Question 25 of the catechism asks, “Have you perfectly kept all of God’s commandments, as his law and holiness requires?” The short answer is, “No.” “All have sinned” (Rom. 3:23). There is no one who has always done good and never done wrong (Ecc. 7:20). The catechism teaches us to answer, “I have sinned against God by doing what should never be done and leaving undone what God has commanded, falling short of his glory in my words, thoughts, and deeds.”
When we think of sin, we tend to think of the first half of that answer: “doing what should never be done.” If I asked you to list your sins, you would probably write down things that you have done wrong. These are commonly called “sins of commission”—wrongs that we have committed, like stealing, looking lustfully, losing our temper on someone, or wasting our money on materialistic pursuits.
However, we also sin by “leaving undone what God has commanded.” These are commonly called “sins of omission”—goods that we have omitted, like neglecting to pray, read Scripture, and give thanks to God, or failing to help the needy, care for the sick, and share the gospel. The Bible has much to say about sins of omission, and they need to be taken more seriously in the Church.
Key Scriptures
In 1 Samuel 12:23, Samuel says, “far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you.” Prayer is a privilege and a delight, but it is also a duty. God commands us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17), and leaving that duty undone is a sin of omission. Samuel understood that, especially as a leader of God’s people, it was no light matter (“far be it from me!”).
Nehemiah 1:6–7 says, “we have sinned against you … [we] have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded.” Israel had certainly done things that were wrong, but God’s law is not just a list of “thou shalt nots.” God’s law is filled with positive statutes. For example, Jeremiah condemned Israel because they did not defend the rights of the needy (Jer. 5:28). Isaiah confronted Israel for being indifferent to oppression and ignoring the needs of the widows and orphans (Isa. 1:16–17).
Proverbs 3:27–28 says, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it’—when you have it with you.”
In Matthew 23:23, Jesus has harsh words for the religious people who had “neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.” Notice that the word “neglect” is used twice. God’s people must not neglect anything in his law, whether it’s a “weightier” or “less weighty” matter. And it’s especially grievous to God when we fixate on “less weighty” matters while we sin by omitting more serious duties.
Matthew 25:41–45 is a deeply convicting passage. Jesus tells us exactly what will happen when he comes back the second time to judge the world. The Son of Man will come in glory with his angels to sit on his glorious throne and he will separate the “sheep” (his true followers) from the “goats” (those who are not truly righteous). To the “goats,” he will say, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Why? What have they done? Have they committed great wrongs? Well, yes, we know from other passages of Scripture that the sexually immoral, liars, murders, and so on will not inherit God’s kingdom (Rev. 21:8). But Jesus doesn’t mention that in this great judgment passage. Jesus essentially says, “You failed to care for my disciples”—“You didn’t feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, or visit the sick and imprisoned, and by failing to care for them, you failed to care for me.” That’s a list of sins of omission.
In Luke 12:47, Jesus says, “That servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating.” The servant is severely punished because he “did not get ready”—he didn’t “act” when he knew what he was supposed to do. God takes seriously our sins of omission—our laziness, negligence, and neglect of duty.
God takes seriously our sins of omission—our laziness, negligence, and neglect of duty.
Romans 3:9–12 is a famous passage about how “none is righteous, no, not one.” But notice the emphasis on sins of omission. “No one seeks for God”—they go about their daily life as if God does not exist. They live without reference to God. They make no effort to pursue him, to know him, or to discern his will. That’s the greatest sin of omission. Furthermore, Romans says, “no one does good.” They look only to their own interests, and give little thought to others. Finally, the ESV of Romans 3:12 says that the unrighteous have “become worthless.” This doesn’t mean that the unrighteous have lost all their value (even in our sinful condition, we are made in God’s image and valuable enough to Jesus that he bought us back with his precious blood). Rather, this means that the unrighteous have become “unprofitable” as the KJV says or “useless” as the NLT says. The Greek word (achreioō) in this context means “to be or become characterized as having no beneficial use or incapable of functioning usefully” (LRLGNT).
James 4:17 is one of the clearest verses on sins of omission: “Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” When we know what God wants us to do, and neglect to do it, it is sin, and we need to name it as such.
When we know what God wants us to do, and neglect to do it, it is sin, and we need to name it as such.
In 1 John 3:17, the root cause of many sins of omission is exposed. John says, “If anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” Sins of omission come down to a lack of God’s love in our hearts. God’s love isn’t passive or self-focused. God’s love is active and others-oriented. It’s lavish and generous. It seeks, pursues, goes after, and self-sacrifically serves even his enemies. God’s love isn’t like the priest or Levite who sees the man by the roadside and passes by to the other side because they’re just too busy with important things. God’s love is like the good Samaritan who is moved with compassion and stops what he’s doing to care for the one in need.
Practical Application
The biblical teaching on sins of omission has countless practical implications. First and foremost, it should convict us of our own sinfulness and thus deepen our appreciation for what Jesus did on the cross. Jesus did not just atone for the things that we’ve done wrong, he atoned for our many sins of omission. When I look back on my life, I could fill a book with the duties that I’ve neglected, and that’s not a small thing. It’s not a light matter just because everyone else has also sinned by omission. I need to feel the weight of my own sinful neglect of God’s positive commandments and look to Christ as my only hope to be forgiven.
Jesus did not just atone for the things that we’ve done wrong, he atoned for our many sins of omission.
Second, it should make us quicker to confess sin privately and corporately. I’ve talked with some holiness-minded Christians who are hesitant to say, “I have sinned,” or to pray a corporate prayer of confession that says, “We have sinned.” When they reflect on their day or week, they may think, “I haven’t lied or stolen anything or cheated on my spouse or lost my temper.” But I want to ask them, Have you been constant in prayer? Have you searched the Scriptures daily? Have you regularly given thanks to God for all his gifts? Have you made any effort to share the gospel with the people all around you who don’t know Jesus—your neighbors, coworkers, doctor, dentist, and barber? Have you visited the person in your church who was in the hospital, or taken a meal to the family that was sick? Have you faithfully attended church? Have you given generously to the church and to the poor? And on and on it goes. These aren’t light matters. “Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” Such sins need to be confessed.
As we become more aware of our sins of omission, confess them, and trust in Jesus for forgiveness, we do not need to be afraid. It is the cross of Christ, not our perfect performance, that makes us pleasing in God’s sight. As I write this article, I am aware of areas in my own life where I need to improve. God is patient and merciful as we strive by his grace to be more diligent and disciplined in performing our duty to him and to our fellow man. That brings me to my next point.
Third, this teaching should make us more devoted to good works. Good works don’t save us, but they are necessary, since they “are commanded by God and spring from a true and living faith, as good fruit gives evidence of a healthy tree” (Question 51). The good things that God commands are often sorted into two broad categories: works of piety, and works of mercy. Works of piety are primarily (though not only) oriented towards God, such as prayer, reading and studying Scripture, faithfully attending church, being baptized, and constantly sharing the Lord’s Supper. Works of mercy are primarily oriented towards our fellowman, “such as helping the poor, visiting the sick, reaching the lost, strengthening the weak, and restoring the fallen” (Question 54). Both are crucial to authentic Christian living.
Fourth, this teaching should make us take a serious look at our habits and priorities in life. Being a person who is characterized by good works doesn’t happen automatically or without effort. It takes sacrifice and intentionality. It often means reordering our lives. Sometimes that means simple changes like less Netflix or video games or even a little less sleep to have more time for church, discipleship, prayer, and evangelism. Sometimes it means more radical changes. For the first disciples of Jesus, it meant putting down their fishing nets and leaving behind “what they had always done.”
Finally, this teaching should make us more vigilant about the needs all around us. Sometimes we sin by omission because of habits and priorities that have carried over from our life before Christ, or from the world’s materialistic and self-serving way of being in the world. But other times we sin by omission because we’ve become ignorant or calloused to the needs right in front of our faces.
We sin by omission because we’ve become ignorant or calloused to the needs right in front of our faces.
For example, there is someone in my life—let’s call him “Tom”—who I see about once a month. I recently realized that in almost a year of knowing Tom, I had never made any effort to reach him for Jesus. I decided to buy him a book on Christianity to give him as an Easter gift the next time that we crossed paths. Much to my surprise, Tom was deeply moved by it. He said, “I have goosebumps right now,” and then stood and talked to me for about 20 minutes about being raised atheist but always having an openness to faith. He then asked me, “Is there a right way to pray?” It was an encouraging reminder that God is at work all over the place—we just need to be intentional and not neglectful about being his witnesses.
One more example. A few years ago, I became convicted about driving past people on the side of the road who hold signs asking for help. It’s easy to judge them and assume the worst—that with all the opportunities in America, they must just be lazy and trying to take advantage of others. But although I want to be wise and steward my resources well, I would rather get to heaven and say, “Lord, I may have gotten taken advantage of sometimes, but I tried to help,” rather than, “Lord, I didn’t help anyone so that I didn’t get taken advantage of!” No one has been taken advantage of more than our Lord. I decided to commit to a new practice: Whenever I see someone beside the road, I at least run into a nearby store (if at all possible), buy them some groceries, talk to them about God’s love, and give them contact info to reach out for more information about how to get help. Recently, I was able to stop and do this when my sons (seven and three years old) were with me. On the ride home, I talked to them about the parable of the Good Samaritan and how Jesus said that if someone gives even a cup of water to one of his disciples, they will be rewarded. It struck me that this teaching was so much more impactful when part of lived discipleship rather than just around the family table at devotions (as valuable as that is).
God has called us to do more than just “put off” the wrong. He has called us to “put on” the right—to embrace a brand new life of active piety. May we have a heart like Samuel’s that says, “Far be it from me to sin by omission,” and pray for grace to correct any areas where we have left undone what God has commanded.
