A Warning About Presumptuous Sin
By Daryl Wingerd
Have you ever sinned on purpose? Have you ever known that something was sinful, had every opportunity to avoid the sin, yet decided to do it anyway? If so, were you comforted in your decision by thoughts of God’s forgiving mercy? Perhaps you said to yourself (as I once heard a man say, just before telling a blatant lie to keep himself out of trouble), “It’s easier to get forgiveness than permission.” This type of premeditated, intentional sin is called “presumptuous sin.”
Presumptuous sin is knowingly doing what God forbids while presuming that you will be covered by His mercy. It is an attempt to force God to apply mercy instead of justice. It is no wonder that John Bunyan (author of Pilgrim’s Progress) once referred to sin as “the dare of God’s justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, and the contempt of His love.”
Consider four sobering truths about presumptuous sins and presumptuous sinners:
1. God hates presumptuous sin.
A purposeful, planned approach to sin reveals one of the things God hates the most. In Proverbs 6:16 we read, “There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him.” The list that follows includes pride, lying, and murder. Among these we find that God hates “a heart that devises wicked plans” (v. 18). God hates all sin, to be sure, but when you sin on purpose, your premeditated act is particularly abhorrent to Him.
2. Presumptuous sin is feared and hated by godly persons.
David pleaded with the Lord to keep him back from presumptuous sins (Ps. 19:13). He concluded his thought by saying, “Then will I be blameless, and I shall be acquitted of great transgression.” People who sin presumptuously should have no confident expectation that they will be considered “blameless,” or even that they will be acquitted by God.
3. True Christians are repentant sinners, not presumptuous sinners.
Regardless of the type of sin involved, those who are repentant sinners are said to be “washed,” “sanctified,” and “justified,” while those who carelessly continue in sin are warned not to be deceived. People of that sort, Paul tells us, “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9-11). Presumptuous sinners are acting like they are on their way to hell, not heaven. They may be.
4. Presumptuous sin often leads to disastrous consequences.
King David knew that what he was tempted to do with Bathsheba was a sin against God, but he did it anyway. In this case, his presumptuous sin brought a series of painful and tragic consequences:
- It led David into further sin-plotting the murder of Bathsheba’s husband. (2 Sam. 11:14-15)
- It brought on a lengthy period of painful conviction. (Ps. 32:9-10; 38:1-8; 51:3, 8, 12)
- It brought a stinging rebuke from the prophet Nathan. (2 Sam. 12:1-14)
- It led to the death of the child of that union. (2 Sam. 12:14-18)
- It gave occasion for the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme God. (2 Sam. 12:14)
- It moved the Lord to plague David’s posterity with violence, and even to raise evil against him from within his own family. (2 Sam. 12:9-11)
People who presume upon God’s mercy should not be surprised when they experience similar consequences. In fact, they should expect them. Perhaps it was this very experience that led David to pray this prayer:
Also keep back your servant from presumptuous sins;
Let them not rule over me;
Then I will be blameless,
And I shall be acquitted of great transgression. (Ps. 19:13)
Hi Daryl-
Are you saying that believers will not sin presumptuously?
-or-
Are you saying that believers who do sin presumptuously will be discipled by God as He promises in the book of Hebrews in order to get us back on track and as evidenced in the life of David?
Perhaps I’m missing something or I’m not holy enough in my walk with Christ, but I was unaware of “accidental” sins. I thought all sins were premeditated, even if the premeditation itself amounts to a thought lasting about two seconds before you do the sin.
For instance, if I’m speaking with someone and I’m angry, I know (even if for no more than two seconds) that what I am about to say (or type, lol) is not right before I say it. I am fighting against it, but it has never been that I was unaware of at least the potential for the words to sting.
The only sins that I think we can commit unknowingly are when we violate those precepts that we have yet to encounter in God’s Word or when we cause offense to another believer unintentionally.
What am I not seeing here?
Lawrence-
Under the Old Covenant and the Mosaic Law, there was provision for offering sacrifices for unintentional sins. Most if not all of those unintentional sins had to do with food prohibitions or ceremonial uncleanness that occurred without ones knowledge. Example: Ingesting something being unaware that it was unclean or sitting on something that was made ceremonially unclean.
None of the dietary rules or cleanliness laws are binding under the New Covenant, so I am kind of with you.
Daryl-
What kinds of sins are committed unintentionally under the New Covenant?
Can you explain to us where you are coming from on this?
Sorry to reply so late. Daryl is an elder where I fellowship so I will see if I can get him to reply. They write often and I have their permission to post whatever I like from their ministry. So I cannot speak for Daryl so I am not going to try. Thanks for the comments though…
Tyris-
Any clarification from Daryl would be helpful and appreciated.
Seems like a very important topic that we should understand.
When we sin, do we sin unintentionally or intentionally?
Is a teaching that some sins are intentional and others are not a good teaching or a dangerous teaching?
I for one am glad that in Christ when I confess my sin I can presume that God is “faithful” and “just” to forgive my sin and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness-just like he did for David.
Praise the Lord!
Consequences for our sins? Yes indeed, that is a part of how God uses circumstances in our life as He conforms us into the image of His Son.
David’s life was never the same after his sin with Bathsheba, both for the negative but also for the positive.
We can notice that when David had yet to confess his sin, his response to Nathan regarding others “lesser” sin was one of arrogance and self righteousness and condemnation.
After confessing his sin, David’s dealings with others became more grace oriented. We also see that how he responded to the consequences of his sin, family tragedy, including being deposed from his throne for a time with gracefulness and humility.
As believers, we must come to the place where we see our sins in light of God’s grace and when we do we are able to extend that same grace and mercy to others.
We all know professing Christians who live behind a facade of self righteousness who are exacting and without grace towards sinners who are desperately in need of God’s grace.
People including us do not need what we deserve, we need God’s grace, and mercy and forgiveness for all of our sins that I maintain are all intentional and if we are honest with ourselves are presumptuous.
Perhaps I am just not seeing the point and intent contained within Daryl’s post?