Sins of Presumption by D. T. Bourdeau

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 17, 1874

Sins of Presumption.

By D. T. Bourdeau

It is a dangerous thing to presume on the goodness of God in transgressing even the least of his commandments; for it is in sinning presumptuously that men harden their hearts; and there are limits beyond which the Spirit of God will cease to strive with men. The Spirit of God is not like a lackey, that we can send and call at our bidding. If we grieve it beyond measure, it will leave us forever. It will leave us to hardness of heart, no more to reprove us of sin, or to win us in the paths of virtue. And how solemn is the thought that millions in the past have closed their probation in their lifetime by presuming to venture on the forbidden grounds of sin; and such will be the case with the masses of the last generation; for the Scriptures plainly teach that the days immediately preceding the coming of Christ will be like the days that were before the flood.

To view sin in the right light, we must bear in mind that what men call slight transgressions are committed against the authority of the great and holy God, and that those who sin presumptuously are guilty of rebellion against the Almighty, upon whom they depend for life and mercy and all the blessings they enjoy. What sinful and shameful ingratitude those are guilty of who repay God for his great goodness by venturing to disregard even the least of his just and sacred claims upon them. But it is too natural for the carnal heart to frame excuses to justify presumptuous sins.

One excuse is that those who venture to transgress the commandments of God may be saved; for it is said that they “shall be called least” in the kingdom of Heaven. Matt. 5:17-19. To which we reply that the least known sin unconfessed and unrepented of will exclude us from the kingdom of Heaven. Although God may have mercy on some who have ignorantly transgressed certain portions of his law, and who have had a disposition to thoroughly repent upon discovering their sins, yet there are no Bible grounds for expecting salvation while deliberately persisting in the transgression of God’s law. To claim that we can be saved while knowingly and willfully transgressing God’s commandments, would be to virtually teach the salvation of all mankind and even of fallen angels. For if some can be saved in rebellion against God’s law, others can. Some claim that Matt. 5:19, should be rendered thus: “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be of no esteem in the reign of Heaven”; that is, he shall have no part there; for those who are accounted worthy of a place in the kingdom of Heaven shall be highly esteemed. To say that the Saviour in this text teaches that the willful violators of the commandments can be saved, would be to represent him as telling the Jews: Think not that I am come to destroy the law or lessen its binding force on men. For till heaven and earth pass, not one jot or one tittle shall pass from the law. Therefore men may violate that law and yet be saved in the kingdom of Heaven.

Another excuse that is offered to justify presumptuous departures from God’s word is, that preachers of the gospel can build on Christ, wood, hay, and stubble, or erroneous doctrines, and yet be saved. 1 Cor. 3:10. But we deny that what is built on Christ represents doctrines. In introducing the subject, Paul says, “Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building,” verse 9; and in concluding the subject, he says, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God? If any man defile [or destroy, margin] the temple of God, him shall God destroy.” Verse 17. Wood, hay, and stubble, represent bad material that is added to the church under the labor of ministers. This material shall be burned up in the day of wrath, and those who have added it to the church shall sustain a loss, i. e., shall not have a full reward. 2 John 8. And even if the ministers have been faithful, before they are saved they shall experience that sorrow with reference to their unfaithful adherents which may be well represented by passing through fire; and much more will those experience sorrow and anguish whose work is burned up at last because of their unfaithfulness. In this case, destruction awaits the preacher as well as his adherents. Paul’s exhortation to Timothy, and through Timothy to every minister of the gospel, is, “Hold fast the form of sound words;” 2 Tim. 1:14; and Jude “gave all diligence” to exhort the church to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” Jude 3. D. T. BOURDEAU.