Doctrine of Sin
By Jerry Batson, Th.D.
Special to The Alabama Baptist
When we think of sin we almost automatically think of it as something done that ought not to have been done. We label such behaviors sins of commission.
At the height of his Christian experience and ministry the apostle Paul admitted to sins of commission in his life. But Paul also acknowledged and regretted sins of omission or of not doing something that was right and that ought to have been done.
Commission vs. omission
He referred to his sins of commission and omission in Romans 7:19, lamenting, “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.” Paul decried his own inclination to do what he didn’t want to do and knew was wrong (sins of commission) as well as his tendency to fail to do what he knew to be right and wanted to do but didn’t do (sins of omission).
James 4:17 gives us the definitive word about sin as omission: “To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
Jesus famously illustrated sins of omission in His parable of the Good Samaritan. A priest and a Levite, men who should have known better and should have cared deeply, failed to stop and help a man who had been robbed, beaten and left in desperate need of help. Theirs was a sin of omission.
In Jesus’ story it was left to a Samaritan to show compassion and help the victim. Jesus made it clear that failure to do good is as sinful as committing robbery and beating an innocent person.
‘Love one another’
The Bible reminds us that not loving others as God loves us is a sin of omission. “If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11).
Not praying for others also is a sin of omission. At the installation of King Saul, Samuel understood this and declared, “Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you” (1 Sam. 12:23).
Or yet again, not standing up for or doing what is right is just such a sin. Like Micah put it, “What does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
Confession of sins
Paul’s confession about his sins of omission serve to sensitize us to the reality that even the best among us live with the fact of good things we should have done but left undone. Our confessions of sins most often list the more obvious sins of commission but tend “to pass by on the other side” when it comes to confessing sins of omission.
Too often, sins of omission are deemed less reprehensible as opposed to some of the more sordid, demeaning and despicable deeds that people do — the sins of commission.
Things you ‘ought to have done’
For our doctrine of sin to be full-bodied, we must give attention to the sins of right things not done. The Bible reminds us that Jesus took notice of some religious leaders who were scrupulous in doing such commendable religious acts as meticulously tithing. He endorsed their religious acts but reprimanded them for failure to perform what He called “weightier matters” such as justice, mercy and faithfulness. His summary word to them (and to us) was simply put: “These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone” (Matt. 23:23).
EDITOR’S NOTE — Jerry Batson is a retired Alabama Baptist pastor who also has served as associate dean of Beeson Divinity School at Samford University and professor of several schools of religion during his career.
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