Is sin a choice?

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E

ember

Guest
#21
Well the first thing we have to do is lead people away from the false teaching that thoughts are sins.

If you closely read what the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 5:28 and what Apostle James said in James 1:14-15, then you would see that it is lustful feelings that are sin and not the thoughts. Just because a person has a bad thought here or there does not mean they have sinned, and we can learn by the Holy Spirit to keep those feelings in check.

For the Holy Spirit was not sent to allow us to continue to walk in iniquity, He was sent to guide us in the proper way to walk in the faith.
well, how could you know I would post those verses from Isaiah where God mentions thoughts

huh
 
G

Gr8grace

Guest
#22
The reality is, it doesn't make any difference. The reality is, by the fallen nature of man, we have no choice as to whether we sin or not. We do. Everyone. Even though saved, we sin.

Covered by the blood of Christ, confident in His resurrection for new life in us, our sin now longer matters.

What matters is our growth in Christ, our confidence in Him carrying our weight, and our relying on His strength to live out His life in us so others will see, hear, and believe.
This post is worth putting 10 characters under to keep it moving through the thread.
 

crossnote

Senior Member
Nov 24, 2012
30,742
3,670
113
#23
Do you love the Lord God with ALL your heart, mind and soul ALL the time and your neighbor as yourself?
Anything short of that is sin.
Yes, yes, I'm a sinner.
 
M

Miri

Guest
#24
I'm really gonna throw a spanner in the works now. LOL :)

Just a side point but there are sins of omission as well. Often when people
talk about sin, they talk about the things they have done, but what about the
things they haven't done which they should have done.

Now big question - honestly I am not sure of the answer myself.

Did Adam and Eve sin before the fall? They ate from the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil and for the first time realised they were naked.

But they were also naked before they ate from the tree, is it possible they also
committed sinful actions before the fall but were unaware of it? If so, then it
was not held against them as they had no knowledge of what they were doing.

I told you it was a bit of a "spanner in the works" question. I don't know either.

Another spanner in the works question - what exactly is sin?

We can point to things like robbing a bank, lying, stealing being
rude or angry etc and we know that is sin. But the actual act of sinning is just
a by-product of the thought processes of the brain.

The wrong doing is an outward action of an inner attitude or thought process.
So… is sin really more about the way we think, rather then the actual action.

If this is the case, then it would make sense that sin came into the world when the
knowledge of good and evil came into the world.

Umm interesting, the verses which say be transformed by the renewing
of your mind, would make more sense if sin was regarded as the way we think,
rather then by what we do.


Other interesting verses:-

Gen 6 v 5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the
earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually.

Matt 15 v 17
Do you not understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the
stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the
mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart
proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false
witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man….


If sin is the ingrained way a man thinks, and the outward working of it is just
a consequential wrong action. Then sin goes way beyond just the physical, one
might conclude that the sin nature became part of our DNA, with the only corrective
cure being the blood of Jesus for those who accept the free gift of salvation.

Even then, the sin nature is so ingrained, that the current physical body still cannot be
saved, it gets old, gets ill, breaks down and dies - only the spirit is saved, the inner man.

My brain is starting to hurt now, i've done too much thinking:)
 
E

eternally-gratefull

Guest
#25
Do you love the Lord God with ALL your heart, mind and soul ALL the time and your neighbor as yourself?
Anything short of that is sin.
Yes, yes, I'm a sinner.

right there with ya bro!
 

oldhermit

Senior Member
Jul 28, 2012
9,144
614
113
70
Alabama
#26
Can you sin without knowing it?
Simple questions.
All sin is a choice but this does not suggest that the act itself is understood to be sin by the individual. This is a sin of ignorance.
 
K

KennethC

Guest
#27
well, how could you know I would post those verses from Isaiah where God mentions thoughts

huh

Notice once again that James is saying that when those lustful feelings arise from temptation they give birth to sin !!!

Thoughts can be wrong and come from our temptations, but the bible makes a point on rather or not you give into those thoughts and let them grow into sinful lusts of the flesh.

The Holy Spirit was sent to help us to do this and gain self-control over these lusts and put them to death, so that we no longer give into them any more. If a person continues constantly to deliberately give into those lustful temptations the bible shows the Holy Spirit is not working in that person, for the fruits of the Spirit will lead a person not to sin as those those fruits such as love does no harm to self or others. Apostle Paul: Romans 13:9-11, Galatians 5:22-26
 
V

Viligant_Warrior

Guest
#28
Well the first thing we have to do is lead people away from the false teaching that thoughts are sins.
I've posted these before, Ken, but you apparently did read them then. I pray you do now. This is not a false teaching.

Matthew 5, NASB
28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

Mark 7
20
And He was saying, "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.
21
"For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries,
22
deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy *, slander, pride and foolishness.
23
"All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."

Matthew 15
19 "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.
20 "These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man."

Jesus made clear in His Sermon on the Mount that sin is not just action, it is also thought. The first passage above proves that. In Matthew 5, He gave several examples of the specifics of the Law are not just the actions, but also the thought. He equated anger to murder, lust to adultery, making a vow you have no intention of keeping to theft, revenge for revenge's sake to evil. All these sins originate in thought. To say thought cannot be sin is to deny the very words of Christ.

If you closely read what the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 5:28 and what Apostle James said in James 1:14-15, then you would see that it is lustful feelings that are sin and not the thoughts.
How, exactly, are "feelings" not thoughts? This is moral equivocation giving you the "right" to sin. Those passages, however, don't let you off the hook as you think they do.

Just because a person has a bad thought here or there does not mean they have sinned, and we can learn by the Holy Spirit to keep those feelings in check.
If it is a fleeting, intrusive thought that you quickly shove out of your mind, perhaps. But entertaining those thoughts for even a second most definitely is sin. As is said with lust, it isn't the first glance that it is sin. It is the second. Holding onto a thought you know shouldn't be in your mind is as surely sin as actually doing the act imagined within the thought. You cannot deny Jesus makes that crystal clear.

For the Holy Spirit was not sent to allow us to continue to walk in iniquity, He was sent to guide us in the proper way to walk in the faith.
That is the entire fallacy of you "sinless perfectionism" you claim is possible, Ken. He can only guide you when you heed him. Anyone who says he or she heeds him continually is a liar. That's sin, too.
 
G

Gr8grace

Guest
#29
The reality is, it doesn't make any difference. The reality is, by the fallen nature of man, we have no choice as to whether we sin or not. We do. Everyone. Even though saved, we sin.

Covered by the blood of Christ, confident in His resurrection for new life in us, our sin now longer matters.

What matters is our growth in Christ, our confidence in Him carrying our weight, and our relying on His strength to live out His life in us so others will see, hear, and believe.
This post really speaks volumes the more I read it VW.

What do we learn more about in Christianity today? Sin or the Son.

What do we know better in our Christian walk? Sin or the Son.

While most of us have a pretty good lock on our sins and behaviors, most of us would have to google the doctrine of the Hypo-static union to get a definition for it.
 
E

eternally-gratefull

Guest
#30
I've posted these before, Ken, but you apparently did read them then. I pray you do now. This is not a false teaching.
Matthew 5, NASB
28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

Mark 7
20
And He was saying, "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.
21
"For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries,
22
deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy *, slander, pride and foolishness.
23
"All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."

Matthew 15
19 "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.
20 "These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man."

Jesus made clear in His Sermon on the Mount that sin is not just action, it is also thought. The first passage above proves that. In Matthew 5, He gave several examples of the specifics of the Law are not just the actions, but also the thought. He equated anger to murder, lust to adultery, making a vow you have no intention of keeping to theft, revenge for revenge's sake to evil. All these sins originate in thought. To say thought cannot be sin is to deny the very words of Christ.

How, exactly, are "feelings" not thoughts? This is moral equivocation giving you the "right" to sin. Those passages, however, don't let you off the hook as you think they do.

If it is a fleeting, intrusive thought that you quickly shove out of your mind, perhaps. But entertaining those thoughts for even a second most definitely is sin. As is said with lust, it isn't the first glance that it is sin. It is the second. Holding onto a thought you know shouldn't be in your mind is as surely sin as actually doing the act imagined within the thought. You cannot deny Jesus makes that crystal clear.

That is the entire fallacy of you "sinless perfectionism" you claim is possible, Ken. He can only guide you when you heed him. Anyone who says he or she heeds him continually is a liar. That's sin, too.
amen, what we have to do is not what he said, but to get out of peoples heads the excuse that just because i think it, it is not sin, thus excusing their sin.
 
A

atwhatcost

Guest
#31
Can you sin without knowing it?
Simple questions.
Selfishness is choice.

Here are the commandments wrapped up in a neat and holy-cow way:
Mark 12:30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this:‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

So, if it's not love God fully and love other's fully, then the only thing left is love self fully.

Selfishness is sin. Even if we can't name the exact rule on why we shouldn't do something, we still choose to be selfish.
 
A

atwhatcost

Guest
#32
Then again, if I'm driving 35mph in a 25mph and didn't realize it was a 25mph, I've broken the law, but did I sin? It goes back to intentions.
Your intention was you were so important you alone deserve to get to your destination fast. Selfishness. (Hey, not like I don't do the same thing.)

We know where the 25 MPH speed restrictions are even without signs. The lack of a sign is just the excuse.
:p
 
K

KennethC

Guest
#33
I've posted these before, Ken, but you apparently did read them then. I pray you do now. This is not a false teaching.
Matthew 5, NASB
28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

Mark 7
20
And He was saying, "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.
21
"For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries,
22
deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy *, slander, pride and foolishness.
23
"All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."

Matthew 15
19 "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.
20 "These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man."

Jesus made clear in His Sermon on the Mount that sin is not just action, it is also thought. The first passage above proves that. In Matthew 5, He gave several examples of the specifics of the Law are not just the actions, but also the thought. He equated anger to murder, lust to adultery, making a vow you have no intention of keeping to theft, revenge for revenge's sake to evil. All these sins originate in thought. To say thought cannot be sin is to deny the very words of Christ.

How, exactly, are "feelings" not thought? This is moral equivocation giving you the "right" to sin. THose passages, however, don't let you off the hook as you think they do.

If it is a fleeting, intrusive thought that you quickly shove out of your mind, perhaps. But entertaining those thoughts for even a second most definitely is sin. As is said with lust, it isn't the first glance that it is sin. It is the second. Holding onto a thought you know shouldn't be in your mind is as surely sin as actually doing the act imagined within the thought. You cannot deny Jesus makes that crystal clear.

That is the entire fallacy of you "sinless perfectionism" you claim is possible, Ken. He can only guide you when you heed him. Anyone who says he or she heeds him continually is a liar. That's sin, too.

Put them in proper context V.W. !!!

Matthew 5 ------ lust for a woman in their heart = thought that rose to a lustful feeling out of the heart to then become sin.

Mark 7 ----- evil thoughts defile a person because they give into those thoughts and carry it out in action, for you can not take this scripture alone without 1 Corinthians 6:18 of all sins are outside the body except for sexual immorality as that is sin done against your own body.

If all sin is outside the body expect for one which is against the body, then thoughts that come from within the body can not be sin unless carried out physically by giving into them by one's sinful lusts/feelings......


Matthew 15 -------- Says the same thing I said previously because you can not take verse 19 without verse 18 that says when they come out of the mouth they then become sin as they become action, as even words spoken are an action.

In other words if you say to a person you want them dead, but do not actual commit the act of murder, you have still sinned by your words said.


The last statement I said was not false V.W. as the Holy Spirit was sent to guide us how to walk properly in the faith, and nowhere have I ever claimed "sinless perfectionism".

Once again you are making a false accusation on me again, and I would appreciate it if you would stop.
The thing you need to do is do a study on the bible on how much the NT emphasizes "self-control" by believers in the faith, but to continue to say a person will continue to sin everyday day in and day out is not biblical.

Here is a little help for you to get started;

52 Bible verses about Self Control
 
A

atwhatcost

Guest
#34
Oh guys, get real. Sometimes, in the pursuit of satisfying my flesh, I become prideful, selfish, even angry or judgmental towards others. Sometimes I begin to doubt and get fearful. I don't WANT to, but anything not of faith is sin. When I get fearful, there is something I'm not believing about God to give you an example. These things aren't willful - afterwards I say "What have I done?"

My flesh is always getting in the way - and I certainly do not will it to do so. Have you not read Paul's struggle in Romans? And, like him, when I keep my mind on the things and purposes of the Spirit, I am not giving in to my flesh.

But it is also true that we just don't always keep our minds on the things of the Spirit. Life's struggles and pains (not to mention physical ones) can disrupt our attention. (Yet those sinful things we do without thinking about them only keep drawing us back into His presence.)

I am sure that I commit sins everyday, but never willfully and can only thank God for his grace. Without that, I would be done for! If I was perfect, I would have no need for the righteousness of Christ. It covers my unrighteousness.

Now comes the debate on this. I stand rooted.
Yesterday I was about to open up my e-Sword program to study God's word. OB called and gave some terrible news about Dad. I was devastated. I did pray, but I was thinking about Dad all day to the point I told hubby, "I wish I could just click a switch and turn a part of my mind off for a little while."

I didn't open e-Sowrd because I was sure I couldn't focus to study. Was that sin?




Of course it was! What? Suddenly I don't trust God to focus my mind and get something out of time with him? Selfishness!

We are without excuse.
 
K

KennethC

Guest
#35
amen, what we have to do is not what he said, but to get out of peoples heads the excuse that just because i think it, it is not sin, thus excusing their sin.
You gave amen to him when he was not using proper context of those verses, and you have to take other verses including previous ones in those same passages that he did not give to understand what is being said.

Read post #33
 
A

atwhatcost

Guest
#36
Of coarse we can. Do you have a comprehensive list of every single thing that is a sin? We have absolutely no idea the depth and breadth of how sin has corrupted everything.

What we thought was not sin yesterday, today we learn that it was.

What we think is not sin today, we learn that it is tomorrow.

Rom 7~~ 15For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.

Have you ever snapped at someone and 8 words in you think ," Were the heck did that come from?" Or someone cuts you off in traffic or someone touches your most sensitive baggage in the closet and you have them murdered in your head before you catch yourself thinking," How did I think that!"

20But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
Um? Yes? I have a comprehensive list:
Selfishness. :p
 
A

atwhatcost

Guest
#37
Well the first thing we have to do is lead people away from the false teaching that thoughts are sins.

If you closely read what the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 5:28 and what Apostle James said in James 1:14-15, then you would see that it is lustful feelings that are sin and not the thoughts. Just because a person has a bad thought here or there does not mean they have sinned, and we can learn by the Holy Spirit to keep those feelings in check.

For the Holy Spirit was not sent to allow us to continue to walk in iniquity, He was sent to guide us in the proper way to walk in the faith.
And turning this right back to thoughts really are sin, whether you want to believe that or not:
Matthew 5:
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
 
A

atwhatcost

Guest
#38
Put them in proper context V.W. !!!

Matthew 5 ------ lust for a woman in their heart = thought that rose to a lustful feeling out of the heart to then become sin.

Mark 7 ----- evil thoughts defile a person because they give into those thoughts and carry it out in action, for you can not take this scripture alone without 1 Corinthians 6:18 of all sins are outside the body except for sexual immorality as that is sin done against your own body.

If all sin is outside the body expect for one which is against the body, then thoughts that come from within the body can not be sin unless carried out physically by giving into them by one's sinful lusts/feelings......


Matthew 15 -------- Says the same thing I said previously because you can not take verse 19 without verse 18 that says when they come out of the mouth they then become sin as they become action, as even words spoken are an action.

In other words if you say to a person you want them dead, but do not actual commit the act of murder, you have still sinned by your words said.


The last statement I said was not false V.W. as the Holy Spirit was sent to guide us how to walk properly in the faith, and nowhere have I ever claimed "sinless perfectionism".

Once again you are making a false accusation on me again, and I would appreciate it if you would stop.
The thing you need to do is do a study on the bible on how much the NT emphasizes "self-control" by believers in the faith, but to continue to say a person will continue to sin everyday day in and day out is not biblical.

Here is a little help for you to get started;

52 Bible verses about Self Control
"Proper context" is the Bible, not your corrections of the Bible.
 
E

eternally-gratefull

Guest
#39
You gave amen to him when he was not using proper context of those verses, and you have to take other verses including previous ones in those same passages that he did not give to understand what is being said.

Read post #33

stop excusing your sin.

If you lust after a woman, You are in sin

If you fantasize having sex with a lady, your in sin

If you hate your brother, and fantasize taking revenge on him you are in sin

If you ....... (I think you get the picture)
 
A

atwhatcost

Guest
#40
You gave amen to him when he was not using proper context of those verses, and you have to take other verses including previous ones in those same passages that he did not give to understand what is being said.

Read post #33
No, you've simply reinvented a new definition for "proper context." Can't you see that's not flying? degrees in rocket science or brain surgery not required.