3 Major Crimes Against the Soul

“Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die” —Ezekiel 18:4

This verse reveals the possibility of three major crimes people commit against the soul.

(1) STEALING.

Your soul belongs to God (Ezek. 18:4; Num 16:22).  To unlawfully take the property of another is stealing. The eighth commandment says, “Thou shalt not steal.”  Embezzlement is another form of stealing. It is the misuse of someone else’s property. For example, the tithe is the Lord’s (Lev. 27:30-32).  If you use the tithe for yourself, God says that is robbery (Mal. 3:8-9). The same is true about the soul.  To steal something that is highly valuable, is grand larceny.  Since your soul is worth more than the whole world (Mk. 8:36), if you steal it from God, you are guilty of grand larceny!  The best thing you can do with your soul is give it back to God to use as He sees fit.

(2) SUICIDE.  To pre-maturely and intentionally kill yourself (self-destruction).

Suicide is a form of stealing. Taking your own life is taking what is not rightfully yours to take.  Jesus holds the keys of hell and death (Rev. 1:18).The Scriptures indicate the days/times of your life are in God’s hands (Job 7:1; 12:10; 14:14; 1 Sam. 26:10; Ps. 31:15; 2 Tim. 4:6). Essentially, suicide is taking the keys of death and hell away from Jesus.

(3) NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE.

This is the crime of killing through negligence—to kill another person through gross negligence or without malice.  Sometimes this may be a case of  manslaughter or being an accessory to murder. For example, if you have the capacity and knowledge to save a person from dying, but you neglect to exercise any effort to save them and they die, you are guilty of negligent homicide. How may you and I be guilty of this crime?  When we know the way a lost soul can be saved, but we neglect to tell them the saving gospel, we are an accessory to their soul’s demise!  God will require their blood at our hand (Ezek. 3:18 cf. Acts 18:6; 20:26-27).

Be sure you are not guilty of any of these crimes against the soul.