Understanding Sin unto Death & Sin Not unto Death

(1John 5:16-17)

If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death

(Romans 6:23)
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

In the life of a believer that is from day to day being sanctified in Truth growing by grace to grace, through faith to faith and glory to glory this believer is kept by the Spirit of God unto the saving of his soul, because this believer acknowledges, that is confesses in his/her heart the Truth of Gods Word which in Gods time makes the believer free from the bondages of sin. But what about those who are calling themselves believers and practicing sin unto death calling it good? What about tose who are in a Church Family and live willfully in rebellion to God their existance there a cancer to the Body of Christ as the sin is unconfessed and tolerated.

Romans 6:23 is speaking to this sin unto death mentioned in the opening scripture. (Sin Not Unto Death are the likes of worry, foolishness, and such wherein our intercession alone is enough to deliver those entrapped hindered by it. But there is Sin Unto Death that those who practice such never enter the Kingdom of God, which is the Power of God in the life of growing believers and produces the righteousness, joy and peace of the Holy Spirit within) and we the Body are commanded to not even to pray for one who calls himself a brother that's practicing a sin that falls into this category. Such was a situation in the Corinthian Church:

(1 Corinthians 5:1-6)
It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

The list of Sin Unto Death is numerous ranging from the obvious and the not so obvious:

(Galatians 5:19-21)
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

(1 Corinthians 6:-10)
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Beginning in Galatians 5 let us begin looking at each practiced unconfessed sin that delivers its prisoner to death:

Adultery: voluntary sexual intercourse between a married man and someone other than his wife or between a married woman and someone other than her husband; also: an act of adultery

Fornication: consensual sexual intercourse between two persons not married to each other.

Uncleanness:

a: morally or spiritually impure
b: infected with a harmful supernatural contagion; also: prohibited by ritual law for use or contact
c: dirty, filthy
d: lacking in clarity and precision of conception or execution

Lasciviousness: lewd, lustful

Idolatry:

a: the worship of a physical object as a god
b: immoderate attachment or devotion to something

Witchcraft:

a: the use of sorcery or magic
b: communication with the devil or with a familiar
c: an irresistible influence or fascination
d: wicca

( the original greek for witchcraft could have been translated Pharmacy,)

Hatred:

a: hate
b: prejudiced hostility or animosity (old racial prejudices and national hatred)

Variance:

a: the fact or state of being in disagreement : dissension, dispute
b: a disagreement between two parts of the same legal proceeding that must be consonant
c: a license to do some act contrary to the usual rule (for us the Truth of Gods Word and the reality of His Promises)

Emulations:

a: ambition or endeavor to equal or excel others (as in the essence of the American Dream)
b: imitation c: the use of or technique of using an emulator

Wrath:

a: strong vengeful anger or indignation
b: retributory punishment for an offense or a crime : divine chastisement

Strife:

a: bitter sometimes violent conflict or dissension
b: an act of contention : fight, struggle
c: exertion or contention for superiority

Seditions: incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority

Heresies:

a: adherence to a religious opinion contrary to rightly divided Truth of Gods Word
b: denial of a revealed truth
c: an opinion or doctrine contrary to Truth
d: dissent or deviation from a dominant theory, opinion, or practice of Truth e: an opinion, doctrine, or practice contrary to the truth or to generally accepted beliefs or standard based on Gods Word.

Envyings:

a: painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage
b: an object of envious notice or feeling

Murders: the crime of unlawfully killing a person especially with malice aforethought

Drunkenness:

a: given to habitual excessive use of alcohol
b: of, relating to, or characterized by intoxication (they come from...broken homes, drunken homes - P. B. Gilliam)
c: resulting from or as if from intoxication (a drunken brawl)
d: unsteady or lurching as if from alcoholic intoxication

Revellings:

a: unrestrained merrymaking
b: wild parties
c: celebrate noisily, often indulging in drinking; engage in uproarious festivities

Effeminate:

a: a male having unsuitable feminine qualities
b: a male characterized by excessive softness or self-indulgence

Abusers of themselves with mankind:

a: homosexuality
b: lesbianism (see Romans Chapter 1)

Covetousness:

a: an envious eagerness to possess something
b: reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth (personified as one of the deadly sins)
c: extreme greed for material wealth

Revilers: spread negative information about , gossip

Extortioners:

a: the act or practice of extorting especially money or other property; especially: the offense committed by an official engaging in such practice
b: something extorted; especially: a gross overcharge

(Revelation 21:8)
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and allliars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

It is a careful thing on the part of any true believer to familiarize yourself with the things listed. Some of the less obvious are: heresies (false teachings), seditions, revellings (wild parties). The list of sin unto death is endless. Its elements for the most part appear as a good thing to the world and to those bound in deception of the worlds false solutions in the Church. And spiritually Jesus taught that if any of these are in your heart the sin has already been committed. So Grace is needed and acknowledging Truth is a must as is confessing sin in our lives to Jesus knowing in doing this one day Truth will Make You Free.

Gods Word instructs us to Examine Ourselves and see if we are in the faith as everything outside of faith is sin and there are sin that are unto death.

In Christ’s Love and Service,

Brother James Pierson, OIC Senior Minister