The Sin Red Line

No, that wasn't a typo. I've heard (most of my life) people -- Christians, largely -- talk about sins that indicate loss of salvation or, at the very least, that salvation was never given. "That guy is cheating on his wife. I don't think he's saved." "Do you see how she's dressed? Can a real Christian dress like that?" "No true Christian can drive a beer truck for a living." (I actually heard that last one verbatim.) There appears to be this concept of a "sin red line," a line of sin drawn in the sand beyond which salvation does not lie.

Is this possible? You might think at the outset that it isn't. We know, for instance, that all believers sin. No one arrives at sinless perfection. John assured us that "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). He wrote 1 John "so that you may not sin" but went on immediately to add, "And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1). No one, not even believers, not even the godliest believer (Phil 3:12-13), is without sin. So, no, there is no "sin red line."

On the other hand, there is evidence in Scripture that sin is a valid indicator of sorts. Jesus told us, "You will know them by their fruits" (Matt 7:16). James assured us, "Faith without works is dead" (James 2:17) and warned, "Can that faith save him?" (James 2:14). John said, "No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (1 John 3:9). John's first epistle starts with the contrast of those who walk in the light and those who walk in darkness. "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth" (1 John 1:6). How we live is an indicator of our spiritual condition.

So, what is that "sin too far," that "sin red line"? I think we need to be careful here. I don't think that Scripture supports the idea of a sin that removes you from salvation. On the other hand, there is a sin that goes beyond forgiveness. "Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin" (Mark 3:29). There is no coming back from that (whatever it is) according to Jesus. (John speaks about sin "leading to death" (1 John 5:16), but there's no reason to assume that is spiritual, eternal death.)

We need to be cautious. We need to be sure we're standing on God's Word and not our own version of morality. "That guy smokes" is not a good measure since there is no prohibition of smoking in the Bible. "She is living a sexually immoral lifestyle and defending it to anyone who asks" might well be a reason to ask the question because Scripture says that the one born of God cannot make a practice of sin. We need to keep in mind that every Christian (including you and me) sins. Single sins are not a good indicator. And we need to beware of personal "righteous indignation," of a "holier-than-thou" attitude where we thank God we are not like that beer truck driver. In other words, there are more warnings and cautions against this kind of "sin red line" thinking than for it. Jesus's bottom line was, "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye" (Matt 7:5). A good place to start.