Bible Study SINNING WILLFULLY

[GodsGrace]

This is in reply to a post by for_his_glory in a different thread.
She mentions how we have all sinned and then mentioned something about sinning willfully.

Isn't all sin willful?

Thoughts?

Hebrews 10:6
6For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
James 4:17
17So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
1 John 5:17
17All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
1 John 1:9
9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

[TonyChanYT]

Isn't all sin willful?

Good question.

Psalm 119:

66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray [H7683], but now I keep your word.

Strong's Hebrew: 7683. שָׁגַג (shagag) — 4 Occurrences

Brown-Driver-Briggs:

verb go astray, commit sin or error

The noun form of H7683 appeared in Lev 4:

13 “If the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally

ESV footnote: or makes a mistake

and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they do any one of the things that by the LORD’s commandments ought not to be done, and they realize their guilt, 14when the sin which they have committed becomes known, the assembly shall offer a bull from the herd for a sin offering and bring it in front of the tent of meeting.

The assembly committed a mistake due to ignorance or otherwise unintentional or involuntary.

Strong's Hebrew: 7684. שְׁגָגָה (shegagah) — 19 Occurrences

Brown-Driver-Briggs:

noun feminine sin of error, inadvertence

Ecclesiastes 10:

5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun, the sort of error [H7684] that arises from a ruler:

Those were different from high-hand (persistent, intentional, and willful) sins, Numbers 15:

30 But the person who does anything with a high hand [H3027], whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from among his people. 31 Because he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken his commandment, that personal shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him.

Strong's Hebrew: 3027. יָד (yad) — 1617 Occurrences

New International Version:

But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or foreigner, blasphemes the LORD and must be cut off from the people of Israel.

I'd say that H7684-sin was not willful while H3027 was.

 

[GodsGrace]

Good question.

Psalm 119:


Strong's Hebrew: 7683. שָׁגַג (shagag) — 4 Occurrences

Brown-Driver-Briggs:


The noun form of H7683 appeared in Lev 4:


ESV footnote: or makes a mistake


The assembly committed a mistake due to ignorance or otherwise unintentional or involuntary.

Strong's Hebrew: 7684. שְׁגָגָה (shegagah) — 19 Occurrences

Brown-Driver-Briggs:


Ecclesiastes 10:


Those were different from high-hand (persistent, intentional, and willful) sins, Numbers 15:


Strong's Hebrew: 3027. יָד (yad) — 1617 Occurrences

New International Version:


I'd say that H7684-sin was not willful while H3027 was.

Leviticus 4:13 states that all of Israel could commit a sin they are not aware of but would still be guilty of that sin.
Leviticus 4:22 states the same for a leader.
Leviticus 4:27 states the same for any common person.

This is all very interesting because, in order to have commited a sin, a person must be aware that they have sinned.

1 John 1:9
9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we are required to confess a sin, don't we have to be aware of it first?

1 John 1:7
7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Here it would seem that we are forgiven of sins even if we don't confess them...but we know from other verses that we must confess our sins.

Even NOT doing something could be sinful. (a sin of omission).
James 4:17
17So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

 

[st_worm2]

Hello wondering, the OT often speaks of sinning both unintentionally and deliberately .. e.g. Numbers 15:29-31. The former was forgivable via sacrifice, the latter resulted in the sinner being cut off from his/her people.

I believe that a willful sin amounts to knowing that you are about to sin against the Lord and then going ahead and doing so anyway (because you've allowed yourself to be swept up and overwhelmed by the temptation in the moment or, even worse, you are not overwhelmed but knowingly and defiantly choose to go ahead and sin anyway, "in God's face" so to speak).

Unintentional sinning is something that happens spontaneously, without thinking, like an un-Christlike reaction to a driver who cuts you off and causes (or nearly causes) you to crash. Your fit of rage in that situation is still sinful, of course, and needs to be forgiven, but it was unintentional (at least, this is how it seems to me anyway).

God bless you!!

--David
p.s. - in the NT (as you've already mentioned), Hebrews 10 speaks of sinning willfully. In this particular case, the "willful" sin was the continual, deliberate rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ by those who knew and understood exactly who He was. For them, then, there no longer remained a sacrifice for their sins (both sadly and obviously) .. Hebrews 10:26-31.
.

 

[for_his_glory]

This is in reply to a post by for_his_glory in a different thread.
She mentions how we have all sinned and then mentioned something about sinning willfully.

Isn't all sin willful?

Thoughts?

Hebrews 10:6
6For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
James 4:17
17So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
1 John 5:17
17All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
1 John 1:9
9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

As a child of God being Spiritually born again and indwelled with the Holy Spirit we do not plan or deliberate (wilfully) to sin, but when we allow ourselves that moment of the flesh there is where we are tempted to sin as we step outside the boundaries of the Holy Spirit we are to be walking in.

Many times it is our fleshly emotions that we allow to well up inside of us depending the situation we find ourself in that causes us to lose sight that produces anger, retaliations and hatred towards others that causes us to not hold our tongue as the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: James 3:1-12.

We do not willfully sin like we set a course on it, but we will fall short at times when we are not walking in the Spirit the way we need to be doing.