Sinning unto death; this concept was a common one for me growing up in the evangelical household that I did. It is a biblical concept, and one that I want to consider briefly in this post. I will lift up three pericopes, maybe the locus classicus for this thinking, and reflect from there.

5 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, ² and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. ³ But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? ⁴ While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” ⁵ When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. ⁶ The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

⁷ After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you^[a] sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” ⁹ But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” ¹⁰ Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things. –Acts 5.1-11

²³ For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵ In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. ²⁷ Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹ For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. ³⁰ That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. ³¹ But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. ³² But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. –I Corinthians 11.23-32

5 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. ² And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. ³ For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. ⁴ When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, ⁵ you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. –I Corinthians 5.1-5

¹⁶ If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. ¹⁷ All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. –I John 5.16-17

I am not going to do a full exegesis of these passages, but I wanted to refer to them in a suggestive way. In the Apostolic period, per these passages, it wasn’t uncommon for Christian brothers and sisters to face steep and deliberate judgment from God; at points resulting in what would seem to be a premature death as God’s judgment on them for unrepentant and willful and ongoing sin. Since I see continuity between then and now, because Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, I don’t think this reality has ceased. In other words, because God is merciful, and because He will discipline His children per his gracious Fatherly love, we ought to walk humbly before Him. St. Peter writes:

¹⁷ For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? ¹⁸ And

“If the righteous is scarcely saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

¹⁹ Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. –I Peter 4.17-19

And the author of Hebrews (Paul) writes:

⁷ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸ If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹ Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. ¹¹ For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. –Hebrews 12.7-11

Clearly, severe discipline from God should be expected for those of us who persist in sinful behavior, or even promote aberrant teaching of the sort that is deleterious not to just our souls but to all those we influence.

I take it, because of the passages I’ve mentioned, and many more left unmentioned, that God is God and we are not. And if we are His children this ought to inject a sobriety into our lives that keeps us living in broken subjection unto Him. Now, don’t read me wrong, I am not wanting to suggest that God is a wrathful bully who is just waiting for us to mess up or mis-perform; just the opposite, actually! What I am suggesting is that because God is a loving Father, He will make sure He keeps us on a short leash not allowing us to stray from His gracious and Holy Life He has given for us in Christ. What I am suggesting is that because God is Holy, and without ‘holiness we will not see Him,’ He will make sure, as the Greatest Father, that we stay in step with the Spirit.

God’s ways are not our ways, His thoughts not our thoughts; and so, it is difficult to discern exactly a causal link between things that happen to us (with Apostolic oversight saying ‘this is that’), and God’s discipline. But that notwithstanding, it is not outside the bounds of the New Testament witness, bolstered by God’s dealing with His Covenant people in the Old Testament, to think that indeed, we endure things as Christians precisely because God is bringing His discipline into our lives.

I think in extreme cases, as we have mentioned in some of the passages above, some of us are taken home early for our own good. This might not seem like a discipline, but I think it can be. Paul says in Galatians 6.9-10: “⁹ And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. ¹⁰ So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Our time here on earth in this current in-between time offers unique opportunities for the Christian to suffer and experience the sufferings of Christ; an experience that will not be part of the eschatological reality realized. As such, to be taken home ‘early’ as a result of God’s merciful discipline in our lives, has the potential to take this opportunity for growth in Him away from us.

All things considered, what this tells me is that I ought to live soberly before God, and walk not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit. This thinking might not be coherent with the current sensibility of Christianity, but I do think it is consistent with what we must wrestle with in the New Testament witness. I think there are cases before us in the Christian world today where we might actually be able to justifiably think that some of this sort of discipline is currently underway now. But again, without Apostolic ability to say this is that we cannot make dogmatic judgments this way; but I think we can dogmatically think this is a ‘way’ that God interacts with His children.