Sin Hardens Unto Death

John 3:18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

As revealed to us in the above quoted passage of scripture, the apostle John teaches us that there is really only one sin for which the world will be condemned, which is the sin of rejecting Jesus Christ as Lord. And so knowing what sin the world will be condemned for, gives us a bit more insight into what our Lord Jesus wants to save us from when He judges us in this life, for He knows that if we continue down the path of sin unchecked, that we will eventually commit the same sin for which the world is condemned, i.e. the sin of rejecting Jesus as Lord.

Revelation 2:20-23 “Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.  (21)  And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.  (22)  Indeed, I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.  (23)  I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.”

The above quoted passage of scripture gives us a vivid account of how our Lord deals with believers that continue in sin. In the church at Thyatira there was a believer who was obviously deluded into thinking that she was called by the Lord to be a prophetess. And so because the elders of that church had allowed her to teach, she had developed a following among the saints in the church. Over time, because she had been allowed to continue teaching even though our Lord had not called her to ministry, she had started to teach more and more false doctrine, even to the point that she was now even teaching fellow believers to commit sexual immorality and eat things offered to idols. In this passage our Lord tells us that He had given her time to repent and that she had not repented, because of which the Lord would judge her and her followers with sickness and tribulation. The Lord then goes on to say that if she and her followers still refused to repent, that He would eventually judge them with physical death. So why did the Lord do all of this? He did all of these interventions to prevent these believers from ultimately committing the sin to death and thus being condemned with the world. The above example illustrates to us just how the Lord judges those who refuse to judge themselves. This is a clear example of that which the apostle Paul spoke about to the church at Corinth, for you will recall that they were also judged with weakness, sickness and eventually physical death. There are times when we see believers who become ill and we see believers who die early deaths, and we ask how it is that our Lord Jesus allowed these tragedies to come upon them. Sometimes the reason for these events taking place in their lives is because they have refused to judge themselves and so the Lord has stepped in and judged them accordingly. And so we have seen in this section that our Lord first gives us time to repent of our sin. If after a while we refuse to judge ourselves and repent of our sin, then He allows sickness and tribulation to come upon us. If we still refuse to judge ourselves and repent of our sin, even in our sickness and tribulation, then He will eventually judge us with physical death. He does all of this so that we will not reach the stage of committing the sin to death and thus being condemned with the world.

Hebrews 3:12-14 “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; (13) but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.  (14) For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.”

So how is it possible that one who has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour would ever reach a stage where they are quite willing to reject Him as Lord? In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit teaches us that sin has the effect of hardening the hearts of believers, for in this passage the Holy Spirit is warning believers about the effects of sin, He is not warning unbelievers. And so we see that when a believer’s heart has become sufficiently hardened through sin they will eventually depart from the living God. For whatever reason, not every believer who refuses to repent of their sinful practices is judged by the Lord with physical death. Sadly some are allowed by the Lord to continue on their path of sin and they eventually do commit the sin to death. It may be that these believers do not have other believers exhorting them to continue in their walk with the Lord as mentioned in the above passage of scripture, or it may be that they do not have fellow believers praying for them as John encouraged us to do, and so our Lord is unable to intervene in their lives.

Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”

We saw earlier in this section that if we see any brother in the Lord committing the type of sin that is not to death then we should pray for them. That same passage taught us that the reason we pray for them is so that the Lord will forgive them their sin and restore them to righteousness. In other words we are not to condemn them; but rather we are to pray for them. The reason these believers need our prayers is because their hearts have become hardened through sin and they have become blind to the danger of the sinful path they are walking on. And so we see that it is vital for believers to look out for one another because our eternity is at stake. In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit teaches us that those of us, who are spiritual, should restore the Christian who is sinning, in a spirit of gentleness. Sadly there are too many believers that aren’t spiritual, and instead of praying for the restoration of a sinning brother they prefer to condemn them.

Hebrews 6:4-6 “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, (5) and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, (6) if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.”

In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit describes the condition of believers who have turned their backs on Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. In other words they have reversed their decision to follow after Christ and have thus fallen away. These believers have allowed their hearts to become hardened through sin and they have become so backslidden that serving Christ no longer interests them. Because they have denied Jesus as their Lord there is no way back for them, because they have committed the sin to death thus incurring spiritual death once again and there is no more recourse for them, because it is impossible to be born-again again. (For a more detailed teaching on this subject see my series “There is Sin to Death”). And so the point is crystal clear. Once we have made the eternal decision to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour we must guard that decision by holding the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end of our time here on earth, for those of us who endure to the end will reign with Him, but those of us who choose to deny Him will be denied by Him (2 Timothy 2:12).

Michael E.B. Maher

Eternal Judgement

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