Let's talk about deliberate sinning!

Matthew 5: 48. You therefore be perfect as your Father in heaven who is perfect.

(Ref: Genesis 17:1; 1 Kings 8:61; Psalm 101:2-6)

The crux of this article is short and simple: Yeshua offered Himself as the final sin offering, but He did not die so we could go on deliberately sinning. The Bible makes it clear that there is no sacrifice for the continuous intentional sins of believers.

Many people insist that Grace covers all sins. "But my Christian brother John is such a good guy. Okay, he committed adultery a couple of times, but he's repented and quit since then!" Well, good for John! Let's hope and pray YHWH (Yahweh) has forgiven him. He forgives whomever He pleases because He knows our hearts.

But we need to remember also that YHWH is clear that those who know His Torah are NOT to engage in deliberate sinning and that there is no sin sacrifice for continued, deliberate sinning....so the "good guy" John may have jeopardized his eternal life by "committing adultery" - a deliberate act that took some thinking before doing.

Planning to have an extra-marital affair is not a "mistake" nor "unintentional" sin, such as accidentally letting a cussword slip while angry!

See Romans 1:18-32!

Numbers 15: 30 "'But an individual who does something wrong intentionally, whether a citizen or a foreigner, is blaspheming ADONAI. That person will be cut off from his people.

Hebrews 6: 4. But they who have once descended to immersion and have tasted the gift from heaven and have received the Ruach haKodesh 5. and have tasted the good Word of Elohim and the power of the world to come, 6. cannot again sin and a second time be renewed to repentance; or a second time execute him on a stake and insult the Son of Elohim. 7. For the earth that drinks the rain which comes often upon it and produces the herb that is of use to those for whom it is cultivated, receives a blessing from Elohim. 8. But if it should put forth thorns and briers, it would be discarded and be approaching closely to a curse, and its end would be a conflagration. (AENT)

NOTE: Huge contrast between Aramaic and Greek. The Greek reads: "once having been enlightened..." This "enlightening" seems logical until we look at Aramaic: "But they who have once descended to immersion..." The difference is acute, since baptism is clearly a subject being introduced just two verses earlier. The reason for the Greek redaction to "enlightenment" may well have been due to early Gnostic influence that stressed Mashiyach's knowledge over his actual power and incarnation of Deity. See also Hebrews 10:32.

Hebrews 10: 26 For if we deliberately continue to sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but only the terrifying prospect of Judgment, or raging fire that will consume the enemies.

The above Scripture is not referring to those unclean bondages that dwell in our flesh but to the conscious choices believers make. It refers not to our unintentional sins but to those we pursue knowingly and willingly.

2 Peter 2: 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for a person is slave to whatever has defeated him. 20 Indeed, if they have once escaped the pollutions of the world through knowing our Lord and Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah, and then have again become entangled and defeated by them, their latter condition has become worse than their former. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the Way of righteousness than, fully knowing, to turn from the holy command delivered to them.

How many of today's believers behave in a way they know is sinful and yet they go ahead and do what they feel like doing, anyway? That's because they mistakenly think Divine grace covers intentional sin. That is a huge misconception! Divine grace has made wonderful provision for unintentional sin. But there is no provision for intentional sin. The Bible tells us so.

Deliberate, premeditated sin is willful disobedience and rebellion against ELOHIM. It results in severe punishment or even loss of our salvation.

Leviticus 26: 23 If, in spite of all this, you refuse my correction and still go against me; then I too will go against you; and I, yes I, will strike you seven times over for your sins.

1 Corinthians 6: 9. Or don't you know, that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of Elohim?* Make no mistake! Neither sexual sinners, nor idol-worshippers, nor adulterers, nor the corrupt, nor men who lay down with other men, 10. Nor the oppressors, nor thieves, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, will inherit the Kingdom of Elohim. (AENT)

FOOTNOTE: Compare this to Matthew 5:17-20, where we are told that breaking the least commandment of Torah and teaching others to do the same makes a person "least in the kingdom" but they still get in. Y'shua implies that those with more serious sins won't make it in: "Depart from me, workers of iniquity, I never knew you"; but here, Rav Shaul gives a more specific list of what will keep them out.

1 Corinthians 6: 17. But he that joins himself to our Master (Y'shua), is with him one spirit. 18. Flee from sexual sin. For every (other) sin which a man commits, is external to his body; but he that commits sexual sin, sins against his own body. (AENT)

NOTE Sexual sin goes deeper than the body - because the Image of Elohim is both male and female (B'resheet/Gen. 1:27)... and when violating someone sexually, we are distorting that Image and basically spurning the One who created male and female according to His own Image! But the other point is also that a sexual sinner brings sin upon himself rather than his partner, and vice versa, unless rape or abuse is involved.

It is not sin per se that causes a person who professes to be a believer to be eternally estranged from YHWH but, rather, it is our surrender to sin which causes our faith and faithfulness to dim or completely die out. We flirt with spiritual disaster if we - by our thoughts, words, and conduct - deny Messiah, reject grace, spurn redemption, and push away the Holy Spirit.

Under the Old Covenant, YHWH put to death people who willingly disobeyed His commands or offered "strange fire" (Lev. 10:1-2). There was no atonement for intentional sin - and there still isn't. All of the sin offerings of the Levitical Law were for unintentional sin.

Case in point, Numbers 15:32-35 tells us: While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, and they kept him in custody because it was not clear what should be done to him. Then YHWH said to Moses, "The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp".

The man who sinned willingly was not deceived in any way. He was not driven by uncontrollable impulses. He simply decided to ignore what God had said about the Sabbath. His reward was death.

Leviticus 4: 27 If an individual among the people commits a sin inadvertently, doing something against any of the mitzvot of ADONAI concerning things which should not be done, he is guilty.

Unintentional Sin

A sin can be unintentional when an individual is caught off guard and yields to the temptation to lust or anger, or when the person is not aware of YHWH's commandments.

If the Holy Spirit points out a sin, we are to immediately confess it, denounce it as unworthy of the Kingdom of YHWH, renounce it and have nothing more to do with it, and call on YHWH for the strength to keep us from repeating it.

With the one sin offering in Yeshua HaMashiyach, mankind has been absolved for eternity as far as the guilt of sin and the power of sin are concerned. The catch is, man has to walk this out in the daily conflict as the Holy Spirit enables him to overcome sinful urges. As he continues to obey God strictly, the blood of atonement keeps on cleansing him.

As we can see, deliberate sinning has tragic results. But, what about believers who knowingly, willfully disobey YHWH, and then repent. Can they be saved from destruction?

Yes! God will make it possible for them to enter the new age of righteousness only if they will yield and return to Him!

Deuteronomy 7: 9 From this you can know that ADONAI your God is indeed God, the faithful God, who keeps his covenant and extends grace to those who love him and observe his mitzvot, to a thousand generations. 10 But he repays those who hate him to their face and destroys them. He will not be slow to deal with someone who hates him; he will repay him to his face.

If, after having been chastened a sinner continues in his rebellious ways, there will eventually be no turning back; he will be considered an enemy of God and thrown into the Lake of Fire to spend eternity with Satan.

Yeshua said:

Revelation 3: 16 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.

He loves us, but no sin is acceptable to Him, no matter how great or small. Like a loving parent, He will allow us to learn from our mistakes and forgive, but there comes a time when He will "draw the line" if we continue to rebel.

Isaiah 66: 24 "As they leave, they will look on the corpses of the people who rebelled against me. For their worm will never die, and their fire will never be quenched; but they will be abhorrent to all humanity.

Hebrews 10: 29 Think how much worse will be the punishment deserved by someone who has trampled underfoot the Son of God; who has treated as something common the blood of the covenant which made him holy; and who has insulted the Spirit, giver of God's grace! 30 For the One we know is the One who said, "Vengeance is my responsibility; I will repay," and then said, "ADONAI will judge his people." 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God

Many pastors around the world are of the opinion that verses such as the above don't apply to Christians because they are "saved by grace." Big mistake! The notion that a person can do whatever he wants after professing faith in Yeshua and not get into the most serious spiritual trouble is a dangerous and an unbiblical one! God has not changed; He loved us enough to give us a final sin offering because man could never "get right" with God. Yeshua was that final sin offering - but He did not come to abolish Torah (God's original teaching and instruction), or to sacrifice Himself for intentional, willful, ongoing sin....

Matthew 5: 17 Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah - not until everything that must happen has happened.

Has everything happened that must happen? Have heaven and earth passed away yet? If not, then Yeshua never "nailed it to the cross" as many in the church have misunderstood (see Book of Romans). He gave us a chance at eternal life; not the permission to break any of His commandments or to do whatever we please.

So, what can I do to stop the sinning
once I've accepted the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and His Messiah?

The bottom line is, if one claims to be a believer and yet continues deliberate and purposeful sinning, chances are good that they were never "saved" in the first place. Those who have the Holy Spirit living within do not want to, nor will they sin purposely/deliberately because to do so would be to force the Holy Spirit to sin with them...This cannot happen because the Holy Spirit is not inside those who are engaged in deliberate, continued sinning. Holiness cannot reside next to sin, period.

All is not lost, however; everybody strays at some point. The key is to recognize it and then get back on track and then do their best to STAY there. The enemy wants us to believe we are too "bad" to ever return to YHWH. That's why we must remember that every one of the patriarchs were guilty of sinning at some point.

Cases in point: Abraham asked his wife to lie for him so that his life would be spared (Genesis 12:11-20). Isaac did basically the same thing in Genesis 26:6-11. In Genesis 27 Jacob deceived his father into believing he (Jacob) was the first-born who should have the blessing of the first-born. And let's not forget that Paul, the most prolific writer of the Gospels, was a murderer (Acts 8:1-5, Acts 9:1-2).

If we were perfect, sinless human beings, Yeshua wouldn't have had to die on our behalf!

What we need to remember is that once we turn and repent because we know "right from wrong" is that there is no sin sacrifice for continued, deliberate sinning. Accidentally letting a cuss word slip when we are angry is not considered "deliberate" or "continued" sinning. But knowing, for instance that the Bible tells us homosexuality or adultery is a sin and then going ahead and engaging in it, anyway - that is definitely "purposeful" sinning. If you have an addiction problem of some kind, pray to be delivered from it AND seek professional help. YHWH won't hold it against you if you CAN'T fight an addiction. But you ARE expected to do something about it/go through a process that ultimately results in your being "cured" of your addiction because we cannot serve YHWH properly until all the members of our body are in synch.

Returning to YHWH has consequences that require some responsibility on our part. "Believing" in God doesn't automatically make us immune from satan's wiles! YHWH gives us all the choice to do things HIS way, or satan's. If we refuse to obey that "small, still voice" in the back of our mind that says, "I know I shouldn't do this," then we need to HEED it and refrain from giving in to our sin natures!

YHWH has given us a way out of our carnal lifestyles: By believing that Yeshua's shed blood at the cross has removed our past sins - we can now turn and repent and do our best NOT to give in to the desire to keep living in our present sins. Our job now is to learn what constitutes sin and practice some self control to STOP the sinning....

It is also good to remember this: Since YHWH wants no one to perish, and He DOES "know our hearts," who is to say one cannot ever be forgiven, especially since the ONLY unforgivable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:28-29; Matthew 12:31-32)?

What did "blasphemy against the Ruach haKodesh" (Holy Spirit) mean? Scripture itself explains!

Mark 3: 21. And when his own family heard, they went out to seize him, for they were saying he was crazy. 22. And those scribes who had come down from Urishlim were saying, "Beelzebub is in him", and "He casts out demons by the chief of demons. 23. And Y'shua called them and by parables told them, How is Satan able to cast out Satan?

In other words, if a person committed one of the capital offenses that are mentioned in Torah, but confessed and pleaded for forgiveness, the act itself counts towards atonement. But those who blaspheme against the Spirit of YHWH have nothing to make atonement for themselves, nor can they make an appeal in the name of Y'shua; see also Acts 5:1-11; Hebrews 10:28-30. The Ruach persuades and enables mankind to accept YHWH and His Torah (John 16:8; 1 Corinthians 2:12-14; Acts 7:51).

In other words...if you deny that the Ruach is working and attribute the work of God to someone/something else, you're guilty of blasphemy against the Ruach and of rejecting YHWH/Y'shua and His grace....If you know you've been sinning and you truly wish to repent and return to YHWH's Divine Instructions, chances are good that you are forgiven! He knows who is sincere and who isn't.