# What sins are

The Bible *constantly* addresses sin, which is any action or thought that goes against what God wants.

- [God is good and fair](god.md), and anything that damages ourselves or others, even when not apparent, is a sin to Him.
- While sin is usually fun and exciting in the short term, it creates long-term harm to the sinner, other people, or the environment.

Small sins [habitually](habits.md) prepare us for larger sins on the same spectrum, eventually leading to pure evil (i.e., "logismoi").

1. Assault: we encounter an impure thought, often planted [by the devil](spiritual-warfare-tricks.md).
2. Interaction: we open up a [dialogue](people-conversation.md) that lets that thought take more precedence in our [minds](understanding.md).
3. Consent: after the dialogue becomes [familiar](habits.md), we [consent](people-contracts.md) to our urges.
4. Defeat: we become hostages to that urge, and find it more difficult to resist.
5. Passion or Obsession: that sin becomes an [addictive](addiction.md) [substance](addiction-substances.md) and grafts into our [soul](humanity.md).

[Evil](morality-evil.md) itself is the absence of good, not the opposite.

- People usually see good and evil as a dualistic battle, but evil is more of a void (like darkness or cold).
- Apathy and hate are the absence of love, and selfishness is the absence of consideration for others.

All followers of Christ are responsible for removing sin from their lives by submitting themselves to God.

- Submission is a constant and disciplined reliance on the Holy Spirit, and requires [many habits](spiritual-exercises.md) to maintain.

## Only God's grace will save us

Removing sin doesn't matter for salvation from hell:

- [Romans 3:20-24](https://biblehub.com/bsb/romans/3.htm)
- [Ephesians 2:8-9](https://biblehub.com/bsb/ephesians/2.htm)
- We can never purify ourselves to a place of worthiness, and are under judgment from the moment we've first sinned.
- In fact, sins run so deep that only God's divine intervention can stop us from committing them.

If you confess your sins and ask for forgiveness, [Jesus will forgive you](jesus-gospel.md)

- [1 John 1:9](https://biblehub.com/1_john/1-9.htm)

- Over time, God purifies Christians as they keep avoiding sin.
  - [1 John 1:7](https://biblehub.com/1_john/1-7.htm)
- However, despite our best efforts, we will never entirely remove sins from this life.
  - [1 John 1:8](https://biblehub.com/1_john/1-8.htm)
- In fact, as we understand ourselves more, we gain *more* awareness of the evil [habits](habits.md) we've [culturally normalized](culture.md)!

To avoid sin, we must draw near to God and stay far away from even thinking of sin.

- [2 Corinthians 5:17](https://biblehub.com/2_corinthians/5-17.htm)
- Some people try to hover comfortably close to sin without crossing the line (e.g., sexual experimentation, near-drunkenness).
- While Christ's sacrifice gives us the freedom to sin, it has no use in the new life.
  - [1 Corinthians 10:23](https://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/10-23.htm)
- For the sake of your soul, stay away from anyone or anything that can cause you to sin.
  - [Matthew 5:29-30](https://biblehub.com/bsb/matthew/5.htm)

God gave us each a specific amount of grace according to our needs.

- [Ephesians 4:7](https://biblehub.com/ephesians/4-7.htm)
- God knows what you'll do before you do it, so He's already prepared to forgive you for what you haven't done yet.
- This grace should make our walk with God bolder and more confident.
  - [Hebrews 4:16](https://biblehub.com/hebrews/4-16.htm)

God indicates [hundreds of sins in Scripture that sever our relationship with Him](https://stucky.tech/notes/morality-sins-list.md).

## Some Hebrew laws don't transfer precisely to now

God designed the Law within a historical context to separate the [culture](culture.md) of His people for the purpose of holiness.

- [1 Corinthians 6:11](https://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/6-11.htm)
- For example, God forbade getting tattoos and shaving the head because they were ancient Egyptian death cult practices.
  - [Deuteronomy 14:1](https://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/14-1.htm)
  - [1 Kings 18:28](https://biblehub.com/1_kings/18-28.htm)
- However, the *spirit* of the Hebrew law is still applicable toward living a life filled with [justice](morality-justice.md), grace, peace, and [love](people-love.md).

God didn't create the laws to needlessly oppress.

- Each of the laws, when examined for their intent, teaches either how to [live well](goodlife.md), [love](people-love.md), or have a relationship with Christ.
  - [Galatians 3:23-24](https://biblehub.com/bsb/galatians/3.htm)
- Some odder laws (like forbidding shellfish) often have [health implications](body-4_health.md) that existed before [modern technology](conveniences.md) like [refrigeration](engineering.md).

## Every sin centers on an idol

Anything that isn't worshiping God is idolatry.

- We worship idols when we're focusing less on God and more on something else.
- [Addiction](addiction.md), obsession, fandom, and close affiliation are simply synonyms for idolatry.
- [Anything](addiction-substances.md) can become an idol.
- We typically drift very, *very* slowly from our worship of God towards an idol.

We can find our idols relatively easily if we examine what we value:

- What do you worry about most?
- What would make you lose your desire to live if you lost it?
- What do you comfort yourself with when life becomes difficult?
- What do you do to cope?
- What are your release valves?
- What do you do to feel better?
- What preoccupies you?
- What do you daydream about?
- What gives you the most self-worth?
- What are you proudest of?
- What do you wish others would know you for?
- What topics do you start conversations with?
- What do you insist others know first about you?
- If unanswered, what unsatisfied prayer would give you a reason to turn away from God?
- What do you really want and expect out of life?
- What do you believe would make you happy?
- What is your hope for the future?

We must constantly cast down our idols. If we don't, God will remind us. If we *really* don't, God will cast them down for us.

## Nearly every sin involves pride

Pride is essentially the worship of oneself, and Christianity is the only belief system that addresses it.

- Everyone has pride, but nobody wants to admit theirs.
- While being "proud of" someone is happiness with others' performance, Christian pride is the competitive belief of being "better than" others.

Pride is a feeling of superiority and is the philosophical root of most sins.

- It's an irrational measurement of status instead of assessing desires or needs.
- For example, someone who makes $1,000,000 a year will feel compelled to outperform someone else making $1,005,000 a year, irrespective of actual need.
- Since God is better than everyone, anyone with pride will hate God.

Pride can apply to absolutely *anything*:

- More [wealth](money-investing.md), more possessions, or better [financial status](money-3_budget.md)
- More [creative](mind-creativity.md), [intelligent](understanding.md), talented, [competent](success-4_routine.md), or physically strong
- More [entertaining](fun.md), [funny](humor.md), or [popular](power-influence.md)
- More sophisticated, cleaner, wiser, or better
- More spiritual, humble, or religious
- More poor, more disliked, or weaker
- Less popular, less talented, or more incapable

Humility, the opposite of pride, is simply ignoring our status compared to others.

- Contrary to what you may expect, a humble person isn't usually miserable or pitiful.
- Humble people are typically satisfied with their status and comfortable with the situation they're in.

The secret to humility isn't about not comparing ourselves (which is [humanly impossible](values.md)), but instead about not giving [self-value or meaning](meaning.md) to that comparison.

- We may *be* stronger, humbler, more spiritual, etc., but those qualities don't make us any better than anyone else.
  - [1 Corinthians 12:12-26](https://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/12.htm)
- Instead, we must concern ourselves with how much more that superiority makes us responsible to take action above and beyond others.
  - [Philippians 2:3-4](https://biblehub.com/philippians/2.htm)

To have *any* [relationship with an infinite God](identity-christian.md), we must have humility.

## Purging sins is a lifelong challenge

[New Christians](christian-new.md) are often zealous to remove all their sins, but eventually slow seasons walking with God can create complacency:

- Drifting a few degrees from where God wants you
- Focusing on too many distractions
- No [hardship](hardship.md) to force spiritual growth
- Obsessing about being a "super Christian" (which may lead to legalism)

Fight complacency as much as possible:

- Identify [disciplines](spiritual-exercises.md) you've been neglecting.
- Focus more on waiting for God than "doing" anything.
- [Encourage others](spiritual-discipleship.md) to follow God's spiritual [purposes](purpose.md).
- [Consume and study](bible-study.md) His Word frequently.
- [Associate frequently with other believers](church.md) and repent immediately whenever they address one of your sins.

## Watch for religiousness

Religiousness is also known as "leaven" (yeast) and leads to legalism.

- [Luke 12:1](https://biblehub.com/luke/12-1.htm)
- [1 Corinthians 5:6-8](https://biblehub.com/bsb/1_corinthians/5.htm)
- Once it's mixed, yeast and dough can never be separated, and religious thinking inflates the simple truth into dogmatic fluff.

Watch for legalism in yourself and others:

- A cold, distant, judgmental, or unloving attitude toward others
- Stronger emphasis on holiness than grace
- Emphasizing a specific translation of the Bible (often the King James Version)
- A cynical attitude about [sharing the gospel](jesus-gospel.md) and [serving God](spiritual-exercises.md)
- Culturally identifying with old popular culture and "the older and better way of things"
- Self-unaware hypocrisy of judging others without accepting potential wrongdoing

Legalism builds through stages:

1. Believing people need good works and [spiritual disciplines](spiritual-exercises.md) to gain God's favor.
2. Creating new [rules](rules.md) as decent sin-avoiding guidelines.
3. Requiring others to follow those guidelines, irrespective of circumstance.
4. Emphasizing the new rules over God's and neglecting some of God's other rules.

## In Christ, you will avoid all sin

Jesus commanded us to carry our cross daily.

- [Matthew 16:24-25](https://biblehub.com/bsb/matthew/16.htm)
- The cross was a death penalty, and you must put your flesh to death on a daily, hourly, and per-minute basis.
- You will face opposition from [the Satan](spiritual-warfare.md), the [world](hardship-persecution-church.md), and your [desires](humanity-christian.md).
- Most risks to our souls are completely irrelevant when we follow God's commands.
- You're not alone, and the Holy Spirit is with you if you desire Him.
  - [Romans 8:2-6](https://biblehub.com/bsb/romans/8.htm)

Avoiding temptation *requires* associating closely with other believers:

- Try to limit time with toxic [friends and family](church-family.md).
- Keep connected with a spiritually productive and theologically sound part of the [Church](church.md), which can sometimes be your family.
- Never stop [speaking with Him](spiritual-exercises-prayer.md) and [reading His word](bible.md).