What are Sins, and why is it bad to have it?

[Aimiel]

I've always thought of the definition of sin to be: selfishness. It was Satan's first sin: "I will be like the Most High..."

[Firm Foundation]

God established an order, the way things are to be, and sin violates that order.  That is why homosexuality is a sin.  It is a rejection of God's natural order.  

[Justin Adams]

I can see that you have an astute mind and can cut thru the clutter of mere words. There are some good comments here, but I think you really want a friendship with the One True God that will never condemn you or let you down. He will give you lots of leeway to learn and understand where you fit into HIS creation.

The word sin is an archery term and means to miss the mark. Miss the bulls-eye. God is well aware of this tendency in humans and wants to save us and adopt us into His Family - perhaps a concept you have not experienced before.

So keep asking and exploring as you are doing. Sooner or later He might give you a choice to throw in your lot with Him, but He will not force you or pressure you because above all, God values freedom.

Edited July 12, 2019 by Justin Adams

[Takoda]

In any discussion of moral standards I think that it might be helpful to discuss the difference between sin and evil. But before attempting that, let us examine a similar situation in the secular realm. Governments at every level pass legislation that prohibits certain actions. We use the word 'crime' to refer to the deliberate breaking of such a law. However, is the commission of a crime the same thing as committing an evil act? Here we come up against just how we might define evil. For the purposes of this discussion let me give a very simple definition:

Evil --- any deliberate action or inaction which compromises the physical or psychological integrity of a human being.

This, of course, is a narrow definition and we could likely spend a very long time extending it and refining it. Let us leave that at least for the moment. The point that I am sneaking up on here is that 'what is evil is not necessarily a crime' and conversely 'what is a crime is not necessarily evil'. To me this is obvious but let me just attempt an illustration of each statement.

First, 'what is evil is not necessarily a crime'. By my definition above, the killing of another human being is to be regarded as an evil act. However, the law does not regard this as a crime if it is done in self defence or in war.

Second, 'what is a crime is not necessarily evil'. In Singapore, for example, it is a crime to chew gum. I think most would not quibble about this not being evil according to the above definition.

Can we make similar distinctions in the spiritual realm concerning sin and evil? I believe that we can. First, we need a working definition of sin. Let me suggest a very simple definition:

Sin --- doing that which is forbidden by a spiritual authority.

Once again, we could debate this definition. Perhaps the most controversial aspect of this definition might involve whether or not a spiritual authority, such as a church or a scripture, can actually express the will of a Deity. Setting that aside, we once again are faced with two problems. The point being that 'what is evil is not necessarily a sin' and conversely 'what is a sin is not necessarily evil'.

First, 'what is evil is not necessarily a sin'. I think that most would agree that to torture someone is an evil. However, if we just look at Christian scripture, I do not see any specific prohibition that would make torture a sin. A similar argument could be applied to female genital mutilation (circumcision).

Second, 'what is a sin is not necessarily evil'. Here, we can get into a very much more controversial debates. It is certainly true that Christian scripture regards homosexual actions as sinful. However, within society at large and within a number of Christian churches in particular, homosexual behaviour is no longer regarded as an evil in and of itself. It is also certainly true that Jewish scripture regards the breaking of the dietary laws as sinful and even an abomination. However, within society at large and within a number of Jewish traditions in particular, the breaking of the dietary laws is no longer regarded as an evil in and of itself.

The distinctions made here between crime and evil and also between sin and evil lead us in a real quandry for society at large. The western world has become, and is increasingly becoming, extremely diverse in language, culture and religion. There is also no real way of reversing this. Since different religions cannot agree on what is sin, I do not think that we can rely on religion entirely to inform our moral and ethical behaviour. Since what is regarded as sin has so often in the past led us into framing our laws to determine what is criminal, I think we need a new approach to the problem. We need an approach that avoids the imposition of one set of religious beliefs on society at large --- an approach broadly constructed on a concensus of what is evil and therefore what is criminal. Leave what is regarded as sin to the consciences of those in particular religious traditions.

[nobleseed]

On 5/10/2019 at 3:23 AM, Leyla said:

Hello, I feel the need to add in a backstory that you can skip, the question will start with another colour. Im leyla and im 14, I was born muslim, left it and now I lean towards christianity. I thought that I accepted Jesus and I also spend alot of my time lately studying the bible, however I still did not study it enough to claim that I know the Bible as much as I know the Quran.  I dont want to say that Im a christian, because I still have many doubts in christianity and it would be wrong for me, to call myself something that I am not (atleast something that Im not fully in my heart).  As some of you may have noticed, I tend to be fairly active on some parts of the forum lately, because of my doubts  (it usually involves me trying to prove something about christianity wrong). I dont do it because I want to get my point across. Throwing away all my biases and emotions, and putting myself in the shoes of a sceptic, was the thing that helped me leave islam, something that I consider to be wrong now. This method generally gave me good results and it helped me alot in my life. The thing is that I dont stop with christianity and that I want to scrutinise christianity too, to see if it holds any meaning or value. I dont know if this part of the forum is made for confessions like that, but many people here started to view me differently, after I started asking my questions. I also lost some of my friends, I made in my new more or less christian enviroment, so I experienced how it feels to be left because of my doubts for a second time, and I would rather have these things not happen at all but i value the truth more than comfort.  These things were bothering me and I felt the desire to get them out of my chest. Now back to the Question. What exactly are "Sins"? Are sins bad because God said that they are bad, or are they bad because they are bad? Also, why are silly things like homosexuality, or not believing in a God a sin? (Edit: I intend to let this thread go offtopic alot if you dont mind)

thanks for your honesty and it must not be easy for u, a sin is any wickedness we do like yelling at your parents, gossipping and such, and why is homosexualy a sin, it is because it is an unnatural act and anything unnatural is wrong.  and i do not think unbelief in it self is a sin because it comes from a lack of knowledge and all they have to do to repent is believe.  and a sin is something that God considers bad but it is also something that hurts others, so it is bad for us also.  help this helps and feel free to ask me any other questions