God's people.

This appears to be what our Lord sought to establish in His teaching found in Matthew 18. The severity of completely cutting off an individual from all fellowship is only justified after it has been established by many witnesses that the individual is openly refusing to submit to God.

I will stop here to honor your time and allow you to look further into this matter for yourselves. If you have other scriptures to add or questions for me, I will welcome both. The reason this topic speaks to me, is that at least in my own mind, it unites the mercy and judgment of God. He desires mercy, but in His wisdom, He knows that the spirit of defiance is too deadly to allow to go unopposed.

God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

mak

Hi Mak, the OT law of sacrifice is pretty clear that only unintentional sins are covered by the blood. This always confused me. However the record of the OT is clear that the sins of presumption (intentional) could always be cleared by repentance ( David being a clear example). Accordingly, I came to the conclusion that the only final presumptuous sinners leading to death are those who have no godly sorrow, refuse to confess and seek mercy after being confronted with their sin either by their conscience through the Word or through rebuke. This is the example from Hebrews you raise of those who know the truth and nonetheless go back to a prideful way of life and are given no further room for repentance.

Proud people who know their sin, refuse to repent and change and who openly defy God's gracious warnings and gracious strivings of the Spirit will at some point be given up on by God. There is no further grace at some point for the proud such as these.

Thank you Robert,

Yes, and this is the consideration that has given me greater understanding of Paul's discourse in Romans chapters 9-11.

He will have mercy upon whom He has mercy and will harden whom He hardens.

Paul knowing this, asserts - "and if they do not continue in unbelief, they can be grafted in again."

Persistent refusal to receive the love of the truth so as to be saved, is volitional rejection of mercy, a trampling underfoot of the blood of the covenant and a despite unto the spirit of grace.

mak

I understand your point. Are you saying that the partial hardening that came to the Jews mentioned by Paul in Romans 9-11 only applied to the Jews of that generation? I would take the partial hardening God imposed on the Jewish people to apply to future generations who were not necessarily guilty of the same intentional sinning of that generation. I assume that isn't how you understand the hardening that is mentioned. IF you understand it differently, then all mankind is under some kind of hardening until they decide to confess and believe; that is that the Jews of today aren't really judicially hardened and are spiritually in the same boat as the Gentiles today.

I have not developed my thought to that extent. I do make the association that the group Paul referred to as "those broken off because of unbelief" is the same group he is referring to "and if THEY do not continue in unbelief".

Paul himself acted in "ignorance and unbelief", but he did not persist in unbelief. To some extent all of us were at one time disobedient and enemies of God in our minds because of our wicked works. Disobedience is literally "refusal to be persuaded" in many passages.

I concur with you that David's intentional sin was pardoned, because he had godly sorrow. God states that His pronounced judgments can be avoided if those who He has decided to judge take heed and turn from their ways.

mak

brother Alan,

This is an interesting distinction you’re making... one I had not yet considered-

It does have merit tho in that when God resists someone [who is seeking justification] due to their lacking humility or a repentant/teachable attitude are they not effectively without help being themselves outside the influence of Gods grace? At least until which time they received conviction like when Nathan finally got thru to David, allowing him to see the enormity of his crime and repent. Now had David not been one whom "loved the truth” it would be consistent to view this possibility as outside the realm of consideration.

Some sins are indeed more grievous than others, tho not always by our measurements/judgments... often due to current cultural norms we tend to give a "pass” to some while exacting others, yet the Lord says His ways are higher than ours and He is not a respecter of persons.

Several historical figures come to mind who sinned greatly before the Lord tho seemingly felt "entitled” to do so or at least so convinced they were "justified” that it, for them, wasn’t sin - 🤔
I have often wondered of the salvific implications of such a disposition regarding the "works” God was previously able to accomplish thru these individuals.... does their prideful impenitence (if they die in it) negate the works God had wrought in them? Like if David had been killed before Nathan was able to lead him to repent,... what would his salvific status be?

Sorry, I’m realizing that this has departed from the topic at hand -

In any case, it is a worthy topic of consideration as we often pass by such nuance and miss some of the finer siftings of Gods graces,... may the Lord open His word to us as we turn to Him seeking time know Him more intimately 🙏🏻

Hi brother Fletcher, you wrote:
I have often wondered of the salvific implications of such a disposition regarding the "works” God was previously able to accomplish thru these individuals.... does their prideful impenitence (if they die in it) negate the works God had wrought in them?

God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, spoke through Ezekiel about the implications of a righteous man turning from his righteousness to do lawlessness.

"But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.

Paul echoes Ezekiel's words in Romans 11
do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, "Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.

I do not believe that what God accomplished through them is negated, but I do believe they forfeit any benefit from the works He wrought through them. They themselves will be rewarded according to their lawlessness.

mak

Brother Alan,

Your words find a familiar place with me and as such are greeted as a friend 😇
If you will allow I’d like to inquire further;
There are areas or characters where there is certain ambiguity and it is in this vein that I’d like to seek your thoughts.
I’ll try to keep the line of questioning general enough to allow you to elucidate with minimal impedance -
Regarding a character like Solomon, whom the Lord did a great many things in and thru clearly having relationship with him from early on yet seems to have departed from the faith and sank into a revolving door of addiction [fleshly desires] and while there would be little question as to his salvific status early on [in that he was walking with the Lord] the scriptures seem somewhat ambiguous regarding how God saw his end. Whereas other characters, tho they sometimes stumbled or even fell were nonetheless given place of certainty regarding their personal end, with some even being celebrated as "heroes” of the faith per Hebrews 11-
So in your experience and studies have you been confronted by this type of questioning and if so where are you in regards to resolving it ?
{Solomon seems to potentially fit the pride/sin unto death scenario}

Brother Fletcher,

Judgment belongs to God, and I must remind myself not to think beyond the measure of faith we have been given. "If anyone thinks he KNOWS something, he does not yet know as he ought.

Yes, I have been confronted with my own questions and the sincere inquiries of others struggling with the fate of men like Solomon, Demus, Hymenaus and Alexander, etc.

We can know that the Lord has destroyed those He has previously saved. Jude - "But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe."

Our Lord's words to His own chosen disciples about the fate of the unfaithful steward also give us sufficient cause to fear. Luke 12
Then Peter said to Him, "Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?”
42 And the Lord said, "Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food [h]in due season? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. 45 But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

Peter give us the best counsel for assurance.
He exhorts us to give all diligence to make our calling and election sure, by adding to our faith and having the qualities he lists in readiness. He warns that the person who has neglected to add to his faith will become nearsighted and blind, forgetting his former cleansing. The best security is "If you do these things YOU will never fall"

Paul echoes Peter's counsel - "therefore I beat my body and make it my slave, lest after having preached to others I myself should be disqualified (adokimos - disapproved). This is his own personal course of action after considering the fate of the generation of Israel who had experienced so many of God's mercies and yet provoked Him to their own destruction.

God is no respecter of persons. If the wicked man forsakes his wickedness and does righteousness, he will not die for his former wicked works. If a righteous man forsakes his righteousness to do wickedness, none of his righteousness will be remembered, he will die in his wickedness.

Whatever we think regarding assurance and reward, these and other passages need careful consideration.

mak

Well done dear brother!
This indeed is the crux of the matter as these find correlation not only in scriptural precepts but also in the scriptural narrative 🙏🏻
I can sincerely appreciate your methodology in fleshing out the finer points of our faith,... allowing the scriptures to interpret themselves-

Thank you for taking the time to share your findings/faith😇
I will meditate upon them and prayerfully consider these words before the Lord.

Brother Alan,

While in prayerful meditation on this topic an aspect occurred to me that would be directly related to your initial posting-

Regarding God resisting the prideful and that pridefulness being as unto a sin unto death-
A question arose,... "who is actually calling the shots, who is leading our steps?”
Are we "self governing autonomous individuals” or are we
"sheep in need of their Shepherd?”

It would follow that tho many claim His name, they primarily use it (His name) as a means of buttressing their own autonomy, their sovereignty over their own decisions and simply ascribe it to the Lord as tho He had Himself directed their actions.
Often there are strong scriptural citations in an effort to associate the Lord with their deeds,.. presumptuous they are, lacking the stability that comes from Gods grace they twist the scriptures unto their own destruction.

2 Peter 3:
16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Continuing... in order to sin unto death one would have to be acting independently of God as a self-governing autonomous individual.
Whereas a believer could sin "not unto death” by simply misunderstanding what the Lord is calling them to do or hearing clearly what the Lord is saying but failing to obey completely and as such come short of Gods will.

I’ll stop here to allow for your inputs to further develop if the Lord leads 🙏🏻

May we seek to hear Him clearly and obey Him completely:)

If I understand your reflections correctly, I cannot conceive of the sin unto death involving unintentional decisions or actions. The serious nature of the sin unto death is based in a hardened disposition against receiving correction or turning away from sin.

Solomon wrote "the man who remains stiff-necked after many reproofs will suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy."
God's gracious character and heart of mercy extends His arms out "all day long" like He did to the nation of Israel. Prophets like Jeremiah prophesied for years. In his case over 18 years. God is longsuffering and does not will the death of the wicked. The sin unto death is prolonged, resolved resistance.

James wrote that "...when desire conceives it gives birth to sin, and when SIN IS FULL GROWN - it ends in death." I believe there is time after sin has been born for repentance for one to yield to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. But if one will not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved, then God will send a strong delusion because they have refused the love of the truth and chosen to take pleasure in unrighteousness.

The sin unto death, is the evil heart of unbelief that departs from the living God, and tramples underfoot the blood of the covenant, and does despite unto the spirit of grace. Pride is a hardened embrace of our own thoughts over and above the clearly established will of God.

The koine Greek for "humble yourselves" is actually in the "passive voice". While there is no passive voice that excludes some cooperation on the part of the recipient. I do believe that the nuance of the passive voice for humbling ourselves means that we are to yield to God's attempt to chasten, correct, and humble us. He graciously seeks to turn us from the error of our ways, and only persistent, willful, rejection of His long-suffering attempts becomes the sin unto death.

mak

Yes that is in line with my understanding, namely that it is not only deliberate but persistently so- or to say another way: the person would be acting independently of God’s direction but not "knowingly so” in that they could be so deceived that what is actually the Lord attempting to chasten them gets credited to the enemy as "an attack”.

2 Thess 2:10b-12

because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

As you pointed out earlier, the love of the truth is paramount in avoiding deception to such an extent that God Himself would send a delusion which would seemly seal the person[s] over in their deception so as to render it final ?
I agree and am grateful you pointed out Gods desire for ALL to repent and He doesn’t take pleasure in the death of the wicked.
Indeed His patience and long suffering has been [in my personal case] indispensable.
When I read passages like 2 Thess 2 and others it arrests me and causes me to sincerely seek to obtain His mercy so that I can receive His grace, for without it I will surely go astray -

Brothers,

I can concur that there is a point to which a deliberate unrepentant sinner can reach where God no longer strives with him. He gives him over to a seared conscience. However, the "sins that lead to death" are of a different kind if I read 1 John correctly. Here's the passage:

If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life-to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. - 1 John 5:16-17

From the text, it is implicit and probably explicit that the saints will know which sins a man has committed which lead to death. As to the deliberate ongoing sinning, there is really no way we can know when a man has "crossed the point of no return line".

As to the sins that lead to death, I am aware of only two specifically mentioned in Scripture. One has already been mentioned from Hebrews and by context only applies to a Jew who has left the old sacrificial system for atonement to believe in Jesus and then renounces Christ as his atonement and goes back to the old sacrificial system. The second sin that leads to death is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

I think the discussion can rightly center around unrepentant known sin but should also rightly not involve that particular matter in the "sins that lead to death" mentioned in 1 John. All sins lead to death unless repented of and only two as far as I know are specifically referenced which do not allow for repentance under any circumstance.

Hello Robert,

Thank you for your input. Allow me to attempt to unpack the thought process behind linking "the sin unto death" with "willful" and/or "presumptuous" sin.

The first time I began to entertain the connection was reading in Numbers 15:30. In the passage, no description is given except that the act was done "through pride" (based upon the LXX). I am sure that you are already aware that there are a number of sins listed in the Law for which the guilty party was to be put to death without opportunity for pardon or mercy. I believe that reason for this is that the nature of these offenses are beyond the scope of error, or impulse.

The common denominator between these sins is their "presumptuous" or "proud" nature. These were "sins unto death" for there was no sacrifice for them. To name a few:
idolatry, adultery, sorcery, incest, murder. Upon the testimony of two or three witnesses, the person was to be put to death. John, being a Jew and having ties to those in the priesthood, certainly would have been familiar with these distinctions within the Law.

Even regarding "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit", which means to "injure with speech" was given in the context of attributing a work wrought by God to the devil. That is a great injury to the Name of God. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil. This is comes from someone proud of their own judgment.

The other "sin unto death" - sin of pride, I referenced from Deuteronomy 17:12. The nature of this sin is also clearly "willful", "presumptuous", but the Greek words used in the passage are the words for "pride" and "foul". A person who chose to defy God's authority in this manner was to be killed without mercy.

The common denominator in willful, presumptuous sin is "pride." A person could not "forsake" the Law of Moses by mistake. Neither can a person forsake faith in Christ and return to the Law by mistake. These are conscious decisions made against an abundance of clear, revelation.

The opposition to Jesus by the Jewish leaders was not a lack of evidence, but a love of their status and the envy they allowed to leaven their hearts.

I hope this helps expose my own thought process. I certainly welcome any correction or refining that this discussion may bring. Thank you again for taking part and I look forward to considering additional contribution from you for I have come to respect your love of the scriptures.

mak

This is a great thread. Thank you brother. Very informative and thought provoking. After a long time I am seeing a good thread like this.

I once heard someone explain that, sins that leads to death are sins against a brother in Christ. This is also similar as in Matt 18, Jesus starts saying if your brother sins against you.

When Paul was persecuting the Church, Jesus appearing in way to Damascus, asked him 'Why are you persecuting me'. So persecution of Christians is seen as persecution of Jesus. Same way sin done against a brother in Christ is sin against Jesus.

Gen 6:3 - 3 Then the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”

God's spirit will not fight with man for ever. It is Lord's spirit, his Holy Spirit that is bringing us to repentance from sin. But Based on Gen 6, if a believer starts to walk completely in Flesh and not listening to Spirit then there will be a time when the Spirit of God will stop fighting with him. As long as we have the conviction of sin and able to repent from, God's Spirit is striving with us. But there is a limit.

I see believers accept their mistakes but not willing to repent or restitute. They are too proud to go and apologize to the people they hurt. This is not a real repentance. True repentance should bring us to knees and willing to apologize to anyone irrespective of their age or position. But if pride is coming in the way of restitution then that is the sign of sin leading to death.

Thank you Sree,

It is interesting that you reference Matthew 18 where the process for severing fellowship with a brother is laid out. Four steps are given to verify that a person is refusing to hear, then a severe cutting off is called for.
1. Private appeal and if the brother hears (akuo) you have won your brother. If the brother does not hear (akou) take another step.
2. Take one or two more with you to establish the matter by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If the brother refuses to hear (parakuo) take another step.
3. Take the matter to the church and allow the church to make an authoritative directive. If the brother refuses to hear (parakuo) the church - take the next step.
4. Announce the severe action of cutting off all fellowship.

This demonstrates the difference between the original sin against the brother and the greater sin of stubborn pride against all counsel.

Mak

Bro Allan, Matt 18:15 starts with "If your brother or sister sins against you". So the starting of the 4 points itself is Sin against a brother or sister (fellow disciple). Which we are unwilling to repent as you have mentioned.

Hence a sin against a fellow disciple which we are unwilling to repent from is the sin that leads to death.