Matthew 18:21-35 (KJV)
21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

Yesterday in part 6 we looked at if there is such thing as the unforgivable sin.
Today we will try to understand if there is sin leading to death? And in later devotions we will try to answer if one can one fall from grace? What is fallen from grace? Is all of that the same? How does this relate to backsliding? What is apostasy? Is repentance from backsliding or apostasy possible? These questions are all interconnected. Over the next devotions we will try to discover more about these.

Let see if there is a sin leading to death and if it is the same as the unforgivable sin:
“Romans 6:23 (KJV) For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Sin has a penalty and that penalty is death.
“Genesis 2:17 (KJV) But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was being disobedient to GOD and this is sin and death is the wage. This death is twofold physical death and spiritual death which is separation form GOD. As we can see when we read on in Genesis as Adam and Eve lost access to the tree of life and were removed from the garden where they used to commune with GOD. From that point on death and corruption came into the world.

GOD had a solution through Jesus Christ and His work on the cross which was promised at the fall. “Genesis 3:15 (KJV) And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”. Now everyone can be reconciled back to GOD by faith in Jesus Christ.

The final victory over sin and death will be realised at the rapture when our fallen body will be replaced with our new heavenly body.
“1 Corinthians 15:50-58 (KJV) Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. [51] Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, [52] In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. [53] For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. [54] So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. [55] O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? [56] The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. [57] But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. [58] Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

Now in 1 John 5:16-17 (KJV) it talks about sin leading to death and not leading to death. “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. [17] All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.”

Looking at “Deuteronomy 21:22-23 (KJV) And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: [23] His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.” This looks like a description of Jesus Christ on the cross.

We can see that the sin mentioned here is not the same as the “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. There is a big difference between the parties addressed. One is the religious Pharisees (Matthew 12:31-32 – see Part 6) who were malignant enemies of Jesus Christ. the others are Christian bothers/sisters (1 John 5:16-17).

When we sin the Holy Spirit convicts us of the sin through various ways. There are times when we persist in sin and GOD will chastise us and the ultimate chastisement is death.
“Hebrews 12:3-11 (KJV) For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. [4] Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. [5] And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: [6] For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. [7] If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? [8] But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. [9] Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? [10] For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. [11] Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”

Let’s look at some examples of sin leading to death.

• “1 Corinthians 11:28-31 (KJV) But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. [29] For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. [30] For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. [31] For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.”
• “Acts 5:4-6 (KJV) Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. [5] And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. [6] And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.”
• “Revelation 2:20-23 (KJV) Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. [21] And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. [22] Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. [23] And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.”

From this we can see that there where sins committed that resulted in death. There where lying to GOD, seducing bothers and sisters to commit sins like fornication and eating food offered up to idols. We can also see that most of the time GOD gives us an opportunity to repent.

Now we could speculate what happens to the person who dies if they will go to heaven or to hell. In my opinion it is better to err on the save side and not to get entangled in sin by keeping on sinning and ignoring the urging of the the Holy Spirit to repent.

Let us therefore be encouraged today to keep short accounts with GOD. To confess our sins before him, ask forgiveness of our bothers and sisters when we realise we sinned against them and repent asking the LORD to help us overcome and deliver us from the sin.
1 John 1:5-10 (KJV) gives us an important exhortation in that area: “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. [6] If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: [7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. [8] If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. [9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. [10] If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”