A friend of mine asked me - what is a mortal sin? Starting to understand this issue, I came across the answer of John Oks. I share with you. I think a lot of people will be interested.
Question:
What is the sin that leads to death?
Answer:
The sin that leads to death is the sin of a person who once received salvation, but then again turned away from Christ and returned to a sin-filled life. This is described in various ways in the Bible, such as "the dog returns to its own vomit" - 2 Peter 2:22. Or where Peter says about people: "No matter how my pig, it always wallows in the mud." And again: “And if those people who left the worldly uncleanness, having known our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, are now subdued and again entangled in worldly uncleanness, then their situation is even worse than before.”
Another description of this statement can be found in Hebrews 10:26-31:
“For if we deliberately continue to sin after we have already known the truth, then there will be nothing more to atone for sins, but only fearfully await judgment and hellfire, which will consume those who go against God. Anyone who denied the law of Moses was put to death on the basis of the testimony of two or three witnesses. Think how much more terrible punishment deserves the one who shows hatred for the Son of God, does not recognize the sacred Blood of the new agreement, the same Blood that sanctified it, and offends the grace-filled Spirit of God! For we know the One who said, "Vengeance is mine. I will repay." And God also said, "The Lord will judge His people." It is more terrible than the terrible to fall into the hands of the living God. (Heb. 10:26-31)
This passage describes a man who knew the truth but turned away from God again. This person is literally: shows hatred for the Son of God, does not recognize the sacred Blood of the new agreement, the same Blood that sanctified it, and offends the blessed Spirit of God».
Hebrews 6:4-8 says:
“Is it possible to turn to repentance those who have turned away from Christ? I'm talking about those who have known the truth, received the gift of God and partake of the Holy Spirit. These people heard the word of God, saw the great power of the new world of God and made sure that it was all good, and then they apostatized from Christ. They cannot be returned to the path of repentance, for they again crucify the Son of God and subject Him to humiliation in front of everyone. The land that drinks the rain that often falls on it, and brings forth a harvest for the benefit of those who cultivate it, receives the blessing of God. The land, which brings only thorns and thistles, is worth nothing, and it threatens to be cursed by God. Shewilldestroyedby fire". (Heb. 6:4-8)
I believe there is no special sin that leads to death. The sin that leads to death is the sin that turns us away from Christ again, destroying the influence of God's grace in our lives. While we can't tell when someone reaches the point where they turn away from God, God eventually takes the Holy Spirit away from that person.
Again, there is no specific unforgivable sin. If Paul was forgiven for killing Christians and opposing God, then there are no unforgivable sins at all. There is only one unforgivable sin, and that is when a person finally falls away from God. When a person deliberately sins for a long time without repentance.
Based on this, we can say that a sin that does not lead to death is a sin in which a person repented and was forgiven, thanks to the blood of Jesus Christ. You may be familiar with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church on common and mortal sins. See the doctrine of Purgatory. This is a false doctrine that is not supported by the Bible.
And here is another balanced look at this question:
John gives an example of when a believer can pray with boldness and when such boldness is not possible. If anyone sees his brother sinning with sin not unto death, then let him pray, and God will give him life, that is, sinning with sin not unto death. This is obviously the case when a Christian sees a brother engaged in sinful activities. But this is not a sin for which the person who committed it should be put to death.
In such a case, the believer can pray for the restoration of the sinning person, and God will give asking life the one who sinned by sin not unto death.
However there is a sin unto death and the apostle adds: "I'm not talking about him praying."
Sin leading to death
It is not possible to say with complete certainty what "sin unto death", so it is probably more correct to enumerate the various accepted interpretations and then say which one we think is the most correct.
1. Some people think that sin to death is a sin committed by a believer that he has not confessed. In 1 Corinthians 11:30 we read that some died because they participated in the Lord's Supper and did not judge themselves.
2. Others think that the sin of murder is mentioned here. If a Christian, in a moment of indignation, kills another person, then we should not pray for the abolition of the death penalty for him, because God, by His will, established that “whoever sheds human blood, that blood will be shed by the hand of a man.”
3. Some think that the sin mentioned here is a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus said that those who attributed the miracles He performed by the power of the Holy Spirit to the prince of demons, Beelzebub, committed the unforgivable sin and that there is no forgiveness for this sin either in this age or in the next.
4. Some believe that this is a special sin, similar to the sin committed by Moses or Aaron, Ananias and Sapphira, which God brings final judgment.
5. The last explanation defends the point of view that this is the sin of treason, or apostasy. We believe that this explanation best fits the context. A backslider is one who has heard the great truths about the Christian faith, who has recognized with his mind that Jesus is the Christ, who has even openly called himself a Christian, although in reality he has never been saved. Having tasted all the best that Christianity brings, he completely renounces it and renounces the Lord Jesus Christ. We learn from Heb 6 that it is this sin that leads to death.
Those who commit such a sin are deprived of the path to salvation, for "they again crucify the Son of God within themselves and reproach Him." Throughout the Epistle, John carries the thought of the Gnostics. These false teachers were once in Christian fellowship. They claimed to be believers. They knew the true faith, but then they turned away from the Lord Jesus and came up with a doctrine that completely denied His divinity and the sufficiency of His atoning sacrifice for our sins.
A Christian cannot pray for the restoration of such people because God has already indicated in His Word that they sin unto death.
In addition to this answer, I want to quote an article by Alexander Kopytyuk:
“Are there really sins not unto death? If they exist, does this mean that they are less dangerous than their “deadly” counterparts? list "favorite sins that you really don't want to get rid of.
Let's leave this delusion! John was well aware of the lethal injection of any sin, he was also aware of the understanding of his colleague James, who claims that “(“ any ”, according to the original language) sin committed leads to death (). How to deal with such a discrepancy in this case?
On the one hand, each sin committed produces death, on the other hand, any sin produced is deprived of the deadly sting after confession (). The conclusion is extremely simple: any confessed sin without exception does not lead to death.
However, this raises a natural question: how to distinguish between sin unto death and non-death at the moment of its commission? An identical situation develops, which was also at the baptism performed by John. It is easy to catch his eye, at first glance, a strange requirement for the Pharisees: “create worthy fruit of repentance” (). "Wait, teacher, we have not repented yet, because the fruit appears at the end" - one could object to him. For the great man of God, that which was hidden from others was visible, for only “a spiritual man judges everything” (1 Corinthians 2:15). There was no contrite heart in their behavior, they went to perform a “rite” so as not to be separated from the people.
In our text, the author uses the word "aytesei" (ask, request - to ask, beg), which is usually not used in the meaning of prayer to God (see). In the Synodal Translation, the word sounds like "pray" in the medial voice, in the original language it is rendered in the active voice "let him pray." The word in the 19th century, when the said translation was made, had one of the meanings of "to beg another person" (for example, for mercy or pardon).
The following picture emerges: if you see someone sinning timidly or unconsciously (that is, not ossified in this sin), hurry to beg him to leave sin through repentance and God will cancel the effect of death on the fallen.
If you see someone sinning towards death, that is, boldly, arrogantly, defiantly, repeatedly, then you do not hesitate to beg him, or, as the apostle writes: “I am not talking about praying.” For the second case, the text already contains another word "erotese" / (ask, urge, beg - ask, convince, beg; again active voice - does not ask), however, synonymous in meaning. And again, commonly used in human-to-human relationships.
So what should be done? It was normal for the apostolic church to have a differentiated approach to people, this principle was clearly and succinctly written by Jude: “be merciful to some with consideration, and save others with fear ...” (.22-23).
One should not beg the “suicide bomber”, but save with fear! In the next verse the apostle sums up the theoretical conclusion. "Every unrighteousness is a sin." The Greek text contains the word "adikia" (wrongdoing, evil, sin, injustice - a wrong deed, evil, sin, injustice or unrighteousness). It's not just about lies or untruths. In the same 19th century, "untruth" did not mean only a lie, a deceit. So any wrongness, unrighteousness is a sin. But! Any sin is not unto death. The Greek text does not contain an article before the word "sin" in both cases, which, according to the grammar of the language of the New Testament, gives the right to assert that it is about any sin. Any sin committed ceases to carry a lethal injection as a result of repentance and confession!
God's blessings,
Alexey asksAnswered by Alexandra Lantz, 12/28/2009
Alexei writes: Please tell me what the Bible means sin that leads to death, and sin that does not lead to death?
This is one of the most difficult questions, so let's pray to our Heavenly Father to give us the understanding of this issue directly from the Throne of His grace, so that we, rejecting our carnal wisdom, do His will. Only His will. So that we do not take any action until we have the fullness of the revealed Truth, so as not to harm either our own soul or the soul of our neighbor. After all, the main thing for us is to fulfill the most important commandments of Christ, on which the Law and the prophets are based, on which the Kingdom of Heaven is based ().
http://www.site/answers/r/28/305719
http://www.site/answers/r/34/300992
“If anyone sees his brother sinning with a sin not unto death, then let him pray, and [God] will give him life, [that is] sinning [with a sin] not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he should pray.”
The Bible says that anyone sin breeds death. Any sin, even the smallest one, blocks our free access to the Heavenly Abodes.
"For if we receiving knowledge of the truth, arbitrarily sin, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but some terrible expectation of judgment and the fury of fire, ready to devour opponents. [If] the one who rejected the law of Moses, with two or three witnesses, without mercy [is punished] with death, then how severe do you think the punishment is guilty will be he who tramples on the Son of God and does not revere as holy the blood of the covenant, with which he was sanctified, and offends the Spirit of grace? We know the One who said: Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. And again, the Lord will judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!"
Note that we are talking about the fact that the Lord will judge His people, i.e. those who believed in Him as the Savior, and we see that, it turns out, not every one of His people will be saved. Because not everyone will decide to constantly receive light from God, so that every day he becomes more and more like the Son of God, in order to grow from glory to glory, as happened with the first believers:
"beholding the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image from glory to glory as from the Spirit of the Lord" ().
I will try to sum up what has been said. In John discusses exclusively for Christians and says that among them there will be those who will begin to sin with sin unto death, i.e. knowing sin by hardening their hearts against the influence of the Holy Spirit. There is no need to pray for such "for it is impossible - once enlightened, and having tasted the gift of heaven, and made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and having tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and those who have fallen away, renew again with repentance, when they again crucify the Son of God within themselves and swear at [Him]" ().
Let's look at all this with the example of Saul.
Anyone who does not accept Christ as Savior is dead in the eyes of God. No matter how much he sins, no matter how much he sins, he's just dead in his sins. While Saul persecuted the church of God, threw Christians into darkness, rejoiced at the death of such as Stephen - all this cannot be called a sin unto death, because. Saul was already just dead in his sins (). Before Saul, as before every person, the way of repentance and salvation was opened, the opportunity to come to life in the eyes of God, but Saul was still spiritually dead.
And so Saul repented, became a Christian, tasted the joy of salvation, became alive in the eyes of God, began to preach Christ ... let's imagine that in the middle of all this activity he would suddenly take a mistress or start preaching salvation not by the merits of Christ, but by deeds, although I would know that a mistress and such a sermon is a sin. The brothers would have tried to reason with him, to pray for him, etc., but he would not have responded and would not have repented... that's the Christian's sin unto death. The brothers would have to forbid him to preach and expel him from the church () and Paul would have perished in his bitterness.
May the saving power of the Almighty constantly abide in you and with you, so that every day you come closer to the Source of Life and Holiness, becoming more and more like the Savior!
Read more on the topic "Words and phrases from the Bible":
Sergei asks: Could you clarify what is "sin unto death" and "sin not unto death"?
Dear brother Sergei,
A person does not die immediately, because. the saving grace of Christ extends to the believer. When a believer sins, the sin is not always recognized.
To David, his crime with Bathsheba was revealed in its entirety a year after the arrival of Nathan. What covered his sin at that time? The ministry of Christ with whom David was in covenant.
But Scripture speaks of the moment when it "reaches" a person: “and when they are in the land where they will be captive, will enter into themselves And they will turn and pray to Thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done iniquity, we are guilty, and they will turn to Thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they will take them into captivity, and they will pray, turning to your land which you gave to their fathers, and to the city which you have chosen, and to the temple which I have built for your name…” (2 Chronicles 6:37-38)
“They will enter into themselves” in the Ukrainian Bible is translated as “come to the mind”.
It is wonderful when a person realizes a misdeed and repents of it, his guilt passes to Christ.
Sometimes the path of awareness is difficult: “So, it is not the will of your Heavenly Father that one of these little ones perish. But if your brother sins against you, go and reprove him between you and him alone; if he listens to you, then you have gained your brother; but if he does not listen, take one or two more with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the mouth of two or three witnesses; if he does not listen to them, tell the church; and if he does not listen to the church, then let him be to you, like a pagan and a publican.” (Mat. 18:14-17)
Sin unto death from this text, when God through the church did everything to bring a person to repentance, but he did not repent, rejecting the mercy of God.
This was the path followed by Saul, who ended his life in darkness.
This path was followed by Judas, who did not respond to a single warning of Christ.
In this case, the moment comes when the grace of the sacrifice of Jesus can no longer cover the sinner, because. he completely rejected it, choosing a different path.
“For if, having received the knowledge of the truth, we sin voluntarily, then there remains no more sacrifice for sins,
but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire ready to devour adversaries.
[If] the one who rejected the law of Moses, with two or three witnesses, without mercy [is punished] by death,
then how severe, do you think, will he be guilty of a punishment who tramples on the Son of God and does not revere the blood of the covenant, with which he is sanctified, and offends the Spirit of grace? (Heb. 10:26-29)
Last thing:
“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, now, when you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts, as in the time of grumbling, in the day of temptation in the wilderness,
where your fathers tempted me, tried me, and saw my works for forty years.
Wherefore I was indignant against that generation, and said, They go astray in heart, they do not know My ways;
therefore I swore in my anger that they would not enter into my rest.
See, brethren, that there be no evil and unbelieving heart in any of you, lest you depart from the living God.” (Heb.3:7-12)
Sincerely,
pastor Sergey Molchanov
1 John. 5:16
“If anyone sees his brother sinning in sin not unto death, let him
prays, and God will give him life, that is, he who sins with sin is not unto death.
There is a sin unto death; I am not talking about him praying.”
Where is the border between them, when to pray and when not to?
Probably the early Christians had a clear understanding of this matter.
They seem to have seen the difference right away. "If anyone sees his brother
who sins not unto death…”
Two millennia have passed and we, having written so many comments about it,
buried under them the simple meaning of our question, Of course, any
unrepentant sin can lead to death, and although we say that
who stole one ruble or a million bears the same name as a thief, yet sins
vary in severity. For one sin they simply condemn a person, for another
goy - they excommunicate, for the third they put them in jail. I think next verse 17
will help you figure it out.
"All unrighteousness is sin, but there is sin not unto death."
In other words: not all unrighteousness leads to death.
There is a mechanical untruth: without thinking, he said. Enough
pray yourself.
There is a forced untruth, with a positive outcome -
2 Samuel 17 chapter. The woman hid Jonathan and Ahimaas in the well -
people of David. She saved them and King David himself. She told a lie
Absalom's detectives: "They forded the river." “During the war, I
tal wounded soldiers from the Nazis and was forced to tell a lie.
Did I sin with this or not? a believing old man once asked me.
Maybe they have sinned with a lie, you can pray for her. But the fact that
you have done - this is a feat.
During the years of persecution, believers often spoke lies, concealed
vay preachers, literature and typewriters, but who among us will condemn
them for it? Not many were able to say so, so as not to betray and at the same time
don't lie.
The same is true for other sins. Someone in the hungry years, spa
sai children from death, stole a loaf of bread or a kilogram of grain on a collective farm.
Stalin did not skimp on terms - 10 years. And today we, without flinching, gave
I wish he was 10 for such a sentence.
In all these sins, we regret that it turned out to be untrue,
that they were unable to bypass it. We pray knowing that the Lord is very understanding
us. “We all make a lot of mistakes. Whoever does not sin in the word, that person
perfect” (James 3:2). “If we confess our sins, then He, being
faithful and righteous, forgive us!” (1 John 1:9).
The listed sins, probably, not to death. But there are other sins. Their
The Bible is richly illustrated.
- The children of the clergyman Elijah, knowing the truth, maliciously blaspheme
they sinned right in the tabernacle.
Father warned:
“Children, you can’t do this, the rumor about you is not good.” "If a man sins
against a person, then they will pray to God for him, but if a person sins
against the Lord, who will intercede for him? But they didn't listen to the voices
his father, for the Lord has already decided to put them to death.”
- Tsar. 2:25. Praying for them was useless.
Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit. This sin turned out to be
home to the death of both. D. Ap. Chapter 5 And no one prayed for them there. Another class of sinners is spoken of in Heb. 10:26-31.
If a Christian has fallen, he may not be able to get up, but he is sorry
No, like the prodigal son, he can return to the Father. But not talking about such
in 10 ch. Jews.
They trample on the Son of God, do not honor the Blood of the Covenant as holy,
The Spirit of grace is insulted (Heb. 6:4-8). "Crucify in himself the Son of God
and scolds Him." No prayers will help such people. These are sins unto death.
Let us add here the already mentioned phrase: “Any unrepentant
sin can lead to death."
The sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is also to death.
And one more sin lurking in many Christians - unpro-
schenie.
"Forgive us as we forgive."
Do not forgive us, just as we do not forgive, and this is the path to death.
What to do in such cases with these people? Except your prayers
which will do nothing here, you still have many means, and their task is to lead the sinner to his own prayer. This will be his last
a chance in the hope that God's mercy will prevail over judgment. It was
in the Bible, and often in our lives. Clarification can reverse "sin-
save a soul from his false way from death" - Jas. 5:20.
Rebuke can open your eyes to what you have done. As in the case of Nathan,
and David who sinned: "I have sinned." Ah, that's the way to God's forgiveness.
Do not lose hope and zeal in helping those who have sinned even with a sin
to death.
“Save those taken to death, and will you really refuse the doomed