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I've been trying to find a verse I read not too long ago for quite some time about sinning and knowing it's wrong, but sinning anyway because you know God will forgive you. I believe it also mentioned how people who do this are even lower than people who sin, then repent and attempt to stop doing it.

I know that verse-identification has had a lot of discussion on the meta as to whether it should be allowed, and it seems most people would only allow it under very strict circumstances. That said, I do agree with this opinion, but I also believe that this question meets those circumstances, so I will take the risk.

I have been trying to find this verse for quite some time, and I can't find it. I've searched Google, I've looked it up on quite a few websites, I've even asked other people if they had seen the verse. It's almost like it didn't exist, but I'm 100% certain that I saw it, but I can't find it. Point is, I've searched all over the place to no avail, and I feel that this is the last place I can possibly turn.

If anyone has seen this verse I would very much appreciate it, but if you haven't seen this particular verse, I would rather you not answer with a verse that has a similar subject, but is different. Thanks.

Update: I just asked a particular person who I hadn't asked before and they said they knew the verse I was talking about, but wasn't sure where it was. They hunted around for a while looking for it and found a few similar verses, but not the correct one. To make things easier, I will name a few verses it isn't, but it would be nigh impossible to track down every similar verse I've seen that isn't the one. I'll also include passages that have been put in answers that aren't it.

Many of the verses I have seen that aren't it are as follows:

There are other verses I have seen, but these verses were the closest ones I found.

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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is a verse identification question.
    – user3961
    Commented Dec 3, 2015 at 16:34
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    I'm voting to leave this question open because I find some verse identification questions acceptable.
    – Nathaniel is protesting
    Commented Dec 3, 2015 at 16:54
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    I still think it should be closed. It's very broad (there are lots of verses about deliberately sinning, and lots of other ones about people who are worse than others), you haven't given very specific wording, and you haven't told us exactly what you searched for. This is exactly the same problem we see for other verse identification questions.
    – curiousdannii ♦
    Commented Dec 3, 2015 at 22:44
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    Okay, here's a potential way to make this question format acceptable: questions would need to not just tell us the exact wording they searched for, but also to tell us which verses their searches found which weren't what they were after.
    – curiousdannii ♦
    Commented Dec 3, 2015 at 22:57
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    @curiousdannii A list of what it's not is a very good requirement. It proves that you've searched and it narrows things down.
    – user3961
    Commented Dec 4, 2015 at 20:14

10 Answers 10

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This is a major point of Romans 6. After arguing that the coming of the law increased the number of trespasses, and that subsequently "grace abounded all the more," Paul warns those who might twist his words:

6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

6:15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? (ESV)

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    I had been looking for this passage! It's just like moral hazard, except in another context.
    – Vandermonde
    Commented Dec 3, 2015 at 21:19
  • I don't think this 6:1 is a correct identification because it's about the ludicrous idea of sinning so that grace may increase, whereas the OP is asking about someone not caring about sin because they're saved regardless. 6:15 seems to have the right general idea, but there's no mention of it being worse than others.
    – curiousdannii ♦
    Commented Dec 3, 2015 at 22:47
  • 6:1 and 6:15 most closely match (IMHO) the OP's title and first sentence. Other verses surely address the OP's second sentence more closely, but I understand that to be supplemental, not essential, information.
    – Nathaniel is protesting
    Commented Dec 3, 2015 at 23:26
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Jude 4 says:

I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches saying that God's marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ."

New Living Translation.

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    This is excellent. This meaning isn't as obvious in more literal translations, but this does seem to meet the OP's requirements.
    – Nathaniel is protesting
    Commented Dec 4, 2015 at 3:09
  • @Nathaniel One reason the NLT should be taken with a grain of salt. It's more on the interpretative side than other translations. But that doesn't preclude the OP from remembering this particular wording.
    – user3961
    Commented Dec 4, 2015 at 20:16
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    @fredsbend Yes, definitely. But the NLT could have been what the OP was thinking of, in which case this verse would be very close. And though the NLT is interpretative, comparing it with more literal translations, I don't see a huge difference in meaning, rather mostly just clearer wording.
    – Nathaniel is protesting
    Commented Dec 4, 2015 at 20:19
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There are a few verses in Romans that might be what you're thinking of:

Romans 3:8 ESV And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

Romans 6:1 ESV What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?

Romans 6:15 ESV What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

Note: I could go in to what I believe these verses mean within their context but that would be outside the scope of the question. This question is for verse identification.

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When I search Google for your exact wording "sinning and knowing it's wrong, but sinning anyway because you know God will forgive you" the one of the top results identifies Hebrews 10:26-31:

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:26-31, NIV)

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When I search Google for "deliberately sinning, but God will forgive you" the one of the top results suggests these verses:

If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. (2 Peter 2:20-21, NIV)

If in spite of these things you do not accept my correction but continue to be hostile toward me, I myself will be hostile toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over. (Leviticus 26:23-24, NIV)

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There is a verse in The Book of Mormon which closely matches your description. Perhaps the person whose sermon you remember this from was referring to that scripture.

2 Nephi 28:8

8 And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God.

The rest of the chapter does indicate that those who follow this path are in danger of hell, but doesn't specifically compare them to other sinners as better or worse.

That scripture references Isaiah 22:13-14 which also closely matches your description:

Isaiah 22:13-14

13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.

14 And it was revealed in mine ears by the Lord of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord God of hosts.

So this is similar in saying eat, drink, and be merry, but verse fourteen could be interpreted as suggesting that the sin is as bad, or worse, than those that perform death-bed repentance.

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James 4:17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.(A)

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I believe the passage you are looking for is Matthew 18:21-22.

Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

If this is the measure of Jesus' expectation of us, then it can only be the measure he, himself, applies.

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  • The op found it already. christianity.stackexchange.com/a/45584/3961
    – user3961
    Commented Dec 12, 2015 at 8:18
  • Thanks for the heads up on that, @fredsbend. I think I must have misunderstood his question. I actually read his answer without recognising that he was also the OP, and wondered how it actually answered the question. In the Matthew passage I referred to, Jesus certainly pushes our exercise of grace to the limits, which is what I thought he was on about.
    – enegue
    Commented Dec 12, 2015 at 8:38
  • It's not your fault. This is just not a good question type. The community used to close them, but recently has been experimenting with allowing them. Check meta for "verse identification" to read about it.
    – user3961
    Commented Dec 12, 2015 at 9:02
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Sirach 6:5-9 Be not without fear about sin forgiven, and add not sin upon sin: 6 And say not: The mercy of the Lord is great, he will have mercy on the multitude of my sins. 7 For mercy and wrath quickly come from him, and his wrath looketh upon sinners. 8 Delay not to be converted to the Lord, and defer it not from day to day. 9 For his wrath shall come on a sudden, and in the time of vengeance he will destroy thee.

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Ok, I just found it. I did get it a little mixed up with a different verse (My bad), but here's what I found:

The verse was: 1 John 3:6: No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

I got it mixed up with: 2 Peter 2:21: It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.

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  • @bruisedreed Would you still consider a question acceptable that is broad enough for this to be the best answer?
    – Nathaniel is protesting
    Commented Dec 4, 2015 at 11:38
  • @Nathaniel If you mean broad enough that the other answers remain valid, then no - in my opinion, such a question should be closed as either too broad or primarily opinion based.
    – bruised reed
    Commented Dec 4, 2015 at 14:17
  • @bruisedreed I'm wondering if it would be too broad regardless of other current answers... "what is one verse that says X and another than says Y" could have a ton of combinations, unless X and Y were so specific that a simple internet search would give the result (in which case "no research effort" would be a possibility).
    – Nathaniel is protesting
    Commented Dec 4, 2015 at 14:21
  • @Nathaniel - Yes, that does strikes me as being too broad & after thinking about it more, I think just a plain unequivocal "no" is the best answer to your original question.
    – bruised reed
    Commented Dec 4, 2015 at 15:12
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    I do agree with both of you in this matter. This question was much broader than I at any point intended and expected, and I regret that. The answer causes the question to be even more broad, due to the answer having, in some ways, less similarity to the description than some of the other answers that were given. Whether this is taken down or not doesn't matter to me, so if most people feel it should be taken down, then please do so. Maybe a chat room should be opened for this sort of thing, though I haven't looked yet. Maybe there is one.
    – Spyfiend13
    Commented Dec 4, 2015 at 18:27

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