The Sin Problem
The Sin That Kills
1 John 5:16-17
Over the last few weeks, we've been thinking about the sin problem we all face and what God has done in regard to that. In the grand and eternal scale, He did for us what we could never do for ourselves by sending Jesus to die on the cross, take the penalty for our sin and release us from its bondage and captivity.
He has so changed our position that we are able to stand perfect and sinless before Him, forever forgiven for all our sin, past, present and future. And one day, He will provide us with a completely new and remade body, just like the one occupied by Jesus and we will live in His presence for all eternity. And it's all by grace.
In the meantime, while we live in this sinful bodies, we hang on to some of the remnants of our old nature. That means we sometimes do what we shouldn't or don't do what we should. Our thinking must be changed so our lives can be brought under control, and God hasn't left us alone in that struggle either.
He is provided us with His unchanging Word and His indwelling Spirit, and as we yield ourselves to Him instead of our human desires and appetites, we actually become more like Christ and live appropriately.
And as you and I know, it is a constant struggle. The fight is always on and Satan never gives up. But in the end, it will be worth it when we stand before the Lord and hear Him say, "Well done!"
But what about the person who doesn't make the effort? Instead, they just decide that since they are saved and on their way to heaven, they'll just coast along. Or they're of the opinion that sin is no big deal. After all, we're saved and on our way to heaven and nothing else matters.
First of all, it is hard to imagine any person who is really saved having that kind of attitude, and yet our church rolls are full of names who present themselves in that way. Right here in our own beloved church, we have over 700 names on our resident membership roll. There are another 300 or so that moved away and took everything except their church membership.
But let's just concentrate for a moment on the resident membership. That means they live close enough to the church that it would be a reasonable driving distance. Many of them haven't been here for years. In fact, some of them didn't even make it back to church the next Sunday after they joined! For all intents and purposes, as far as we know, they do nothing, give nothing and contribute nothing to the life and ministry of God's church.
And unfortunately, many of them have never been saved. And that situation is a category unto itself and it calls for a different approach than what we will consider this morning.
Today, I'm thinking more about the person who you see from time to time, or maybe even most of the time. But there attitude is you don't want to get to involved or committed with that church stuff! A little bit of church on Sunday morning will be enough. A little token offering every now and then will get them by. A daily devotion time is unnecessary.
Others can teach the classes and do the evangelism and keep the nursery and drive the vans and go on the mission trips and all of that service and ministry stuff.
They'll just show up, tip their hat toward God, protect their reputation and beyond that, they'll do anything they want to do.
If they want to cheat in their business, that's just being a savvy business man. If they want to cheat on their husband or wife, what's the harm? After all, you only live once! Their behavior may deviate from God's standards in any number of ways. But they live the life of a hypocrite, a holy Joe on Sunday morning and a snake in the grass through the rest of the week, and in most cases, they don't get by with anything because everyone knows what they really are.
So what is God's response to that situation? Well, there are several places we could look in the New Testament in an attempt to answer that question and we'll consider some of those before we finish today. But I want to begin with one of the strangest and most difficult passages in all of the bible.
It is found in 1 John 5. Listen to what we read in
verses 16-17
Now these verses are difficult because it's hard to know exactly what John is saying when he uses the phrase "the sin that leads to death".
In fact, the entire passage is very difficult to understand. There is a weel-respected Greek scholar named Kenneth Wuest, who, in regard to this passage, says, "The present writer confesses his utter inability to understand this verse."
Then after explaining what he believes to be the sin unto death, he goes on to say, "The rest of the verse is an enigma to me and I will not attempt to offer even a suggestion as to its possible interpretation."
Also complicating matters is that most of the time, preachers and scholars miss the thrust of the entire passage. If you look at the passage in its entirety it is obvious the emphasis is not on the sin that leads to death. In fact, the emphasis is not on sin at all.
The emphasis is on prayer. John has just finished telling us how to get our prayers answered and in verses 14 and 15, he gives us an illustration of prayer that is answered. Then, in verses 16 and 17 he makes an application of that kind of prayer.
And what he's saying is, "When Christians fall into sin, it is the will of God that we pray for their restoration and repentance." There is a great example of that found in what Jesus said to Peter the night before His crucifixion. Knowing that Peter was going to deny Him, He said. "Simon, Simon behold Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail."
In other words, Jesus had Peter on His prayer list and He was praying specifically and intentionally for strength on Peter's behalf. And I just think it would be good if we followed that example! The prayer list of every Christian ought to be full of brothers and sisters in Christ who have backslidden and gotten away from God.
But then, John makes this statement that we find at the end of verse 16 about sin that lead to death. And in regard to that kind of sin, he says there are some Christians for whom it is useless to pray. In fact, he doesn't even encourage its practice because they have committed a sin that leads to death.
Now, I don't know about you, but that brings up all kinds of questions in my mind. What are the sins that lead to death and the ones that don't? And how do I know if a person is sinning unto death? It seems to me I should be able to identify that if I'm going to have to decide whether or not I should pray for them. And by the way, how could you tell if a sin was "to death" or not if a person is still alive?
See why I say this verse is so challenging? There is so much about which we cannot be sure. However, there is a lot here that we can be sure about, so for the next few minutes, I'll just try to concentrate our attention on those things.
First of all, John divides the kind of sins that a Christian can commit into two categories. And we know this is sin committed by a Christian because of John's use of the word "brother". Someone becomes aware of a brother in the Lord (and we could insert "or sister" in there also), a professing Christian, committing sin.
So this brother is either committing sin that leads to death or sin that does not lead to death, and the kind of sin in which this Christian is involved is what determines whether or not prayer should be offered on their behalf.
Now, lest someone think that means some sin is serious and some sin is not, John very quickly adds
verse 17
And that's very important. In fact, if I were taking notes, I'd write down as point number one,
1. All Sin is Failure
Just take note of that phrase in verse 17 that says, "All unrighteousness is sin". That is consistent with what we heard Paul say in
Romans 6:12
"Do not present your members as instruments of
unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instrument of righteousness unto God."
The Christian life is all about choosing righteousness instead of unrighteousness. And John is just making the point here, lest someone misunderstand his comments about sin that lead to death, that all sin is unrighteousness.
We live in a world that wants to do away with the concept of sin. We no longer call sins by their real names. We've cleaned it all up to make it appear respectable. Listen to the world, and they will try to convince you there is no such thing as sin.
We just have societal issues and environmental concerns. We just need racial reconciliation and anger management and tolerance training.
There is no sin problem. It is a lack of education. It is a lack of understanding. It is the lack of equal opportunity.
But remember what we learned last week. We are not to be conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds. And as we study and learn and apply the Word of God, we understand there is a sharp differentiation made between the person who is transformed and the person who is conformed.
You can call adultery a search for love and significance if you want to, but God calls it sin. You may call homosexuality an alternate lifestyle, but God calls it sin. You can call abortion the freedom of choice, but God calls it sin. All unrighteousness is sin.
And at its root, sin is the failure to obey the commandments of God or honor the character of God. Sin is rebellion against God's Word and God's character. God's Word reveals the righteousness of His character and His demands for His creation to reflect and honor that character, and as Paul wrote in Romans 3:23. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Therefore, all sins are failures in that we fail to measure up to God's righteous standard.
Here's the second thing: All sins are failure, but
2. Some Sins are Fatal
verse 16b
Now, to help us understand what this means, I want to
answer two questions.
Here's the first one: what does John mean by a sin that leads to death."
Well, it helps just to consider how the verse is worded. Notice, in the NKJV, it reads. "There is sin leading to death." KJV says "a sin unto death". I didn't check others, but it doesn't matter. Here's how it reads in the original Greek:
"There is sin to death", no "a", no "leading". If your Bible highlights words with italics, those italics indicated words that were added by the translators for clarification in the English. So the italics come out and what we are left with is "There is sin to death".
And if we read it in that way, the meaning becomes more clear. That means there is a type of sin that moves in the direction of death. It's destination is death. Now that makes sense because death is a result of sin and we know, the wages of sin is death.
But now we move that thought into the arena of being a Christian. We've already heard Paul explain how sin lives and dwells and activates in the human flesh. And Paul says, "I've got to fight the flesh and consider it dead to sin.
But here we have just the opposite. Instead of resisting the fleshly, sinful desires, this person is embracing them and enjoying them.
This is the person who says, "We'll I'm saved and on my way to heaven, therefore I'll just live it up". But John steps in to say, "You need to know there is a category of sin in the life of a believer that can result in a premature death."
Understand, he's not referring to a specific sin, but rather a condition of heart that results in lifestyle choices that are inconsistent with God's will. There is a stubborn, rebellious spirit and attitude that leads toward death.
This is exactly the attitude Paul addresses in Romans 6:1 when he asks if we should sin, just because grace abounds and covers. Obviously not! This sin that leads to death is the kind of sin in the life of a Christian that ignores the grace of God and recklessly chooses to disobey God.
The second question is, "What kind of death is referred to?". I mentioned a moment ago that we know this is a Christian who is sinning because John refers to them as "a brother".
Now that is important because it indicates what kind of a death he is talking about here. He cannot be referring to spiritual death because we know the child of God has passed from death unto life.
Remember, one of those things we need to know to deal with sin successfully is that we are buried with Christ and raised to walk in newness of life. We are justified. Our position is forever changed and it can never be reversed. Therefore, it is impossible for a man to pass back from life unto death.
God will part the Red Sea to let Israel go into Jordan, but he will not part the Red Sea to let Israel go back into Egypt. Furthermore, there is no example in the Bible of any Christian who ever lost their salvation. Lest someone wants to bring up Judas, I will just remind you Scripture says he was a devil from the beginning.
So obviously, John is not talking about spiritual death so he must be referring to physical death. Now if we are going to interpret Scripture by Scripture, and I think we should, then we can ask this question, "Are there any examples of Christians in the Bible who committed a sin that led to their physical death?
After all, if there are, then they would certainly illustrate the truth of this passage. And as you know, there are examples. There are at least three, and maybe four that we'll consider. And they serve as examples of the kinds of sins and attitudes that could be categorized as sin to death.
The first one is
- the sin of spiritual deceit
It's found in
Acts 5:1-5
Most of us are familiar with this example. The church is brand new and there was a great revival going on in the church. People were very generously giving to the work of God so needs can be met. One man named Barnabas gives a noteworthy gift.
A couple in the church named Ananias and Sapphira decide to get in on the action, and nobody knows why, but they sell a piece of land, and secretly decide to give a gift to the church and keep some of it for themselves, which would have been fine, but they lie and lead people to believe they gave the whole thing.
And Peter confronts that situation, accusing Ananias of lying to God. And no sooner had Peter said that when Ananias dropped dead. In a little while, his wife came in, told the same lie, and she immediately died also!
I've often thought, where would I be if God still judged sin like that? I'll tell you where I'd be! I'd be right here preaching to an empty church! That's where I'd be!
I am convinced our churches are full of liars on any given Sunday. People look at us and the their assessment of our spiritual life is we are close to God. After all, we sing in the choir and teach Sunday School and preach sermons. We're here every time the doors are open.
But we know what we are deep down inside. We have never paid the price of total commitment to the Lord and we are content to let people think what they think while we keep the truth hidden deep inside! And we lie to the Holy Spirit that lives and dwells within us.
Let me tell you something. You better not mess around with God and play the hypocrite and steal the glory that belongs only to God! There's still plenty of room in the cemetery for you!
As a result of those two deaths, the Bible says great fear came upon all the church and all who heard it Sometimes God will take a Christian out to retain His glory and remind us He will share it with no one.
The second example is
- The sin of spiritual disobedience
1 Corinthians 5:1-5
Now the church of Corinth is rarely an example of anything good or godly, and this situation is no exception. This passage tells us that someone in the church was living in open adultery either with
his mother, his step-mother or his mother-in-law. So not only was it a situation of adultery, but it may have included incest as well.
And to make matters worse, the whole town knew about it and the church was bragging about it. They were openly talking about it. So Paul gives them some counsel from the lord in verse 5. And a part of his instruction is to deal with the guilty party by "delivering him to Satan for the destruction of the flesh".
In other words, excommunicate him from the church and don't allow him the blessing and privilege of fellowshipping with the people of God. Instead, let the devil physically kill his body.
Now, we need to keep in mind, the devil never cooperates with God for the benefit of the believer.
-
mean by that, God doesn't use Satan for discipline so you will be a better Christian. If discipline is called for, God can whip His own kids. When God allows Satan to get involved, it is for the destruction of the flesh.
And notice, His spirit will be saved in the day of the Lord. There is no danger of him going to hell. He may have lost his reputation, but he had not lost his salvation. And he will now potentially lose his life because his conduct was an embarrassment to the name of Jesus and Paul sternly reprimands the church for tolerating this kind of behavior.
So the sin to death might be to remind us that God gets the glory for everything we do. It might be to purify the church and protect its ministry and testimony, and then, there's a third example and it is
- the sin of Spiritual desecration
1 Corinthians 11:27-30
Here we find people who were coming to observe the Lord's Supper and instead of using it as an opportunity to remember the death of the Son, as it was designed, they were using it as an occasion to party and get
drunk.
-
Paul says they were guilty of body and blood of the Lord. That means this disregard for the Lord's Table is the same as putting Jesus back of the cross.
And notice, because of that, many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep, which is simply Paul's way of referring to the death of a Christian.
It seems to me that this sin may be the most subtle of all. After all, here we are, sitting in a church, attending a worship service, holding a Bible in our hands. We come here to pray and sing and worship and study and observe the ordinances.
But is it possible that we treat those things in an unworthy manner? We become so callous and accustomed to what we do that we do not "discern the Lord's body". By that I mean we treat it with indifference. We yawn while we sing, if we sing at all. Our minds are a million miles away while we're sitting in the pew.
And the warning Paul gives here is very solemn. He says this is the reason that some are sick and weak. In fact, he says it's the reason many are weak and sickly. And some have even died.
And I will tell you when you get to the place where you handle the precious, holy things of God in such a way that their holiness and purity and costliness go unnoticed, you are on dangerous ground.
There is one final example I want to point out to you and that is
- the sin of Scriptural Distortion
2 Peter 3:16
Here we find those that are twisting scripture to justify their sin. And to be fair to the text, Peter is addressing false teachers who twist the teaching of Paul regarding the future. And most likely, by destruction, he is saying they will die and go to hell.
But it is also true that any distortion of Scripture is devastating. And it is especially deadly when it is twisted to justify sinful behavior. I never cease to be amazed by the amount of bad theology is available. Much of it is found in the teaching of the big shots on TV.
But a whole lot of it is found in Sunday School classes and spit and whittle club gatherings where somebody says,, "Well, I'll tell you what I believe about that. My grandpa said this or that. . ."
And worst of all is the person who uses the security of his salvation as an excuse to sin. Listen: The doctrine of God's saving, keeping power is so far removed from being an excuse to sin that it is instead, our greatest motivation and reason not to sin.
Remember, what is expected is that we will present our bodies a holy and living sacrifice! Don't ever get to the place where you twist and pervert the word of God to justify your sin. Instead, let it mold and shape and direct your life. Instead of expecting it to conform to you, you conform to it.
Now I want to point something out to you before we finish up. We saw four example of sin that result in someone dying. Four times Christians sinned, and four times Christians died. Watch this: Without exception, they were sins against the trinity of God and the Word of God.
The first sin was the Sin against God the Father. Peter said to Ananias and Sapphira, "You've lied to God."
The second sin was the sin against the Spirit of God. Paul said, "I'm present in spirit. I've judged in my spirit what should be done. And what you do must be done in the power of our Lord Jesus Christ." Well what spirit is that? What is the Power of the Lord Jesus Christ? That is the very Spirit of God, the sweet Holy Spirit.
The third sin was the sin against the Son of God. Those who unworthily participated in the Lord's Supper are guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord.
And the fourth sin was the sin against the inspired, infallible, inerrant holy Word of God as they twisted it to meet their own needs.
I mention that just to say this: There are some things that are too holy to mess with! And if there comes a time in the life of a Christian, as one who should know better and understand better than anyone the holiness and grace and power of God, that they stubbornly persist in a sin, and flaunt that sin in the face of God, then he leaves God with no choice but to take His life.
I believe with all of my heart that more Christians than we realize are taken out of this world by God himself because they have lost their sensitivity to God and they treat with disdain His precious Word.
And we need to be reminded that sin is serious in the life of anybody. But it is especially serious in the life of a believer. God is gracious and patient and long suffering, but God will not be mocked. Nobody, whether saved or lost, can continuously live in sin and get away with it. And for the Christian, some sins are fatal.
On final things I want you to see in this text and that is
3. Most Supplication is Fruitful
As John describes these two kinds of Christians and how one is not sinning to death and the other is, he encourages prayer for one but not the other.
Now that means there must be some indicators of the person who is sinning toward death. I personally believe it is fairly easy to spot. There is an arrogance that is evident.
Show me a person who struts around church like they're really something, they're so spiritual they don't need to go to Bible Study, they've got all the answers for everyone's questions, and I'll show you someone who has evidenced they don't need my prayers.
They thrive in the atmosphere of the Pharisee that Jesus told about who thanked God he was not like all the sinners in the world. He had a bragging list a mile long about all he did for the Lord. He didn't need anything, including God.
On the other hand, there was this poor old tax collector who knew he didn't belong in the presence of God. Therefore, he approached God in humble repentance, begging to be forgiven.
Now you tell me: Which one needed our prayers?
When we pray for those who are burdened by their sin and acknowledge it and confess it as the sin it is, we
understand we are praying to a sympathetic and forgiving God who will pick them up and clean them up and restore their testimony and effectiveness in the kingdom of God.
But we also know some are so haughty and arrogant, they are so premeditated and deliberate in their sin, that all the prayer in the world wouldn't help.
That's why it is so important to immediately intercede for those who are drifting away. When people drop out of church, we need to ask God to restore their love and their devotion and their zeal and their fervency for Jesus.
And by the way, we sure don t need to be removing inactive members from our Sunday School roll. Many people never seem to realize their Sunday School roll is a ministry list. And it tells you a whole lot about your members, just in the attendance records.
John says, "Pray for them! If you ask, God will give life! We know it is God's will for every Christian to be used in a maximum way to glorify Jesus. And knowing that, we know that when we pray for a backslidden Christian to be restored to his proper place in the church and in the kingdom, we are praying in agreement with God's will.
And notice, John never says we shouldn't pray, he just indicates that he's not sure it will help. If a brother in Christ has reached the point of no return before God, prayer, no matter how fervent, no matter how sincere, will be ineffective.
One of the most frightening verses in all of the bible is found in Jeremiah 7. The nation of Judea had reached the point of no return before God. God had decided they needed to be punished and corrected.
Listen to what he says to Jeremiah in
Jeremiah 7:16
Dear friend, there is sin that is fatal. It can kill the effectiveness of child of God. It can kill the power of
prayer. It can kill the reputation of a church. And in the end, it can kill a Christian. We are not called to judge but we are called to inspect fruit. For those whose fruits begin to stink and to rot on the vine, let us pray lest God remove them from this world.
Let's pray.
