What are the Seven Deadly Sins,
and is this Biblical?
-by Tony Warren
Actually, there is no Biblical list of seven deadly sins, for God has made it abundantly clear throughout scripture that all and any sins (transgressions of God's Law) are deadly and will result in our damnation.
Romans 6:23
- "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
James 2:10
- "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
Every sin or transgression of God's law is deadly because the penalty for any one of these sins is death. And so to call only seven sins deadly is really a misnomer. That is precisely why no one could become Saved by his own righteousness, or without Christ's payment for each and every one of their transgressions. Because any little (
in man's eyes) sin which was left unpaid, would result in the judgment of death (Ezekiel 18:4).
The phrase 'Seven Deadly Sins' is a part of Roman Catholic folklore and church tradition where some sins which they personally deemed as ruin to spiritual progress, was labled deadly or capital, but this teaching has no foundation in the scriptures. The list consisted of the following:
1. Pride
2. Avarice (Greed)
3. Envy
4. Wrath
5. Lust
6. Gluttony
7. Sloth
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These particular sins are nowhere listed as a group, for they are as every other sin, and are warned against throughout the scripture in many different ways. God does not single these out as deadly above all others. In other words, the sin of pride is no more deadly than the sin of not loving God with all thy heart and soul. The sin of wrath or anger is no more deadly than the sin of disobedience to any of God's commands. They are all deadly transgressions, and so to list seven as deadly 'as if' the other sins are not, does a terrible disservice to the Holiness and justice of God. It is written that the wages of sin is death, not that the wages of these seven sins is.
Nevertheless, these sins are some of the more popular sins which man has much difficulty in overcoming, and so we will take a brief look at them in order to understand how they war against the Spirit, and how we may overcome them in Christ.
1. PRIDE: This is the unwillingness to look at one's faults honestly, or of esteeming ourselves greatly based on an excessive consciousness of abilities or worth. This is vanity, and is often euphemistically called, 'self respect.'
Proverbs 16:18
- "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."
This is the root cause of many other sins. The Godly virtue which this transgression wars against is Christian humility and a contrite spirit (Matthew. 5:5, Proverbs 16:19), where man has a spiritual aversion to being subject to God or His laws. It is a hindrance to the Christian's recognition of the Sovereignty and Grace of God. To combat this sin, we should strive to see ourselves as the sinners that we really are, and not to compare ourselves to others, that we might appear to ourselves better or more righteous.
2. AVARICE: This is simply Greed. This sin is the inordinate love of possessions and desire for either material wealth, or to gain more than one needs.
Proverbs 15:27
- "He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live."
The Godly virtue which this sin wars against is Christian charity (Matthew 10:21, Acts 20:35), and usually ignores the spiritual in favor of the temporal. To combat this sin we should seek to understand that generosity means sacrifice, and letting others to receive credit or praise. To give wanting nothing in return, is the true charity which combats greed.
3. ENVY: This sin is that of jealousy or perverted love because it is the love and desire to own what belongs to someone else (exodus 20:17). This transgression is the discontentment over another's superiority over us in possessions or some good fortune. Envy is the resentment of the good others will or have received.
Matthew 27:17
- "Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?
- For he knew that for envy they had delivered him."
Proverbs 23:17
- "Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long."
The Godly virtue which this sin wars against is Christian contentment (Hebrews 13:5, Philippians 4:11) and true loving of our neighbor as ourselves. We combat this sin by being noble and honestly joy over our neighbor's good fortune, as if it were our own. That is loving our neighbor as ourselves (James 2:8) and being meek in spirit.
4. WRATH: This is the transgression of anger or strong exasperation in rage at something or someone. It is often the result of our impatience or of having our pride hurt.
James 1:20
- "For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God."
Colossians 3:8
- "But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth."
The Godly virtue which this sin wars against is Christian Love and patience (Hosea 14:4, Luke 6:36) in dealing with the faults of others. We combat this sin by reigning in the passion of the flesh, not neglecting charity and love, and being patient where we show kindness and compassion to others, forgiving their transgressions seven times seventy.
5. LUST: This is the sin of having an inordinate and intense longing or appetite for something such as money, or sexual cravings. It is often manifested in a self-destructive drive for some pleasure regardless of it's value, merit, or legality.
Matthew 5:28
- "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."
1st John 2:16
- "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."
The Godly virtue which this sin wars against is Christian self control. The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Galatians 6:7-8, 1st Corinthians 9:27), and so to combat this sin we should seek to remove from our realm or sight all temptations or snares which we might fall into because of our weakness.
6. GLUTTONY: This sin manifested in someone who indulges himself excessively in eating or drinking.
Proverbs 23:21
- Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
- For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags."
The Godly virtue which this sin wars against is Christian moderation (Philippians 4:5) and sound judgment. We can combat the sin of gluttony by temperance in accepting the natural limits of pleasures and by praying for strength to reduce our desire to eat. We should learn to quit eating before we are feeling stuffed or full.
7. SLOTH: This sin is the inclination to being lazy or to abhor the work ethic. Man is to provide for himself and his household, and being idle is a contradiction to this command of God.
Proverbs 19:15
- "Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger."
Ecclesiastes 10:18
- "By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through."
The Godly virtue which this sin wars against is Christian zeal and Work (1st Corinthians 15:58, 2nd Timothy 4:5) ethic. We can combat this sin by repentance and in praying to God for an ardent and energetic interest or desire to respond to God's commands against our disdain for physical exertion.
And so we see from the scriptures that these so called 'seven deadly sins' are simply a small part of an extensive collection of sins or transgressions of God's law, the breaking of any of which will cause death.
1st Corinthians 15:56-57
- "The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
- But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
The true Christian who has been born from above need not fear any of the myriad of sins, all of which will bring the wages of death, for we have the victory over them through our Lord Christ Jesus. God gave the ten commandments encapsulating the 'whole law' not the seven deadly sins. And the true believer should understand that unless Christ has been the propitiation for all of our sins from the least to the greatest, then we will see death as the wages of such sins. But if Christ has washed all our sins away, then no sin is deadly to us.
Romans 8:1
- "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."