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Brief study of the categories of death in the Bible part 4


In our continuing study of the mandates of the PPOG for believers we are presently looking at the imperative moods found in Rom 6:11-13.

In verse 12 we have the third person singular present active imperative of the Greek word "Basileuo" that is translated "reign" in the NASB.

"Basileuo" along with the negative particle "me" that is translated "not " is a mandate for believers not to permit the OSN to rule over their body of death so that they listen to or submit to it's desires.

Because the status of the believer who is functioning under OSN control of the soul is referred to as a form of "death" along with the command in verse 11 where believers are commanded to consider themselves "dead" to the OSN we have started a brief discussion of the various categories of death that are found in the Bible.

Last time we were completed our discussion of "carnal" or "cosmic" death that only applies to believers and a discussion of the "second" death that only applies to unbelievers.

The next category of death that the Bible refers to is the Sin unto Death.

This is a reference to the manner of death for some believers who reject God's provision of acknowledgement of known sin and as a result perpetually remain in the cosmic system and as a result reject principles of the PPOG and Divine Establishment.

It is dying a horrible physical death with maximum pain, suffering and agony during the dying process this is contrasted with believers who are living in the PPOG who receive dying grace.

The terminology for the "sin unto death comes from 1John 5:16, "If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin not face-to- face with death, he shall ask and He (God the Father) will give life to him who does not sin face-to-face with death. There is a sin face-to-face with death; I do not say that he should ask concerning this category.

The literal meaning of the Greek preposition "pros" plus the accusative of relationship that is translated "to" in the NASB is "face-to-face with."

It can be translated idiomatically as "the sin terminating with death."

John does not forbid praying for such cases; he simply does not command prayer for them. He leaves them to God. The sin terminating in death is the result of the believer failing to execute the spiritual life of the Church Age.

Believers would have to have personal knowledge of the situation to be able to discern if the discipline is the sin face-to-face with death, which means you probably have to know the person involved very well and have constant contact with them and be very familiar with their situation.

The sin face-to-face with death is the result of consistent and persistent function in the cosmic system that is the result of never acknowledging any known sin such that the believer comes under maximum discipline from the justice of God as it is executed in God's policy of grace through his love.

The sin face-to-face with death is therefore maximum divine discipline from the integrity of God. It is the highest form of disgrace that can occur for the believer.

Divine discipline results from the believer using their own volition to create their own failures in life after their salvation.

The sin face-to-face with death is described in Psa 7:14-16, "Behold, he shall have labor pains of vanity (warning discipline) because he has become pregnant with frustration. Therefore, he has given birth to a life of deceit (intensive discipline). He dug a grave (the sin face-to-face with death). He explored it (the experience of warning and intensive discipline). Therefore, he has fallen into the ditch which he himself has constructed. His frustration will return on his own head."

We see from this that the sin face-to-face with death does not come all at once it comes in increments with greater and greater severity.

Failure to acknowledge known sin as described in 1John 1:9; results in the believer functioning in perpetual carnality.

1John 5:17, "All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not face-to-face with death."

There is no specific sin other than failure to acknowledge known sin that results in the sin unto death.

1John 5:16b also means that when the believer is dying, they can still sin. It is these sins that intensify the suffering in dying phase.

This is a reference to sinning when the believer is in the death-shadowed valley described in Psa 23:4.

When the believer is going through the valley of death, there are certain sins that are committed face-to-face with dying that make the journey miserable. This would include the sins of jealousy, bitterness, vindictiveness, self-pity, fear, worry, and anxiety. All of these sins make both living and dying miserable.

Those who function in these emotional and arrogant sins are sewing to the wind that results in reaping the whirlwind in the death-shadowed valley.

The sin face-to-face with death is when the believer creates their very own dying misery in the death-shadowed valley. Sins committed while dying are intensified when the believer is on their journey through the death-shadowed valley.

The divine initiative of eschatological grace challenges the believer to deploy the problem solving devices on the perimeter of the soul, so that they can travel through their own death-shadowed valley with the most fantastic blessings, Phil 1:21; Ps 23:4.

The training for the blessing or profit in dying comes from the daily function of the spiritual skills in life. This is why 2Tim 1:7 says, "For God has not given us a lifestyle of fear, but of power and of virtue-love and of sound judgment."

Believers transit from physical life on this planet in time to eternity in four different ways:

(1) Dying grace is given to mature or advancing believers. It is the greatest blessing of life because it is directly related to and is only exceeded by rewards at the evaluation Seat of Christ, Psa 116:15; Phil 1:21.

(2) In the Old Testament some believers were transferred to the paradise section of hades apart from physical death that is described in the case of Enoch, Heb 11:5; and Elijah, 2 Kings 2:11-12.

(3) The sin face-to-face with death is the disciplinary death is given to believers who refuse to execute the spiritual life. This would include suicide where the believer in the cosmic system takes their own physical life.

(4)The exit-resurrection at the end of Church Age when believers who are physically alive when TLJC returns are instantly transformed into their resurrection body as they rise to meet him.

The sin face-to-face with death is not a specific sin. It is the result of the believer who persistently resides and functions in the cosmic system where the human good and sins add up to motivational evil toward self and functional evil toward others.

The sin face-to-face with death is maximum divine discipline, the most painful experience in life with no alleviation. It implies loss of reward and blessing and results in being ashamed at the evaluation seat of Christ after the exit resurrection.

The "sin unto death" is discussed in the context of the doctrine of divine discipline.

Divine discipline is how God when necessary judges, corrects, and teaches the believer in time. This is described in Heb 12:5-6, "And so you yourselves have forgotten the principles of doctrine which teach you as a son. My son do not make light of discipline from the Lord, nor be fainting when you are punished by Him. For you see, `Whom the Lord loves He punishes and scourges every son whom He receives.'

We see in Rev 21:4; that Divine discipline is confined to time,

Divine discipline results from the believer using their own volition to create their own failures, Psa 7:14-16;

Sins such as the "sins of the tongue" incur divine discipline more rapidly. The sins of the tongue that include gossip and maligning bring triple compound discipline, Matt 7:1-2;

If you have personal love toward God, you have impersonal love toward man. So do not gossip, judge or malign others, Psa 64:7-8; James 4:11; James 5:9.

For the believer who is living in the cosmic system, there are three stages to the sin face-to-face with death.

The first stage of divine discipline is warning discipline, Rev 3:20, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone has heard My voice and he opens the door (acknowledgement of sin), I will enter face-to-face with him and dine with him (restoration to fellowship with God) and he with Me."

The second stage of divine discipline is intensive discipline as described in, Psa 32:1-5. and Psa 118:17-18.

The third stage of divine discipline is the sin face-to-face with death, Rev 3:16, "Therefore, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold (unbeliever) nor hot (believer executing the spiritual life), I am about to vomit you out of My mouth."

Phil 3:18-19, "For many keep walking concerning whom I have communicated many times and now I keep on communicating even though weeping that they are the enemies of the Cross of Christ, whose termination is ruin, whose god is his emotion, whose fame is by means of dishonor, who keep on thinking about earthly things."

There are two categories of suffering in the believer's life:

Suffering for discipline is a teaching aid that when ignored, becomes unbearable.

Suffering for blessing is bearable and accelerates the believer's spiritual growth by the application of the appropriate doctrine to the situation.

The sin face-to-face with death is related to the stages of reversionism where the believer reverts to functioning in the cosmic system in a way that they did before their salvation. The stages of reversionism are:

Reaction to; or distraction from Bible teaching.
A frantic search for happiness.
Sewing to the wind and reaping the whirlwind or the boomerang effect.
Emotional revolt of the soul.
Locked in negative volition.
Blackout of the soul.
Scar tissue of the soul.
Reverse process reversionism.

The sin face-to-face means shame at the judgment seat of Christ and failure to receive escrow blessings for life in eternity in a resurrection body.

Maximum punitive action of dying the sin face-to-face with death does not imply that the believer will be miserable after death, because there is "no more sorrow, no more tears, no more pain, no more pain" for all believers who are face-to-face with the Lord.

The sin face-to-face with death is related to the rejection of establishment truth, Jer 9:13-16.

Administration of the sin face-to-face with death does not imply loss of salvation, 2 Tim 2:11-13.

Some examples of believers who faced the sin face-to-face with death include:

Certain believers in Philippi, Phil 3:18-19.

Certain believers in the church at Laodicea, Rev 3:16.

King Saul, 1Chr 10:13-14. This is occult reversionism resulting in the sin face-to-face with death.

1Cor 11:27-28, 1Cor 11:30-31; describes believers who participate in the communion service in a state of perpetual carnality resulting in the sin face-to-face with death.

King Hezekiah had an evil foreign policy of going to Egypt for help, Isa 30:1-3. So God put him under the sentence of the sin which terminates with death, Isa 38:1-5; He confessed his sin and was given more time to live.

The case of the incestuous Corinthian believer, 1Cor 5:1-5;

The case of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-10. Their life in perpetual carnality was ultimately manifested by their lying to God.

The case of Hymenaeus and Alexander, 1Tim 1:19-20, who also lived in perpetual carnality.

David's discipline is an example of Old Testament sin unto death. Psa 32:3-4;

Military disaster can be the way that the sin unto death is administered, Jer 9:13-16, Jer 44:12.

Economic depression, famine, and criminal violence can be a part of the sin unto death. Phil 3:18-19, "whose termination of life is ruin."

 

© Copyright 2007, Michael Lemmon Bible Ministries. World Rights Reserved.  This document was created on 12/2/2009