“YOU CAN SIN UNTO DEATH, AND FOR SUCH THERE IS NO FORGIVENESS”
BY REV. J. G. RAWLINGS, NOW SENTENCED TO DEATH.
The Author of the Following Article on the Bible and Its Teachings on the Subject of Sin Will Be Hanged at Valdosta, Tuesday, December 4.
Valdosta, Ga., Nov. 22.—Some newspapers have accused me of seeking notoriety, which is not true. However, realizing the awfulness of sin and knowing that my time is short here, I would like to warn some to flee the wrath to come.
We find in James 5:20 that if we convert a sinner from the error of his way, we save a soul from death and hide a multitude of sins.
I see in the papers that a great temperance wave has swept Valdosta, and I wish those people success. I will also warn them to watch their fort on all sides, lest, while they dig up the tares, they ruin the wheat. I read in history of a warrior who would slip in behind the enemy and kill many, so I say to the temperance people, watch on all sides, lest Satan come in from some point you are not watching and creep in unawares. Christ told His disciples to watch and pray, lest they enter into temptation.
Can Fall Away
I know that some say you can’t fall away, but I know the Bible teaches that we can. A preacher told me a few days ago that he heard another preacher say that he is saved, and if he were to kill a man and be hanged, he would go to heaven. I don’t believe that any more than I believe Jesus Christ was an infidel. I know that the Bible teaches we can fall and warns against it, and that is what I want to warn the people about.
Falling from grace and sinning against the Holy Ghost are not the same as taught in the Bible. I hope those who read this will carefully study the Bible and see that I am right. Falling from grace is a Christian becoming careless and lukewarm and neglecting his Christian duties. See God’s threat against the church of the Laodiceans, Revelation 3:14-16, and in other places. The sin against the Holy Ghost is different—it is the Christian who sins willfully and knowingly.
In the old law, people were forbidden to pray for those who sinned knowingly. Christ said there is no forgiveness for such sin. John said not to pray for it. I hope those who read this will take a reference Bible and trace the subject thoroughly. If you do, you will see that the Bible teaches people can sin a sin unto death—a sin for which there is no forgiveness promised either in this world or the world to come. Here are a few of the most prominent passages on this subject: Numbers 15:30, Deuteronomy 17:12, 1 Samuel 10:13, Jeremiah 7:14-16, Matthew 12:31, Hebrews 6:4-6, 10:26-28, 1 John 5:16. These are only a few of the many passages in the Old and New Testament that refer to this subject. I know there is a difference of opinion, but I ask all who believe the Bible to read the Word and see what it says.
Some people believe one part of the Bible, others another part, and some say they don’t believe any of it. Believe the Bible.
I believe every word in the Bible, and that it is given to us as a history of the ages past, showing how the wicked have been destroyed and warning us in this Gospel age. The New Testament is an account of the death and suffering of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who came into the world to pay the price for salvation, whereby we might be saved. When we accept Jesus Christ as our sacrifice, we say we denounce sin of every kind, and that is where the warning in Hebrews 10:19-26 comes in. It says that if we sin willfully after that, there is no more sacrifice, and it shows that certain destruction awaits us. In Jude 6, the angels who fell are reserved in chains for the judgment day.
Some teach that we can’t fall, but I say be careful how you treat the Spirit of grace. For parting ways with it is sad, or most wretched indeed.
I hope other papers will print this, as it may cause some to hold fast to the new and living way.
May God Help.
J.G. Rawlings.