What are Sins Really? - Answering Christian Questions

What are Sins?

In simple terms, a Sin is any act or thought that disobeys God. And since God is Truth, Love, and Wisdom Himself, any transgressions within these aspects are sins.

Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. - John 14:6 (NIV)

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. - 1 John 4:8 (NIV)

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. - 1 Corinthians 1:30 (NIV)

(If you’re curious to learn more about God’s nature, there are plenty of other verses in John and Corinthians that talk about who He is.)

What does the Cathecism of the Catholic Church teach about Sin?

Sin breaks your relationship with God

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sin isn’t just about violating a commandment. It is a failure to love God.

Sin is an offence against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbour caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. - CCC 1849

There are two different level of sins

The cathecism mentions two levels of sins, the mortal kind and venial kind.

Mortal sin is a grave act done with full knowledge and consent, cutting us off from God’s grace; while Venial sin is lesser in matter or committed without full consent. It weakens love but does not destroy our friendship with God.

Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God’s law; it turns man away from God, who is his ultimate end and his beatitude, by preferring an inferior good to him. Venial sin allows charity to subsist, even though it offends and wounds it. - CCC 1855

For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must be present:

Grave matter
Full knowledge
Deliberate consent

Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God’s law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin. - CCC 1859

Unintentional ignorance can diminish or even remove the imputability of a grave offense. But no one is deemed to be ignorant of the principles of the moral law, which are written in the con science of every man. The promptings of feelings and passions can also diminish the voluntary and free character of the offense, as can external pressures or pathological disorders. Sin committed through malice, by deliberate choice of evil, is the gravest. - CCC 1860

God’s Mercy Has No Limits

God is merciful even to those who have committed the gravest sins. No matter how serious the offense, as long as you sincerely repent, you will be forgiven. The only exception is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. - Matthew 12:31 / CCC 1864

Isn't the Holy Spirit God? Why single out the Spirit? - You probably

Jesus Christ singles out the Holy Spirit in the Gospels not because the Spirit is more divine than the Father or the Son, but because of what the Holy Spirit does, convicting us of sin and moving our hearts to repentance, which itself is an act of God’s mercy.

Denying the Spirit then means denying God's mercy.

But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. - John 16:7-11 (NIV)

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. - Ezekiel 36:26-27 (NIV)

What are Sins Really? - Answering Christian Questions

What are Sins?