The Sins of
Omission & Commission

At one point or another, we are all guilty of either consciously not doing the right thing or willingly doing the wrong thing. It could be something blatant like stealing, or not telling your boss the whole truth about a situation. In both cases, in doing so we make an ethical and moral error that the Bible calls sin.

Overt Sins of Commission are obvious. An egregious example of this was when the Apostle Peter blatantly denied that he knew Jesus. His act was obvious to others and was a deliberate decision to save face. Covert Sins of Omission are not obvious and mostly hidden like not telling the entire truth or not doing something you should have done.

In both cases it is how we execute the ‘mission’ at hand. The Latin prefix “Com-” means with, so Commission actions go ‘with’ a deliberate mission, while the prefix “O-” means the opposite, i.e. a negative ‘not,’ so then an Omission is to NOT do the mission assigned.

Curiously the only sin that is both of Omission+Commission is rejecting the free gift of eternal life! It is both overt in denying the need for salvation and covert in not telling the whole truth to yourself about the fate of your soul. While in the world we may ‘get away’ with certain overt or covert sins, this dual-sin is one that has severe and certain consequences. Jesus said it this way:

“(the) slave who knew his master’s will
and did not get ready or act
in accord with his will,
will receive many lashes...”
Luke 12:47

While in this life, we will always commit overt and covert sins, but we have a way of escape in asking God’s forgiveness. If you have not consciously done so, fulfill this most important life “mission” by “...confessing with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believing in your heart that God has raised him from the dead.” (Romans 10:9)

God Bless Your Day Jesus Loves You NotesOnLife.org

Like