“All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.” 1 John 5:17 NKJV
“All unrighteousness”, “wicked actions”, “wrongdoing”, “every unrighteous action” these are some of the various translations of this verse. How do we live free of sin? First, by praying for sinning brothers and sisters. If we are praying for believers who are living in sin, then we are concerned about sin, about living righteous lives. We too need to live free of sin. How? By keeping ourselves free from sin and unrighteousness. We must know that all unrighteousness is sin. Too many people think too lightly of some sins. They rank sins, feeling that some sins are not so bad and are more acceptable to God. They feel that some sins are small; others are big; some sins are white; others are black; some sins are more permissible; others are less permissible; some sins are more acceptable; others are less acceptable. But Scripture says: “all unrighteousness is sin,” there is not a single act of unrighteousness that is not sin. There is only one sin that is ranked as a sin to death, that sin is either apostasy, denying that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, or else obstinate and persistent sin that just refuses to repent. This is the ultimate sin. But John does not list this sin to say that we can commit all the other sins and get away with them. The point is this: the way we live free of sin is to know that all unrighteousness is sin. There is not an act of unrighteousness that is not sin. No matter what we think, no matter how we may rank sin, there is no rank of sin with God. Sin is sin; unrighteousness is unrighteousness. We must repent and forsake all sin if we are to live free of sin.
PRAYER THOUGHT
Thank You Lord, when we confess our sin, You forgive us.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Lord, no matter the sin, thank You that You are faithful and forgive us our sin when we confess our sin to You, and acknowledge that we have sinned against You, not only against our brothers and sisters. AMEN
I.B.R.A. Readings
Jonah 1:1-17
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