Sin powerpoint

Sin

Definition of Sin

Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience

It is an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law

It is an offense against God; saying NO to God, to love, to personal growth, and to others

It is evil intentionally committed. It is a bad free human decision

Concept of Sin in the Old TestamentSin is a transgression of God’s law and will and

rejection of His love.It is “missing the mark” (failure to keep the

covenant. Sin is a disobedience against the Decalogue of

God (Dt. 28:15-68).Sin is considered as forgetfulness of God, a

turning away from Him, and as ingratitude (Num 1-3, Ex. 16:5a, Is1:2-4)

Sin is a breaking of personal relationship with God (Adam and Eve)

Story of Cain shows separation from God ultimately leads to separation from other human beings (Gen 4:16)

The sin of arrogance results in a catastrophe that leads to confusion and alienation (Tower of Babel)

3 Main Conceptions of Sin

1. Sin is a defilement or stain, the sense of being unclean before the face of God

2. Sin is a crime, an internal violation of Yahweh’s covenant relationship (Is 59:2-8)

3. Sin is a personal rejection of a love relationship

Sin is basically a free, responsible malice of the sinner and the harm inflicted on other persons

Sin is truly interpersonal: the personal malice of the sinner offending the persons of God and neighbour

By committing a sin, sinners alienate themselves from their neighbours, all creation, God and their own true selves

Concept of Sin in the New Testament

Sin is an ungrateful desertion of the Lord (Lk. 15:11-32)

Sin is an antithesis of charity, an offense against love (Lk. 7:47)

Sin is a desecration of a person’s own body because his/her body which is the temple of the Holy Spirit is destroyed by immorality

Lack of belief is the most radical sin: “Ëvery sin will be forgiven, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven (Mt. 12:31)

Sin is lawlessness and unrighteousnessSin is to love oneself inordinately, not open

to God and to one’s fellowmen

Sin can be reduced to 2 factors:

1. Pride – refusing to be subject to God and not desiring to receive one’s perfection from Him

2. Sensuality – not trying to permeate one’s body by the Spirit

Social Aspect of Sin

A person’s sin affects his/her fellow human beings more or less directly by causing harm to them, which is a deprivation of graces or friendship with God.

Social sin is committed when sin’s power affects others and directly attack human rights and basic freedoms, human dignity, justice and common good

We are still responsible for sins committed by others:

1. when we cooperate in them by participating directly and voluntarily with them;

2. ordering, advising, praising, or approving them;

3. not disclosing or not hindering them when we have an obligation to do so;

4. protecting evildoers

Sins give rise to social situations and institutions that are contrary to the divine goodness.

“Structures of sin” are the expression and effect of personal sins. Personal sins constitute a “social sin”

By committing “personal or private sins” we dirty & stain the society which should be clean

The Proliferation of Sin

Sin creates a proclivity to commit sinSin tends to produce itself and reinforce itself7 Capital Sins engender other sins and other vices:

Pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, sloth or acedia

inordinate

Internal Sins Internal sins are: Mental Complacency, Evil Desire,

Sinful Joy and Sinful Regret• delectatio morosa, i.e. the pleasure taken in

a sinful thought or imagination even without desiring it;

• gaudium, i.e. dwelling with complacency on sins already committed; and

• desiderium, i.e. the desire for what is sinful.

Gradations of Sin“All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which is not

mortal” (1 Jn. 5:17). Mortal and venial sin are gradations in view of the

subjective condition of the sinner, namely, whether he has separated himself from God in a sinful act and lost the divine life of grace or whether he has only diminished the force of divine life in himself without causing its loss.

Grave and light sin are gradations taken more in view of the detriment caused in the objective order to the realization of the ultimate goal.

Mortal sin is a deliberate reversal of our option to be for

God and for others. It exists when a person knowingly and willingly, for whatever reason, chooses something gravely disordered.

One commits a mortal sin when: 1. there is full knowledge or awareness of the wrong

choice, 2. the gravity or seriousness of the object of the act (grave

matter), 3. there is full and deliberate consent of the free will to

choose a morally wrong decision that is so intense that it gives a wrong orientation to a person’s entire life.

4. total conversion to values of limited nature such

as possessions, fame, power or pleasure. This act implies a contempt for God insofar as temporal values are preferred to Him.

Existential Choice

• the comprehensive and basic orientation of a person’s life.

• There is a difference between a person’s fundamental or existential choice and his particular choices (concrete daily acts).

• Scripture teaches that God looks not only at man’s deeds but also at his heart and that he will recreate man by giving him a new heart. (Prov. 21:2, Ezek. 11:19; 36:26; Joel 2:13)

Grave Sin

• a serious offense resulting from a certain weakness, be it a deficient sense of value or a lack of moral strength.

Venial Sin

Venial sin is a morally wrong option aggravated by lack of clear insight or insufficient awareness of the consequence involved in a “sinful” act, or by the imperfect consent of the will

One commits sin in a less serious matter and without full knowledge and consent

Conversion and Reconciliation

Metanoia is a change of heart which implies total reconciliation, both personal and communitarian

“God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (1 Jn. 4:9-11)

Conversion: An Ongoing Process of Transformation

Conversion calls us to the “right” path and to correct numerous shortcomings and imperfections (Rom 6:12)

Conversion needs sacrifice and laborious effort for the salvation of humanity

Conversion presupposes the following conditions:

1. Humble admission of sin and guilt2. Readiness for the efforts of more

renewal3. Openness for the gift of grace4. The sacramental enactment and

realization of conversion

Mercy and Sin

“God created us without us: but He did not will to save us without us” – St. Augustine

To receive God’s mercy we must admit our faults

1 Jn 1:8-9- We have to admit and confess our sins