Willful Sin/Unwillful Sin, What's the Difference?

[fhansen]

Not that I haven't ever heard this before but willful sin and unwillful sin seems to be a belief by some that means alot to them. It even seems that some people believe that while willful sin leads to death, unwillful sin will not. Even when St. Paul said that the wages of sin is death. That to me means all sin.

Anyway, I don't get this. What's the diff? Do you really believe that God sees a difference in willful sin and unwillful sin? Does this belief in a difference mean we don't have to repent of unwillful sin. Does it mean that we may live in our ignorance of these unwillful sins and never have to pay the price in our bodies, souls, or relationships?

Can anybody make a list of the most common unwillful sins? That would be most helpful!

Ye, ultimately it's all about our wills. And John tells us in 1 John 5 about sin that leads to death, as opposed to sin that does not. Anyway, deliberateness/ willfulness together with knowledge of the wrongfulness of the act increases one's culpability. Adams willful sin is what effectively separated man from God to begin with. God's purpose in all the drama of the Fall and man's exile into this world of pain, suffering, and death, is for us to learn of our need for Him so we may choose to turn, and, like the Prodigal, run back to the Father who not only forgives but who also empowers us to ultimately triumph over sin-so that we'll 'go, and sin no more'.

 

[bling]

There is definitely a difference between intentional and unintentional sins according to Lev. 5 which list out some unintentional sins.

 

[Clare73]

There is definitely a difference between intentional and unintentional sins according to Lev. 5 which list out some unintentional sins.

I suspect Lev is where this is coming from.

But it is being misapplied in the NT.

All the sacrifices were penalties (Lev 5:6, 7, 14, 6:6, 21:41, 43) for unintentional sin only.

There was no sacrifice (remedy) for intentional (willful, defiant, high-handed) sin.

The penalty was capital punishment (as in Lev 20).

And as with so much in the Mosaic order, this too was a copy, shadow, pattern (Heb 8:5, 10:1; Col 2:17) of the realities to come in the NT.

In this case, intentional sin was a shadow of the sin of unbelief, for which there is no sacrifice (because you don't believe in the only sacrifice), and whose penalty is eternal death at the final judgment.

But the NT makes no distinction regarding sin, all of which is transgression of God's law (1Jn 3:4).

All sin of believers is forgiven through faith and repentance.

There is no forgiveness for the sin of unbelief in the NT.

 

[Purge187]

As a Prodigal myself, I've been troubled by the concept of "crucifying Christ afresh" that the author of Hebrews spoke of.

His name eludes me at the moment, but the host of the TV show Wretched summed up the whole deliberate sin/backsliding issue quite well a few months back. He said that the true believer will react to sin the way Paul did:

"I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do."

If you're honest about your actions and want there to be a change made, odds are good that you're not beyond redemption.

In Genesis 17, God told Abraham to walk with Him and live in integrity. This means to be honest with God about our shortcomings, because he wants to "cleanse us from all unrighteousness" when we do.