AVOIDING SINS OF OMISSION
(week 31/16)
OLUBI JOHNSON
All sins of commission are a result of sins of omission.
This truth can be traced back to the Garden of Eden:
Adam’s omission of not eating of the fruit of the tree of life led to their (Adam and Eve) commission of eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:8-9 The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. (9) The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:15-17 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. (16) And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; (17) but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Now had they FIRST eaten of the tree of life, they would have the knowledge of good and evil WITH THE POWER to only choose to good and not evil, like God (Who has the knowledge of good and evil, but ONLY DOES GOOD!).
Genesis 3:22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—
So the sin of omission led to the sin of commission!
This is a permanent truth.
For example, it was David’s sin of omission of meditating and speaking God’s Word on A DAILY basis, that led to his sin of omission of staying at home when Kings ought to be in battle, that eventually led to his sins of commission of adultery and murder!
Deuteronomy 17:18-20 “Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. (19) And it shall be with him, and he shall read it ALL the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, (20) that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.
2Samuel 11:1-5 It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. (2) Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. (3) So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” (4) Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. (5) And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.”
This great truth is succinctly encapsulated in
Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
Terrible destructions can come from sins of omission due to either a lack of knowledge or a lack of ACTING on the knowledge one may have.
We see this also in the life of Job: the destructions that were allowed to come into Job’s life were due to lack of knowledge and consequent OMISSION of operating spiritual law as declared in
Job 38:1-2 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: (2) “Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge?
How then do we avoid sins of omission?
By diligently ‘eating of the tree of life’: keeping the commandment of life and love (1 Jn.3.23, Jn.20.31) by the blood (Heb.13.20-21, 1 Jn.1.9), the Word (1 Jn.2.5) and the Spirit (1 Jn.4.12-13) AT LEAST ONCE EVERY 6 HOURS (Dt.6.7, Mk.13.35, Josh.1.8) AND AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY and by this in EVERY TEMPTATION with our thoughts (2 Cor.10.5) and actions (Pr.23.7)! In other words: watch and pray ALWAYS!
Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Luke 21:36 Watch therefore, and pray ALWAYS that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
1Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
The way of escape: the wisdom and power to overcome temptation comes by watching and praying ALWAYS: NO OMISSIONS!
