'Sins of Omission' or the unknown sin......


One sin that seems to bedevil us is the 'sin of omission', we learn to avoid or refrain from evil but then we forget about doing good, or loving our neighbor. Who is our neighbor?

When Jesus was here on earth, one day He was speaking to the people and a lawyer came up to Him and asked Him a question (Luke 10:25-37). He said, "Master, what should I do to inherit eternal life?" Now, that's the ultimate question, isn't it. That is the ultimate question for you and me and the whole world today: "What should I do to inherit eternal life?"

"Well," Jesus said, "what's written in the law? How readest thou?"
The answer came back, "Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.; and thy neighbor as thyself."
Jesus said, "You've given a good answer. If you do that you live." It's quite a way, isn't it. "You do that, you love and you will live."
But the lawyer asked another question: "Who is my neighbor?"

Now, you remember that the Jews didn't consider the heathen their neighbors. They didn't consider the Samaritans their neighbors. They didn't even consider one of their own race their neighbors. It was only their very close friends, the ones they got along with and loved were their neighbors.
Well, Jesus answered that question by telling of an incident that probably just recently happened. He said, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead." They robbed him then they mugged him and then they left him lying in his own blood thinking that perhaps he would die. He finally came to, and saw someone coming. "A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.."

Could be the priest was probably on his way to deliver a sermon down in the synagogue in Jericho and didnt want to be late. Maybe it was a very important sermon. Maybe he was planning to give a sermon on brotherly love...


"So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side." The half dead man sees someone else coming by. Alright! This man is a church treasurer, a Levite, probably wealthy and lots of people who look up to him. Surely he can help him. But the Levite looks down at him and hurries off. Well, of course the church treasurer must hurry on maybe he's carrying the bag full of money. You cant be too careful late in the evening. It wouldn't be right to risk the Lord's money. Maybe the robbers are still around. So he makes sure to take a wide path around this half-naked bleeding man.

"But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him." By now the man is nearly passed out and it looks hopeless, now. But then, lo and behold, he hears footsteps again. Could it be possible that someone else is coming? He strains his eyes and looks and sees... Oh, it's a Samaritan. Well, you know the problems between the Jews and the Samaritans, the Samaritans were hated as scum and not allowed to worship in the Jewish Temple.

The injured man probably thought I get robbed and beaten and now this Samaratian is going to finish me off and take what little else there is. But the Samaritan slows down and comes near, and probably spoke gently. "You're hurt. Let me help you."

"He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" I wonder........

Here is a nice explanation by Stephen Chavez:

"...We Adventists have an interesting way of looking at sin. When the Bible says don't kill, we don't. The same with lying, using God's name in vain, adultery, stealing, etc. Often there's more of an emphasis on avoiding evil than there is about doing good.

The same is true with health. Most lists of Adventist health practices begin with prohibitions: the things we arent allowed to eat, smoke, or drink. And generally speaking, we honor those guidelines pretty well, even religiously.

But again, the emphasis is on what we should avoid, rather than on what we should do....remember its not just (doing) the wrong things we have to worry about the sins of commission; not doing what we should—the sin of omission is just as destructive...."..excerpts from sermon by Pastor Delmar Anderson

John 13:31-34
Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. 32If God is glorified in him,[c] God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

33"My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. 34"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

John 15:9-12
9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

"Love to man is the earthward manifestation of the love of God. It was to implant this love, to make us children of one family, that the King of glory became one with us. And when His parting words are fulfilled, 'Love one another, as I have loved you"; ... We are fitted for heaven; for we have heaven in our hearts." - Desire of Ages by EG White, p. 641.5.

Cute.



Excellent point! This highlights the difference between seeing the law as written on stone, and seeing it as revealed in Christ. The former can lead to a negative way of looking at the law, as simply being prohibitions. But in Christ we see what "Love Thy God with all that mind, and heart, and soul, and strength" and "Love The Neighbor as Thyself" really looks like. We see the law made flesh.

Very nice thoughts, Richard.

Being late is a translation to modern times. Rather consider this. A Israelite who touched a dead body was unclean and forbidden to enter the temple or a synagogue for a sertain period of time and cleaning required extencive procedures, especially so if his clothes got bloody. If he was on his way to hold a sermon, not only would he risk comming late, he would be barred from ever entering the building until the cleaning duties were finnished and the prescribed time had passed. Same as the priest, aside from the risk of getting robbed himself, he also would have the cleaning cermonies to look forward to rather than some downtime with his family if he involved himself. You missed the last verse, which holds the crucial point. Not only was the samaritan the neighbor of this story, the take home lesson for the man asking the question was that he should be the neighbor of the story. The day we live up to Jesus words here as a body, that day the Bride will be ready for the groom. That day we will be perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect. That day the Church will launch an invasion of hell and hells gates will be like rotten straw, entierly unable to stay the tide of God's blessing from reaching its inhabitants.

I dont know if the inhabitants of Hell necessarily want Gods blessing......

We were all inhabitants of Hell before Jesus saved us.

The blessing of God comes in the form of a message. As we believe the message, which is the revelation of God through Jesus Christ, we become more like Him, which is how we live up to His words.

I agree that with your point here, that the revelation of God's love, will launch the invasion you have eloquently described. Thousands upon thousands will respond to the Good News.

Are sins of omission and sins of ignorance one and the same thing?

MM, what's an example of a sin of omission which is sin of ignorance? They seem not only to be different, but almost as different as can by.

A typical sin of omission and sin of ignorance, that I come across every day is the unkind and unloving things said about illegal aliens, in our area its Mexiacans...Yes they should follow the law, but there is no reason to heap hate and scorn on brothers and sisters, some in our area who are Adventist. I have seen prejudice and know its signs and results very well, yet this is one area where some people even Christians feel they are absolutely perfectly right to say and hold on to thinking that are not from love.......

Richard, a sin of ignorance is one where one does something one does not know is wrong. Do you really think that those who heap hate and scorn, are unkind and unloving, have no idea that what they are doing is wrong? Also, acting this way is a sin of commission, not omission.