There is both a conscious and unconscious dimension to sin. Last week Theology 101 focused on the deliberate decision to cross boundaries God sets up. These may be labeled “sins of commission.”
This week we consider what we might call the unconscious dimension — failing to obey what God commands and expects. These may be called “sins of omission.”
God’s positive commands and expectations are many and varied. We might begin with what is commonly termed the Great Commandment in Matthew 22:37–39: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
If this is the Great Commandment, failure to obey it is the great sin. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus broadened the commandment to love when He admonished, “I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you” (Matt. 5:44).
Love others
The biblical command to love is quite broad. Not only are we commanded to love God, but also to love others — our enemies as well as fellow believers.
Not only is it sinful to disobey the Great Commandment, but it also is sinful to fail to obey the Great Commission. Jesus commanded, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19).
The unconscious sins of failing to do as the Bible commands are quite far-reaching. For example, James 4:17 says, “To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
First Thessalonians 5:14–22 contains numerous commands:
- Always pursue what is good
- Rejoice always
- Pray without ceasing
- In everything give thanks
- Do not quench the Spirit
We regularly encounter the sins of failing to do good — neglecting to help, speak, worship, pray, bear witness or make disciples, just to name a few.
God’s word and His Spirit work together to sensitize His children to sins of both commission and omission.
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