Unbelief, the Most Heinous Sin. (pasche)

"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Mark 16,16.

    We were the captives of Satan, held in bondage under the Law, 

and subject to eternal death. But God had compassion on us and 

purchased us from bondage and death unto liberty and life, from 

sorrow and sighing to everlasting joy and gladness. “ Ye are bought 

with a price,” St. Paul writes to the Corinthians. And what is the

price, the ransom, that was paid for us ? “ God spared not His own 

Son, but delivered Him up for us all.” The price for our liberty 

was high; it cost God His only Son. And the Son did not refuse 

to be delivered into inexpressible pain and death. He consented to 

the will of the Father and gave Himself a ransom for us. And the 

blood of Jesus, our Redeemer, cleanses us from all sins. Purchased 

by the blood of the Son of God, we are purchased indeed. Now we 

belong to God and no longer to Satan.

    Men are now no longer lost because they were not redeemed, 

because liberty had not been purchased for them, or because the 

chains of their bondage were so strong that they could not be freed 

from them; men are lost only because they slight the salvation of 

Christ, because they deny Him who bought them, — because they 

do not believe in Christ. Not believing in Christ is the greatest of 

sins, the only sin that damns. Alas, that the great multitude of 

men, notwithstanding they have been bought so dearly, should 

prefer to remain in bondage and bring upon themselves swift de-

struction! In the mean time the voice of the Gospel resounds 

throughout the world, inviting men out of bondage into liberty, out 

of darkness into light, and calling upon all men at all places to 

rejoice over the free salvation of God in Christ Jesus. But the 

unbeliever rejects this blessed invitation of the Gospel. He means 

to be more than the Most High; God’s message seems despicable 

in his eyes!

    Oh, what a terrible sinner the unbeliever is! He has not yet 

begun to understand the bottomless depth of his depravity. Surely 

unbelief is the most heinous sin.

Prayer.

O Lord Jesus, Thou Brightness of God’s glory, dispel all dark-

ness of unbelief and ignorance and malice from my mind and let 

me believe aright, live holy, and die happy. When the end of my 

life draws nigh, O blessed Redeemer, hold me safe in Thine arms 

of love and grace that Satan may not snatch me out of them. 

Grant unto me a joyful departure and bestow this grace upon Thy 

servant, that I may in peace leave earth and enter heaven, and with 

all the elect behold Thee face to face, in everlasting joy. Amen