Willful Sinners Not to Inherit the Kingdom of God
by Josef Urban
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Despite what many so-called Christian leaders and preachers are teaching today, and despite what the majority of those who call themselves ‘Christians’ believe, the Bible is extremely clear that those who are living in presumptuous, willful sin and do not find genuine and lasting repentance will not inherit the Kingdom of God. This is a hard saying to many, no doubt, as this generation has been taught a form of cheap grace that seeks to water down the Word of God, lessen the demands of the New Testament commands of Christ and His Apostles, and twist the Scriptures to pervert their meaning and explain away what the Book of God says. However, grace can’t be cheapened, the Word can’t be diluted, and the Scripture can’t be twisted without it having dreadful consequences on those who partake of such condemned practices. These things always are the result of, and result in, terrible deception and delusion, which is of such a tremendous degree that it’s nothing less than damnable.
Hard words. Yes. But true words, and much needed words for this hour. It is my intent to now expose some of the lies of the enemy of men’s souls by setting forth the clear and simple teaching of Scripture in a straightforward manner. Many will not agree, not because they have received their beliefs and yea, assumptions, from God, or from the Word of God, but they will no doubt disagree because they have either been taught and indoctrinated to believe otherwise, or because they are still holding on to some choice bosom sin or sins that they refuse to repent and turn from.
So I beseech you in the name of Jesus Christ to hear His holy Word without partiality, accepting it for what it says and examining yourself in light of it’s unbending demands. As the Apostle Paul said, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” (2 Cor. 13:5). Why did he say this? Because there are many professing believers within the church that think they are saved, that think they will inherit the Kingdom of God, but in actuality, have only deluded their own selves into believing a lie. Though they attend a church, or say they believe in Jesus, they don’t have Christ truly dwelling in their hearts by faith, transforming them from glory to glory, and setting them free from sin, cleansing them from all iniquity, and giving them power over inward corruptions. “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Tit. 1:16).
Dear reader, have you the power of the living Christ dwelling within you and making you to be holy, to live and walk in holiness unto the Lord, to love the holy things of God with your heart of hearts? Or are you living in willful transgression with a defiled conscience before God, knowing that if Christ were to come at this very moment, you would be ashamed before Him at His coming? If you are living habitually in known, persistent, and willful sin, and you are not earnestly wrestling against it and seeking to subdue it with a holy violence, and you are complacent in such a state, then the Word of God is clear, that you are in grave danger of the mighty hand of a thrice-holy God. If this describes you, then you are either an unconverted rebel who is at enmity with God (despite what you profess with your mouth), or you are a lukewarm Christian. Either way, you’re in trouble, and it is my design to show you that you cannot walk with God and inherit His holy Kingdom and be saved if you are habitually practicing known, willful sin, living in sin, and not abhorring it and desperately seeking repentance and ultimately finding victory.
And, though you may be in a present state of danger, there is still hope for the weary. There is always hope for the broken and contrite, always mercy in the plan of God, and always grace ready to abound all the more wherever sin has abounded. So my goal in this article is to expound on a few points relating to our subject, namely:
I. To show that willful sinners will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
II. To call those who are living in willful sin to repentance.
III. To show that there is mercy, grace and hope in abundance for those who have fallen into sin.
It is important that we clearly define our terms at the outset as they are going to be used so that there is no confusion over semantics. So what I mean by “willful sin” is sin that is willfully committed, that is, committed with a full deliberate choice and the committal of it is driven by an act of the will. The “willful sinner” is someone who intentionally commits sin and knows they are sinning, and not only that, but persist in the committing of that sin and don’t turn from it so that they are regularly living in a state of known sin. So a willful sinner is someone who intentionally sins and keeps intentionally sinning and doesn’t find true repentance and victory over that sin(s). They are people who are deliberately sinning, abiding in a state of sin.
So now that we’ve defined what we mean by “willful sin” and “willful sinner”, may there be no confusion over these terms, and let us proceed to show that those who are such will not enter the Kingdom of God.
1. The Bible makes it clear that those who practice willful sin will not enter the Kingdom of God.
The Apostle John said in his first epistle:
“And ye know that (Jesus) was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” (1 Joh. 3:5-9)
This makes it extremely clear that those who are living in the practice of known, deliberate, willful, and continual sin are not of God, they have not been born of God, and are of the Devil. Those who continually commit and persist in sin without repentance and victory are following the evil nature of Satan and no doubt, will be punished with him by the wrath of God, which “will be revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom. 1:18).
Yet, there has been a great deal of confusion over this passage of Scripture in 1 John 3, much of which can be directly attributed to the way the King James Version translates it. While I won’t go into the details and “ins-and-outs” of the best and most proper translation of this text, I will quote an accurate translation that I believe grasps it’s true meaning the best:
“And you know that that One was revealed so that He should take away our sins, and sin is not in Him. Every one abiding in Him is not sinning; every one sinning has not seen Him, nor has come to know Him. Little children [or, [My] dear children], let no one be leading you astray [fig., be deceiving you*]; the one practicing righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. The one practicing sin is from the Devil, because the Devil [has been] sinning from [the] beginning. For this [reason] the Son of God was revealed, so that He should destroy the works of the Devil. Every one having been begotten from God is not practicing sin, because His seed abides in him, and he is not able to be sinning, because he has been begotten from God.” (1 Joh. 3:5-9, Analytical-Literal Translation).
Notice that it says, “Every one abiding in Him is not sinning; every one sinning has not seen Him, nor has come to know Him”. This translation uses the word “sinning” rather than “sin” because the Greek denotes an ongoing present tense. It is describing someone who is deliberately sinning, that is, continually, persistently, and without repentance. It is describing someone in a present and ongoing state of intentional sin. Therefore, if any one is in such a state of continually sinning in any known form and does not find repentance, it is a manifest fruit and proof that they have never truly known Christ, for the reason Christ came was to destroy the works of the Devil, the chief of which works are SIN.
It is important to state that the Apostle John is not contending for sinless perfection or trying to say that once we come to know Christ we’ll never sin again (see 1 John 1:8). Rather, he is saying just what we have stated, that the one who has been born again and is living in a true relationship with Christ as his Savior will not keep persisting in the practice of sin. Those who continue in the practice of sin prove that they are not living in vital union with, and in right-relationship with, the Savior, who came to “save His people from their sins” (Mat. 1:21).
Notice that nothing is said of what one professes to believe. No loophole or contradiction is given which says, “He that committeth sin is of the devil… unless he believes in Christ”. This is because it doesn’t matter what one professes to believe if there are manifestly corrupt and evil fruits. The fact is that if you are committing and continuing in willful sin and not repenting and ultimately finding victory, then you are not saved and you have not been begotten of God, despite what you profess to believe. You can call yourself a Christian all you want to. It doesn’t change the evil fruit you are bearing –fruit which proves you are a bad tree that is to be rejected by Christ and thrown into the fire: “Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire” (Mat. 7:17-19). The words of Christ and conditions of Scripture apply to all without exception, for there is no partiality with the justice of God, “who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work” (1 Pet. 1:17).
It is a lie of the evil one to promote the modern false doctrines of ‘cheap grace’ and ‘easy-believism’. These lies state that as long as someone believes in Christ, they are saved no matter what sort of life they live, as long as they are “trying” to live right and professing faith in Christ. Yet, the Scriptures contradict these false ideas on so many grounds that one has to barely read a portion of any book in the New Testament to learn that the Christ who saves us from God’s wrath in Hell also saves us from the present power of sin and gives us victory over its’ dominion (e.g. Rom. 6). It’s not enough to claim to believe in Christ; “the devils also believe, and tremble” (Jam. 2:19). If any one is to be saved, they must be saved through a living faith in Christ, which is not merely an intellectual assent to His truth, but is a living power of the heart that brings about total and radical transformation of life and sets free from the power of sin.
The Lord Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house forever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (Joh. 8:34-36). Hear His words carefully. The Lord Himself says that if anyone is in the present practice of sinning, then they are slaves of sin. The Greek word for “servant” literally means, “bondservant or slave”. It is not necessarily a willing servant. It is someone who is bondage and under a taskmaster, whether they like it or not. There are slaves who love their masters and there are slaves who hate their masters. And so it is with those who are slaves to sin, in a sense. Most of those who are slaves to sin love their master and take pleasure in their sin. Yet, there are also those who would rather be free from their slavery to sin; who feel tremendously guilty every time they continue in the act of sin; who hate themselves for it, and yet cannot get free no matter how hard they try or strive against it.
Now, this proves the modern theory false that is commonly promoted which says, “If you hate your sin and are striving against it, then that proves you are saved, even though you keep committing it”. The Bible doesn’t say that! Yet, this is told to many professing Christians who are in the practice of committing “sins unto death” such as hatred, lust, sexual immorality (such as viewing pornography), adultery, covetousness and a host of other works of the flesh. They are in bondage to Satan and continue to commit their sin willfully and knowingly against God. Yet afterwards, after the momentary pleasure of such a sin is gone and its bitter sting of guilt is felt and the clouds of condemnation darken their otherwise bright days, such a one hates the fact they did it –not so much because they see the enormity of their crimes against a holy God but because their feel bad and have no personal peace about the state of their souls since their conscience keeps screaming, “guilty”. But, even so, they don’t get victory over the sin. There’s no true repentance and utter committal to Christ as Lord. They do it again and again, bringing more and more condemnation on themselves. According to Jesus, they are slaves to sin, and their practice proves this. They can’t get free by their own power. And their will isn’t free, it’s bound; it’s in bondage to sin, and they need a supernatural work of grace to subdue their stubborn will which is bent in rebellion against God to make it willing to bow the knee in obedience to the commands of Christ.
And all the while they are slaves to sin and under the dominion of the devil, they are told by many preachers and teachers, “Since you say you believe in Christ and hate your sin and are striving against it, then that proves you are saved”. But again, the Bible doesn’t necessarily say that. And on top of this, who is to say that such a one honestly hates their sin? If they truly hated it, if they truly abhorred it, and were disgusted with it, and despised it in their hearts, would they not have at least resisted to the point of forsaking even their own lives to gain the victory? “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin” (Heb. 12:4). Would they not have found the truth of the Scripture, the promise of God, which says that no temptation can overtake us that God won’t give us power to overcome (see 1 Cor. 10:13)? By comforting such people in the practice of their sin all the while they are slaves to it and in bondage to evil, many modern preachers and teachers are making the Word of God of none effect by ignoring such promises to have victory over sin, they are giving false assurance to those who are still “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1) by convincing them they are saved when they aren’t, and they are limiting the glorious power of the Gospel which promises to deliver the oppressed and set the captive free from the power of sin (see 1 Pet. 2:24).
The Lord Jesus goes on to say, “The slave doesn’t abide in the house forever, but the Son abides forever”. No sinner has a right, by merit, to abide in the house of God. All men are by nature the children of wrath, by nature are slaves of sin, and as they are in their natural state, they are slaves which are not heirs of the house of God, and will not inherit the Kingdom to come. The slaves have no rights in the household of faith, and have no real relationship with the Master of the house, and will be thrust out of the house in the end into the outer darkness. The only One who is the rightful heir, who deserves the inheritance of the house and Kingdom, and has all authority in Heaven and earth, is the Son of God. And it is His right to set those slaves free which are under His authority. Christ shall ever remain in the house of God since He is deserving of such both by merit and by virtue, and He is the only One that the slave of sin can rightfully look to in the hope of being set free.
And here is the word of hope to all those who are slaves of sin: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed”. Even if you are a slave to sin, there is a faithful Son of the house who was born directly from the Father of the household Himself. He alone is the rightful heir of the house and by right and merit, shall abide in the house forever. This faithful Son was never a slave; He was always faithful to the Father of the house. And it is He Himself, the Lord of the house, Jesus Christ, who can choose to liberate the slave and adopt him into the family as a son. He has the power to set free from the cruel bondage of sin. And this indeed is a word of hope to all! Even if you are the most despicable, filthy, abominable and undeserving slave of sin that ever walked the face of the earth, the Son Himself has the power to set you free! And not only does He have the power to, but He is also willing to, if you will truly humble yourself before Him, confess your utter helplessness and your need, and confess your wretched state before Him, and call upon Him with a desperate faith, trusting in Him and His mighty power to deliver you and save you, then no doubt, He will do all that and even more! It is His great desire to “save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). So if you are a slave of sin, don’t despair dear soul, for there is hope yet for the weary!
Even so, the truth stands clear: those who are currently living in the practice of willful sin will not inherit the Kingdom of God:
“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” (Gal. 5:19-21).
“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” (1 Cor. 6:9-10).
“For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God” (Eph. 5:5).
Despite the clarity of the Holy Scriptures, multitudes of professing believers today that are bound by such sins as those listed here, and other sins of the like, are told that since they believe in Jesus they will be saved. Men bound by lust and pornography (which is “fornication” and “adultery” according to the Scriptures, Mat. 5:27), and women bound by sins such as jealousy, bitterness, hatred and slander, and many other sins, are repeatedly given a false assurance of salvation and told the age old lie that the Devil started propagating at the very beginning: “Ye shall not surely die” by sinning against God (Gen. 3:4). Indeed, that old crafty serpent has beguiled and deluded many today by thinking that they can continue to sin against a most holy God and not incur the death penalty of the wrath of God against sin. “Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience” (Eph. 5:6).
Yet the Lord Jesus made it clear that not everyone who claims to believe in Him and call Him “Lord” are actually saved when He said: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Mat. 7:21-23). It’s not enough just to say you believe. It’s not enough to call Him your Lord. It’s not enough to have faith for miracles, to prophesy, and to cast out demons. It’s not even enough to do many wonderful works in His name. You can do all this and still be lost and on the way to Hell. Why? He gives the answer: Such people are “workers of iniquity”. These are people who are living in willful sin. The word ‘iniquity’ means ‘lawlessness’, that is, living in violation of known law or light as if that law didn’t exist. A worker of iniquity is someone who is living in open rebellion against God on any major or significant point of His revealed will. If your life is not in general conformity to the will of God as revealed by the combined testimony of the Scriptures, the Spirit, and your own conscience, and you are living habitually in known violation of His will and are not repenting, then you have very much reason to fear that you may indeed be a worker of iniquity. It is a serious thing to live in rebellion against God on any point of His revealed will.
In these last days of deception and apostasy, many false teachers have crept into the Church and are perverting the grace of God into a license to sin. As Jude said: “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jud. 1:3-4). While it is much more pleasant to talk of and meditate on the great and good things of salvation, and admonish one another with words of hope and encouragement, just as Jude originally wanted to write “of the common salvation”, when the Church is in serious error or peril we are nothing but cowards if we don’t stand up against such soul-damning ideologies and earnestly contend for the truth! How can we dare say that we love and are passionate about the truth if we don’t hate and aren’t passionate against that which perverts the truth? How can we say we love Jesus if we permit and promote that which is blatantly against everything He stands for?
The Book of God commands us to “earnestly contend”, that is, to struggle, fight, or wrestle for, the truth of the faith which was once for all given to us in the Word. And the chief error in this context that Jude was contending against was the turning of God’s grace into lasciviousness. He was writing against false teachers who were saying things like, “We’re not under law, we’re under grace. Those who are living in sin aren’t going to be lost as long as they believe. Grace pardons all our sin. You won’t go to Hell for living in sin as long as you are a believer.” And their lies go on and on. They take some droplets of poisonous lies and mix them with a gallon of truth, and therein is the deception. These false teachers, Jude said, crept into the Church unaware, that is, without being recognized for what they really were: deceivers. He goes on to say that they deny the Lord Jesus Christ. They do this not by out rightly saying, “I deny the Lord Jesus”. That would be obvious and they wouldn’t be able to creep in unaware if they did that. Instead, they say they believe in Jesus, but deny Him with their false teachings. They deny the LORD Jesus Christ by teaching that it’s not necessary to obey Him as Lord and Master in order to be saved. They strip the King of His rightful Lordship, His right to be obeyed, from the midst of the Church and give the impression in their teachings that it’s not such a serious and dreadful thing to sin against God. Their message is a message of love and grace but has no mention of repentance and holy living. It’s a false grace “gospel” that teaches forgiveness without repentance and salvation without holiness.
“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (2 Tim. 2:19). If you are naming the name of Christ but haven’t departed from iniquity then you are nothing less than a hypocrite in imminent danger of the wrath of God. This is because the Jesus who came to purchase the forgiveness for our sins also came to save us from those sins: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Tit. 2:11-14). If the salvation of Christ hasn’t saved you from the yoke of the bondage of sin, from being dominated by your fleshly lusts and carnal desires, then it hasn’t saved your soul either. If you are to be saved eternally from the penalty of sin, then you must be saved presently from the power of sin. It’s foolish for any one to think that they can be saved from death and Hell, which is the penalty of sin, while continuing to yield to fleshly lusts and to be under the control of the power of sin.
God wants a peculiar and holy people for His name’s sake. “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). God demands that we have holiness now if we are to have Heaven hereafter. If you don’t have holiness in your life then you don’t have God in your life, for God is holy, and not just holy, but thrice holy (Isa. 6:3). Indeed it is Christ and faith in Christ that makes us holy, not our works. Your own works can never make you holy. Christ is our sanctification (1 Cor. 1:30). But when you have Christ you have holiness. If you don’t have holiness then that’s proof that you don’t have Christ. You see, holiness is the fruit of our union with Christ, not the root. Grace through faith in Christ alone is the root. But if the root is there, and the tree is indeed a good one, then it will bring forth the good fruit of holiness in our lives. And because this is always the case with those who are in Christ, we can say with certainty that without holiness no man shall be saved, because the one who doesn’t have holiness doesn’t have Christ, and the one who doesn’t have Christ doesn’t have salvation. So we can examine our own lives and ask ourselves, “Have I received of the Lord that holiness which comes from Christ, which makes my life peculiar in that I live separate from sin and devoted to the things of God?” And if not, then there’s a major problem and needs to be some serious repentance.
“Wait a minute”, say some, “it’s impossible to be sinless… only Jesus was perfect… we’re just sinners saved by grace…” –and so the common excuses go. But we haven’t said a word in favor of the false doctrines of sinless perfection. And, I agree that it’s not attainable in this life to be completely and actually sinless and perfect in present standing before God while in these fallen earthly bodies. But we haven’t even hinted that such a thing is possible. I am saying that it’s possible to walk before God with a pure conscience, completely clean, with no known and intentional sin that is continually committed before Him. I am saying that Jesus gives us the power to get the victory and dominion over all known, intentional sin in our lives. And not only am I saying that this is possible, but that it’s essential to living the victorious Christian life and it’s essential to having true assurance of salvation before God and walking with God.
It is important to understand the difference between willful (intentional) and un-willful (ignorant) sin. While the Bible commands us to live free from willful sin, and to hate it, despise it, loathe it, detest it, rebuke it, abhor it, mortify it, and flee from it, and not to dare tolerate it or wink at it in the least, the Bible also makes it clear that no man can say they are completely free from ignorant sin (Psa. 19:12, 1 Cor. 4:4-5). The fact that it is ignorant and un-willful means that one doesn’t know it is there. And because we still live in the flesh, though we don’t walk after the flesh, the fact that we still live in it while in this present age means that we are in a constant war against the law of sin which is in our members (Rom. 7:23). The law of sin is still there as long as we are in this flesh until we receive our glorified bodies (Rom. 8:23). This indwelling law of sin which results in impure motives, carnal desires, unsanctified thoughts, and so on from time to time, ever remains with the Christian. But the Christian will despise these things and they will not gain dominion over him or bring him into bondage, because they will be constantly crucified (Rom. 6:6) and he will walk in resurrection power over such things in habitual holiness and righteousness (Rom. 6:12-23). The Christian will never walk in regular, habitual defeat to such things since Christ has set him free. And though the Christian is fully aware of this law of sin which is present with him, he is also aware of a powerful disposition of grace working within his heart which causes him to hate and loathe and mortify and trample down such indwelling sin by the power of God.
Now we must understand that this law of sin that is a part of our fallen flesh will cause all kinds of infirmities, mistakes, imperfections, and ignorant and un-willful sins, but we must not confuse these blemishes in our character on behalf of sin entering the world with willful sin. They shouldn’t be confused. The flesh is always with us in this world. God can never use our flesh because of its corruption. He has no plan for pampering it up and making it pretty and usable. His only method is to kill it and put it out of the way. God is Spirit and He only uses spirit. He no longer uses flesh. We can’t jump out of our flesh and walk around as spirits completely free from its corruption. What we can do though is take up our cross daily and crucify the flesh and deny it every day. But it’s important to understand this so that we don’t fall into condemnation on behalf of our flesh, confusing the pull of sin in the flesh with willful sin. Some genuine believers do this and condemn themselves the moment they are tempted or think an impure thought. Temptation or an impure thought for a split second (that is immediately brought into captivity to obedience to Christ, 2 Cor. 10:5) is not willful sin. It doesn’t in itself cut you off from God. It’s a fiery dart of the wicked one that needs to be quenched with the shield of faith (Eph. 6:16). Such temptations or impure thoughts don’t become willful sin until they are yielded to and obeyed.
Willful sin, on the other hand, must be deliberately committed. The one doing it has to know it is a sin for it to be willful. And the Bible makes it clear that it is not always necessarily just one willful sin but it is the repeated practice of willful sin that proves that one has not been born of God. This is because where there is a broken and contrite heart and a desire for repentance there is always still hope. But if someone is committing willful sin and continuing in the practice of it, that shows that they don’t desire repentance, otherwise they wouldn’t continue in the practice of such sin, and thus is therefore proof that they have not been born of God.
And so we make the necessary distinction between willful and un-willful sin. In fact, the Law of God itself also distinguished between willful and un-willful (ignorant) sin, and deals different penalties for each. There was always mercy for those who stumbled into sin and sinned ignorantly, without knowing what they were doing was really sin:
“And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the LORD, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him” (Num. 15:27-28).
Those who thus sinned ignorantly were allowed to make an offering for their sin and be forgiven. The Lord is compassionate and merciful and understands our genuine mistakes and impossibilities. (Notice however that even though it was done in ignorance, it was still sin, and required atonement by the shedding of blood to be made. We need the blood of Christ every day, not only to cover our past sins, not only to cover our known transgressions, but also to cleanse us of hidden faults that have not been brought to our knowledge.)
However, the Law distinguished between ignorant sin, which it dealt with mercifully, and presumptuous (willful) sin, which it dealt with harshly:
“But the soul that doeth aught presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him” (Num. 15:30-31). The Amplified version is even more clear: “But the person who does anything [wrong] willfully and openly, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one reproaches, reviles, and blasphemes the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from among his people [that the atonement made for them may not include him]. Because he has despised and rejected the word of the Lord, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.”
So if someone in Israel were to sin deliberately, willfully, intentionally, and continually, God commanded that they be put to death and cut off. The reason is that such a person “despised the word of the Lord and hath broken His commandment”. Those who are willful sinners despise the Word of God that commands us to live blamelessly, to walk in holiness, and to do righteousness and truth. They can profess faith in Christ and talk about how they love the Word of God all they want to, but if they are living in willful sin, they despise the Word in their hearts and have made up their minds to be disobedient. Such cannot expect to abide in a present state of mercy while continuing in their sin. They can only expect that in their current state they are cut off from God and worthy of facing His just judgment of wrath.
And thus we have shown that willful sinners will certainly not enter the Kingdom of God unless they repent.
In fact, it would be inconsistent with the atmosphere of the coming Kingdom of God if He were to let willful sinners enter in. The Kingdom of God is a holy place. It says of the holy city, the New Jerusalem, which comes down from God out of Heaven, that no unholy thing shall enter in. “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life” (Rev. 21:27). Heaven being the perfection of beauty, the dwelling place of the most holy God, populated by holy angels which never knew sin, and holy saints that “have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 7:14), and an atmosphere of perfect holiness –it is a place of such moral perfection that only those who have been changed by the power of God and given a new nature and holiness and longing after God will enjoy the fellowship of such a place. Sinners can’t enjoy such holiness and such an atmosphere and company. They would hate it. What fellowship does a willful sinner have with angels, apostles, prophets, and the King of Glory Himself? The sinner does not delight in such fellowship; he hates it and shuns it, loving darkness rather than light.
And not only would it be inconsistent with the atmosphere of the Kingdom of God to let willful sinners into His holy and eternal Kingdom, but it would also be at odds with the nature and character of God Himself. Indeed, God is holy, thrice holy, perfectly holy, and not only that, but infinitely holy, with no limit to the depth and greatness of His holiness. A person who doesn’t delight in “walking in the light as He is in the light” here and now certainly wouldn’t delight in abiding in the fullness of that eternal light and splendor of infinite holiness in the Kingdom to come –it would be at odds with everything he is accustomed to. Being one who is at enmity with God on behalf of his willful sin and carnal mind (Rom. 8:7) such a one would not delight in the fellowship of the God who he is at enmity with. The enmity has to be removed, and that by saving faith in Christ, by the cleansing of His blood and sanctification of the Spirit through belief and love of the truth, and the willful sinner must be cleansed and given a new nature that delights in the holy things of God (Eze. 36:25-27).
And not only would it be inconsistent with the atmosphere of the Eternal Kingdom, and contrary to the very nature and character of God Himself to let willful sinners therein, but it would also be contradictory to the work of the Cross. The Lord Jesus died to “save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15) –not IN their sins but “FROM their sins” (Mat. 1:21). He didn’t just die on the Cross only to save us from God’s wrath and Hell. He died to save us from our sins. In saving us from our sins, He saves us from Hell, since Hell is the consequence of sin. Therefore, if one hasn’t been saved from his sins, then he hasn’t been saved from wrath and Hell. Such would be a contradiction in the work of the Cross. And yet multitudes of deceived souls think that they are saved from Hell who have not been saved from their sins; who are still continuing to sin against God knowingly, persistently, habitually. They think they’re justified without being sanctified. But if the work of sanctification hasn’t taken place in one’s life, then the work of Christ hasn’t taken place in their life, for Jesus is “made unto us sanctification” (1 Cor. 1:30). There is a victory in the Cross –a victory over sin, a victory over the works of evil, and we must enter in to that victory if we are to be finally saved in the end.
Have you experienced that victory in your life? Have you been set free from the dominion of sin? Have you been made a partaker of the life of His life, of His righteousness and holiness? Have you been given the victory over the works of the devil, which Christ came to destroy? Are you walking with a clean conscience in the sight of God, in continual communion with Christ, walking habitually in the Holy Spirit, and being led into “the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake” (Psa. 23:3)? Don’t let the devil deceive you! Either you are walking with God or you are walking with Satan! You can’t serve two masters! The Scriptures make it clear:
2. Willful and habitual sinners must repent and turn to God or else they will perish.
Jesus has expressly said that unless we repent, we will perish (Luke 13:3, 5). There is no other way to the path of life. Salvation and blessing from God always starts with genuine, sincere, heartfelt repentance. If you are a willful and habitual sinner then the first thing you need to do is recognize your state before God. Then, you need to confess it all and repent. Renounce all sin from the depths of your heart, and pray with a mighty fervency that God would grant you the victory through the blood of His Son and give you of His supply of grace to overcome the wicked one and to give you and empower you with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
It is essential not to downplay sin into being less serious than it really is –willful sin is always serious. Christ came to set us free from it. Yet, even so, there are a great many professing believers in the modern church who refuse to acknowledge their transgressions to God in genuine humility and repentance with an earnest desire to change. They refuse to confess their sins; they refuse to confess their utter inability to help themselves, their lack of love for God, their complacency and their blindness. And because they refuse to truly humble themselves before the mighty hand of God, and to seek with a holy desperation until the blessing comes, they remain in bondage to sin.
Dear soul, don’t let this be the case with you! Don’t hold on to any choice, bosom sins! Whatever you are struggling with, whatever is holding you in bondage, whatever is standing between you and God, put it away! Cry out to God! Grab hold of His leg and don’t let go till He sets you free from the dominion of sin and gives you the blessing of His Spirit!
Think; oh think deeply, of the exceeding sinfulness of sin! Think about how radically God is opposed to such sin in the core essence of His Being! Think about how God detests sin and can’t even behold the sight of iniquity (Hab. 1:13)! Think about how it grieves Him, how it reproaches His glory, how it ruins your Christian witness to the world! Think about how it separates you from God!
Indeed, God demonstrated His hatred of sin by casting Satan out of Heaven, along with a third of the heavenly hosts (Isa. 14:12, Rev. 12:9). God would not tolerate sin and pride to dwell in His heavenly abode with Him. He utterly cursed and removed all sin from His dwelling because He hates it.
We also see God’s hatred of sin in the flood of Noah. The earth was so wicked, so given over to sin, and so utterly reprobated, that God was grieved that He made man and pleased Himself by destroying all men from the face of the earth except righteous Noah and his family. God wiped out all men from the earth except eight persons! What a fearful and mighty demonstration of His holiness and His wrath against sin!
Again, we see God’s hatred of sin in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The sin of this place came up to God and He could bear its wickedness no longer. He demonstrated His righteous judgment and anger against sin by wiping these cities out with fire and brimstone from Heaven. He destroyed everyone in these cities, except just Lot and his family. What an example to the willful sinner who is even now in Satan’s grip, bound by sin!
“For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly.” (2 Pet. 2:4-6).
Dear willful, habitual sinner: You must come to repentance, before God can no longer bear the sight of your iniquity and is moved to cut you off from the face of the earth! Your excuses don’t prevail against the justice of God, who has declared in His Word that the soul that sins shall die. Confess your helpless state before God, repent, surrender to Christ with a complete submission to His supreme Lordship, and seek the face of God until He stretches forth His mighty hand of power and works out a swift deliverance on your behalf, pardoning your great guilt and granting you new life from above!
3. There is mercy, grace, and hope in abundance to those who have fallen into sin.
It is a life or death situation for a soul who is living in a habitual state of willful sin. He must repent or he will perish. Yet this is no reason to despair. Instead, it is reason to look to Christ in hope! There is always abundance in the treasure house of God’s mercy to give to the penitent sinner who desires to serve the Lord a share of the unfathomable riches of grace. God is always willing to freely forgive the broken and penitent and save them if they are genuinely seeking to turn from their own ways and serve Him as the supreme Sovereign of all and Ruler of their lives.
Nineveh was an extremely wicked city (Jon. 1:2). God could bear its wickedness no longer and was on the verge of utterly destroying it. Yet, when Jonah preached the word of the Lord, and told them of the impending judgment of God for their wickedness, they repented in sackcloth and ashes, in humility and in the fear of God. And the Bible says, “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened” (Jon. 3:10 NIV). Even for such a wicked city God was still willing to show forgiveness and mercy. And this was a heathen, Gentile city back in the days of the Old Covenant when only Israel was His chosen people! How much more will God show any sinner mercy now that we are under the New Covenant, purchased by the precious blood of Christ, which promises to forgive all who truly repent and believe the Gospel! How much more will God wipe away every sin and all the shame that goes with it now that the Messiah Himself has paid the penalty in full and has Himself proclaimed the opportunity for our repentance for the remission of all our sins!
Oh yes, there is mercy with God! He is willing, and not only willing, but desiring, to show mercy to sinners. There is joy in Heaven among the angels of God when a single sinner repents (Luk. 15:10)! This shows us the great desire of God in forgiving sinners! Let us not doubt His will, rather let us trust Him, for He is faithful and is ever true to His promises!
Yet frequently, when a precious soul who believes in Christ falls into the trap of sin, and desires to get out, he finds that there is a power holding him down that he cannot free himself from. Sin has its deadly grip and won’t let go. No amount of struggle or effort can break its grip. The more it is wrestled against, the more he finds that he is in terrible bondage and is unable to get free. And realizing this, after much struggle, he begins to despair. Doubt comes in, and he begins to wonder if God will ever deliver him from such sin. Under condemnation, and under the despair of doubt, he begins to drift further and further away from God, wondering if there is even hope for him any more. Sometimes he will even give up, and wonder if he will ever be able to get free from the dominion of such sin.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ offers hope to such cases where there seems to be no hope. Christ died to save sinners, to set them free, to purchase the forgiveness of sins, and to impart new life and power and enable the victory to live a holy life by faith in God. If you are such a case, if you are struggling with some sort of sin and you desire to be free, and you find that the more you struggle against it the more you find that it has control of you, then don’t despair –rather put your hope in Christ, for He will deliver you if you will but trust Him, yield to Him, surrender to Him, cease from your own works and enter into His rest by faith. He will give you the victory over such sin not by you striving hard enough to free yourself, not by you doing enough good works to see that you stop yielding to that sin in your own power, but He will give the deliverance solely on the basis of free grace. It’s the grace of God that delivers us from sin: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:14).
One of the chief differences between Law and Grace is this: The Law gives us a holy commandment and threatens us with punishment if we transgress it, yet it offers us no power to obey it. It’s written on tablets of stone, and is an external command that is imposed upon us contrary to our nature. It is therefore impossible to obey and impossible to cease from sin by the Law (Rom. 3:20, 7:14). But Grace not only gives us a holy commandment, but offers us mercy and forgiveness if we transgress it, and not only does it give us a commandment, but it offers us the power to obey it (Eph. 2:8-10, Tit. 2:11-12). Grace writes the commandments of the Lord not on external tablets of stone, but on the fleshly tablets of our heart, therefore producing in us holy longings and desires to obey the Lord, birthing within us a heart to do His will and a delight in His commandments (Jer. 31:33-34, 2 Cor. 3).
Therefore, under the Law, we are only in bondage to sin. When we are striving according to our own abilities, our own works, our own efforts to cease from sin, we will never get free. The best we can do is cease from the outward act of committing the sin, but we can never cleanse our own hearts from the inward desires to yield to that sin. The best we can do is clean the outside of the cup, but we can never in our own abilities and our own power cleanse the inside of the cup from inward corruptions. The lust for such sin will always remain strong within our heart as long as we are under the Law, under a mindset of works and striving according to the flesh. We can try and try to cease from such sin, knowing that the commands of God are against it, yet we can’t stop no matter how hard we resist, no matter how much willpower we put forth.
Yet, under grace, we are promised the deliverance, for where the Law issues a command and threatens condemnation and offers no inward power to obey, Grace enables the ability to obey God and offers mercy in abundance and cleanses us inwardly and imparts to us a new nature that is supernaturally empowered to obey God. When we enter into the fullness of Grace, we are cleansed inwardly from the power of sin and given a new heart and new spirit that is responsive and obedient to God (Eze. 36:25-27). Thus, Grace gives us new hope and new life and a victory over willful sin where the Law can’t. Grace gives us a power to get the victory over all willful sin, but it only comes into effectual operation where our own works have come to an end.
And the secret of entering in to this victory and being set free from sin is so simple that it’s a stumbling block to multitudes. We can’t get free from sin by trying harder to resist it or by striving with all our might to overcome it. Those who try to do this quickly find that sin is much stronger than they. But the way to obtain the victory is simply to cease from striving, tocease from our own willpower and works and abilities to resist, and to enter into the rest of faith. “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his” (Heb. 4:10). The victory is not something that we have to work for and achieve –the victory is already won. Christ has conquered sin. We become partakers of His victory not by earning it, but by receiving the benefits of that victory solely on the basis of faith. We believe God, and it is imputed to us for righteousness. This is true both with the work of justification (being judicially declared righteous by God) and with the work of present sanctification (being actually cleansed from sin here and now). We don’t obtain holiness by trying harder and harder to obey God, and by trying harder and harder in our own abilities to cease from sin –we receive holiness as a gift of God’s grace when we believe in Christ and trust Him with all our heart. When we truly believe in His finished work with a living faith and become partakers of it, God takes of the victory of Christ over sin and He freely gives it to us.
If you are genuinely seeking to serve God, and have trusted in Him to save you, yet you find yourself struggling with a certain sin and can’t get victory, you need to come out from striving in your own strength and enter into the finished work of Christ who already wrought out the victory on your behalf. “It is finished” (Joh. 19:30). The victory is not yet to be won, it is not something that you are going to receive in the future –if you are thinking like that then you will never get it. It has to be understood that the victory is already won; the Son of God has already triumphed over all the powers of darkness, and you do not yet have to receive it in the future, you have to receive it right now in the present. The Son of God has already purchased your victory in full so don’t wait any longer to receive it. Simple drop down on your knees and confess whatever your sin is to God, and receive His love and grace and mercy and victory freely by trusting in Christ’s finished work. It’s as simple as believing. “Only believe”, and what is dead may be given new life (Mar. 5:36-42). “All things are possible”, not to him who strives and works with all his might, but “to him who believes” (Mar. 9:23).
Christ is not waiting for some supposed time in the future to deliver you, for He has already made full provision for your deliverance on the Cross. Trust Him, surrender to Him, submit to Him, yield to Him, believe in Him, and you will instantly receive a mighty victory that will overcome sin (1 Joh. 5:18) and overcome the world (1 Joh. 4:4, 5:4). This is a promise from a faithful God who cannot lie, who does not take pleasure in seeing people continue in sin, but in showing mercy and working deliverance (Ex. 34:6-7). God is angry at sin, yes, but God is not so angry with you that He is not willing to forgive you, for He delights much more in mercy than He does in wrath, for “mercy rejoices against judgment” (Jam. 2:13). The whole work of Christ on the Cross shows us the magnificent mercy of God towards us –rather than destroying us in wrath, He sent us His only begotten Son to take the wrath in our place. This proves that “God is love”, and that He delights in giving us the victory over sin and enabling us to serve Him without hindrance or fear of failing.
May we never believe the lies of the Devil that say that since we sinned, since we stumbled, that since we fell since being a believer, that God won’t forgive us any more! We may have a hard time believing that God will forgive us, but if we will only understand that if we will only believe, then God will freely forgive and cleanse us from all our iniquities and restore us to a beautiful relationship with Himself. God is a compassionate Father who loves His children with a love that can’t be comprehended by the natural mind. We can’t understand it in our own capacities. Our fallen, finite minds can’t grasp the depths of His love. But He will pour it forth upon us freely by the Holy Spirit, “because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Rom. 5:5).
Look to the Cross: unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, believe in the victory of the Lamb who has prevailed, and receive His undeserved, overflowing, boundless love now that will wash away all your sin and give you new hope and life and a mighty knowledge of God! Stop resisting His mighty hand of mercy! Receive God’s forgiveness that was purchased for you by the precious blood of Christ! Receive the love He showed you at Calvary, and let that love restore you to a living relationship with God. And once you understand and deeply experience His love, and forgiveness and cleansing power of the blood, you will delight in walking in holiness, in ceasing from sin, in walking with God. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1 Joh. 5:3).
