📖 Biblical Definition
A sin of omission is the failure to do the good that God requires—the leaving undone of a commanded duty—as distinguished from a sin of commission, which is the doing of what God forbids. Scripture is unmistakable that omission is true and culpable sin: “to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” The law of God is not merely a list of prohibitions but a summons to positive love of God and neighbor; thus every commandment, while forbidding the contrary evil, also requires the corresponding good, and the neglect of that good is transgression. Our Lord’s portrait of the last judgment turns largely upon omissions: the goats are condemned not for crimes committed but for mercies withheld—“I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat”—for inasmuch as they did it not to the least of these, they did it not to Him. The priest and the Levite who passed by the wounded man sinned by omission. The unprofitable servant who hid his talent was cast out not for squandering but for failing to use it. This doctrine searches the conscience far more deeply than a mere tally of forbidden acts, for a man may refrain from every gross outward crime and yet stand guilty of a thousand neglected duties—prayers unprayed, mercies unshown, truths unspoken, gifts unused, worship withheld. It teaches that righteousness is not the mere absence of wrongdoing but the active presence of love and obedience, and it humbles even the most outwardly upright before the searching law of God.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Webster 1828 defines OMISSION as neglect or failure to do something that ought to be done; in morals, the neglect of duty, opposed to commission.
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OMISSION, n. — 1. Neglect or failure to do something which a person had power to do, or which duty required to be done. Omission may be a crime or fault, when duty requires action. 2. A leaving out; a passing by; the act of neglecting or omitting.
Sins of omission are distinguished from sins of commission, the former being the neglect of duty, the latter the doing of what is forbidden.
📖 Key Scripture
James 4:17 — "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."
Matthew 25:42-43 — "For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink... Naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not."
Luke 10:31-32 — "And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side."
Matthew 25:25-26 — "And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth... Thou wicked and slothful servant."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
No major postmodern redefinition, but the category is neglected—a morality of mere prohibition lets men feel righteous for the evils they avoid while ignoring the mountain of good they leave undone.
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The neglect of the doctrine of omission breeds a shallow and self-satisfied morality. A man reckons himself good because he has not murdered, stolen, or committed adultery—a righteousness measured entirely by the evils he has avoided. But this is the very self-deception Christ exposed in the rich young ruler, who had kept all the prohibitions from his youth, yet lacked the one thing needful. A morality of mere abstinence can produce a respectable, harmless, and wholly unconverted man, confident in his innocence precisely because he has never reckoned with the good he was bound to do and left undone.
Scripture will not allow this comfortable accounting. The law requires positive love—to God with all the heart, to the neighbor as oneself—and the failure to render that love is sin as truly as any forbidden act. The most sobering scenes of judgment in the Gospels hinge on omission: the goats condemned for mercies withheld, the priest and Levite for compassion not shown, the servant for the talent not used. To recover this doctrine is to recover a searching self-examination that asks not only “what evil have I done?” but “what good have I failed to do?”—and that finds, in the answer, fresh cause to flee to the Christ who not only bore our transgressions but fulfilled, on our behalf, all the righteousness we have left undone.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
The doctrine rests on James’s verdict that knowing to do good and doing it not (Greek mē poieō) is itself sin—duty left undone is transgression.
Usage
"A sin of omission is the good left undone—the duty God commands and we neglect."
"The goats were condemned for mercies withheld; theirs were sins of omission."
"A morality of mere prohibition lets a man feel righteous for the evils he avoids while ignoring the good he never does."