Commandments and Sins
God is the Judge not me or thee. I do not pretend to know everything, or be perfect. My motivation is to provide some leadership and direct people towards God's ways. Please tread carefully on this page.
The list of commandments and sins is by no means complete. I have been sitting on this material a very long time, because I felt each one had to be explained in detail first, before just offering this whole list to the public. However, what has happened is that I never seem to get around to getting it done, and this information just sits there unused. So what I have decided to do is give you the long list of commandments and sins from the Bible, and then systematically over time explain and clarify each one in detail. Hopefully more will be added later on to the list when there is time, since the list is incomplete.
It is also so very important to understand that we cannot earn our salvation through our own efforts to keep the law. Salvation is a free gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Only through Christ and our faith in Him, can we be saved from sin and death. This is because sin is the transgression of the law (1 John 3:4), and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and all except Christ have sinned (Hebrews 4:14-16) (2 Corinthians 5:21) (Romans 3:23) (Galatians 3:22) (1 John 1:7-10).
So all we earn through our own feeble efforts to gain salvation through our good works and our own righteousness of keeping the law is death, because we cannot keep the law perfectly - we make mistakes and we sin. And to make matters worse all human beings have inherited the death penalty, because of the sins and rebellion of our ancient ancestors Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15-17 and 3:17-24) (Romans 5:12-21) (1 Corinthians 15:21).
We cannot save ourselves on our own - that is why we need a Saviour and that person is Jesus Christ. He is our Living Mediator and Living High Priest in heaven - Christ is not dead He is very much alive. We are saved through faith, but that must be a living faith - not a dead faith. We need to add to our faith works - that confirm our faith, because faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26).
So I realize fully that there are going to be all kinds of weird, strange, confused and inaccurate perceptions of this list of sins and commands by readers, but we have to start somewhere. Also there are commands in the Bible that are no longer in effect, and there are grey areas of the law subject to individual interpretation.
I also realize there are those who claim the law has been done away, but that is a false doctrine - please go to my article Myth that Christ Did Away with the Law, and myth that He nailed the Law to the cross, and that the law is our enemy.
My suggestion to you is to not jump to hasty conclusions, but research and meditate and pray on these matters. God's commandments are all good for us. God never gave us His laws, statutes and judgments to hurt us - He gave them to us to guide us and provide a lamp for us so we don't stumble and fall (Psalms 119:105-136) (Proverbs 6:23).
I feel I have been neglecting to teach people about God's laws, commands, statutes and judgements that are in God's written word the Bible. I admonish readers that we should repent of our sins and give up our rebellious attitude towards God, and we need to follow God's standards as explained in the Bible, but I feel I have been neglecting to inform people of what exactly is sin, and what exactly does the law say, and what exactly are God's standards and expectations of us. What are the specific laws and commands God has given us in the Bible that He wants and in fact expects us to try hard to keep ?
Also there is the matter of motivation and following the carnal mind into sin, versus following the Holy Spirit and bearing the good fruits of the spirit in our lives (like love, patience, truth, faith, self-control, and longsuffering, gentleness, kindness). Carnal motivating factors like lust, greed, vanity, selfishness, hatred, envy, coveting, striving for status in the group, and so on - these things are wrong and when we follow our own evil human natures this leads us into specific acts of sin too often (Galatians 6:16-26). We need not only to repent of our sins of breaking God's specific laws, but we need to also repent of following our evil human natures into sin. The root of our problems are spiritual in nature. It is a learning process, and a lifetime struggle for the true servant of God.
God doesn't expect the impossible of us, but He does expect us to put forth an effort, and work to overcome (Revelation 2:7,11,17,26 and Revelation 3:5,12,21). God will help us - we just need to have faith in God - living faith. If we were perfect and without sin then we wouldn't have needed Christ to die for our sins. God the Father has graciously provided for us a Saviour, and the Word came willing down to this earth born as a human being (God in the flesh) to live a sinless life and sacrifice Himself on the cross, because He came to carry out His Father's will not His own will, (John 1:1-18) (John 5:30) ( Luke 22:39-43 note verse 42).
First we need to define what sin is. For the answer we go to the Bible, which is the inspired word of God.
I John 3:4 " Whosoever, committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law. "
God shows us what His law is through the His written revelation to mankind - the Bible. The Bible shows us what are God's standards and expectations, and what God's laws and commandments are.
Commandments from the Bible
1. Greatest Commandment
" Master, which is the great commandment in the law ? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. "
Luke 10:25-28 " And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. "
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 " Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might."
Deuteronomy 10: 12-13 " And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? "
2. Second Greatest Commandment
Matthew 22:39 " And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. "
Leviticus 19:17-18 " Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD. "
3. Ten Commandments - Exodus 20:1-17
- Exodus 20:1-3 " I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
- Exodus 20:4-6 " Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
- Exodus 20:7 " Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
- Exodus 20:8-11 " Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
- Exodus 20:12 Honour thy father and mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
- Exodus 20:13 " Thou shalt not kill.
- Exodus 20:14 " Thou shalt not commit adultery.
- Exodus 20:15 " Thou shalt not steal.
- Exodus 20:16 " Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
- Exodus 20:17 " Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. "
4. Husbands commanded to love their wives. Wives commanded to respect their husbands. Wives commanded to respect their husbands authority in the home - in the Lord - wives are commanded by God to put God first - not their husbands. Therefore wives must not follow their husbands into sin - and wives do not have to obey their husbands, or respect their authority, if the husband wants them to do something sinful. Children commanded to honour their parents. Children commanded to obey their parents in the Lord. (Colossians 3:18-21) (Ephesians 5:22-25, 28, 31-33) (Ephesians 6:1-4)
5. God holds parents responsible to discipline children ( Genesis 17-19) (Deuteronomy 6:1-7 note verse 7) (Deuteronomy 11:18-19) (Deuteronomy 4:9-10) (Proverbs 13:24, 19:18, 22:15).
The words " chasten " does not mean to beat your children - it means to discipline them. This can mean to teach, or correct, or in more serious cases to spank your child. Also things like spanking - do not mean beatings, or whippings - we are not talking about God giving parents authority to abuse and whip their kids, but there is room for things like spanking - especially in the younger years, like the terrible twos. Also this is referring to children - and young people begin emerging into adulthood around age 12, so are no longer children, and so things like spanking apply only to children - not young adults.
6. Children obey your parents in the Lord (Ephesians 6:1-4)
Children are under no obligation to obey their parents, if the parent, or parents try to get the child to do something sinful, like steal, or lie, or get involved in sinful sexual activities. It says for children to " obey your parents in the Lord. " Notice the words " in the Lord. " Naturally little tiny kids would be too small to figure these things out, but the older ones should be able to most of the time. As well this command only refers to children, not adults.
So once you are an adult, you are no longer required by God to obey your parents. So, if you are from a culture which follows the custom of parents, or of relatives like a mother-in-law requiring you to listen to them or obey or be under their authority in the family long into adulthood - you are under no obligation from God to follow such customs. They are exercising illegitimate authority over you, and you are not required by God to submit to this illegitimate authority. You are now an adult, and God no longer commands you to obey your parents, or a mother-in-law.
However, God still expects you to honour your parents - even after you are an adult (Exodus 20:12).
7. Commanded not to afflict a widow or fatherless child (Exodus 22:22-24) (James 1:27).
8. Do good works (James 2:14,18,22,26) (Ephesians 2:10) (Hebrews 10:24) (Matthew 7:15-20 note verse 19).
9. Produce fruits for God (John 15:1-5) (Matthew 13:3,8,23) (Luke 13:6-9) (Matthew 3:7-10).
10. Pray - this is for Christians (Luke 11:1-13) (Matthew 6:5-15).
The example prayer Jesus gave to His disciples (called the Lord's prayer) - is just that - an example prayer - it is not a prayer we are to repeat over and over again - since we are not use vain repetitions in our prayers. It may be used very rarely word for word, but not repeatedly. Jesus also said to His disciples " when you pray, " He did not say " if you pray. " Prayer is essential, because this is how you communicate with God, and you can't have your sins forgiven, if you don't repent of these to God in prayer, and don't ask God in prayer to forgive you of your sins.
11. - Malachi 3:8-11 " Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts. "
12. Keeping the Annual Holydays, if we are able to. However, the observance of one of these annual Sabbaths the Passover is much more strict, as opposed to the other annual Holy Days. This is because Christ specifically asked His followers to observe the Passover annually in remembrance of Him (1 Corinthians 11:23-26) (Leviticus Chapter 23).
13. Keep Passover yearly.
Luke 22:19-20 " And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. "
Mark 14:22-25
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 " For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also He took the cup, when He had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. "
14. Don't eat blood, but please don't go overboard with this, and expect every last little drop of blood to be out of the meat before eating it. And this does not refer to blood transfusions, since you don't eat the blood during a blood transfusion, but merely take in through your veins. There are still people who will not allow transfusions due to this - I feel this is wrong, but to them they hold strongly to this belief and that is their choice. (Genesis 9:4) (Leviticus 7:26) (Leviticus 17:10-14) (Deuteronomy 12:16, 15:23).
15. Don't follow a multitude into evil. Just because the herd or society is doing something doesn't mean it is right. We are supposed to follow God's standards, which are explained for us in the Bible. This matter needs a lot more explaining (Exodus 23:2) (Leviticus 19:15).
16. Astrology, soothsayers, fortune telling. Do not consult astrologers, fortune tellers, soothsayers or witches. Do not get involved in witchcraft. (Leviticus 19:31, 20:6)
17. Dress and keep the earth.
Genesis 2:8 " And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. "
Genesis 2:15 " And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. "
Major - Extremely Serious Sins
1. Breaking the greatest commandment, if you are already a genuine spirit led servant of God, and have made a commitment to Christ (Hebrews 6:4-6) (I John 5:16).
Matthew 22:35 - 40 " Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting Him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. "
Luke 10:25-28 " And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
Luke 14:25-27 (from the Living Bible) " Great crowds were following him. He turned around and addressed them as follows: Anyone who wants to be my follower must love me far more than he does his own father, mother, wife , children, brothers, or sisters - yes more than his own life - otherwise he cannot be my disciple. And no one can be my disciple who does not carry his own cross and follow me. "
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 " Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. "
So what is the greatest sin ? It should be obvious. The greatest command is to love God with all our hearts, soul, strength and mind. Therefore the greatest sin is to break the greatest commandment. The greatest sin is to love something, or someone more than you love God. The greatest sin is to put something or someone ahead of God and Christ in your life.
2. Causing someone to lose their simple faith and trust in Jesus Christ (Matthew 18:1-6) (Mark 9:42) (Luke 17:1-2) (Matthew 18:10).
3. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:31-32 read also verses 24 to 30) (Mark 3:21-31).
4. Worshipping the Beast and taking the Mark of the Beast (Revelation 14:9-11) (Revelation 19:19-21).
5. Not taking care of your own immediate family members like wife, husband, children (1 Timothy 5:8).
6. Breaking faith with Christ - giving up on Christ (Matthew 10:33) (Luke 9:26) (2 Timothy 2:12).
7. Your church group getting involved with the governments of the earth, committing fornication with the governments of the earth, and abandoning their allegiance to Jesus Christ and His Kingdom (Revelation 17:5)
8. Disbelief in Jesus Christ (Hebrews 11:6)
9. Not welcoming God's servants when He sends them out - but rather instead ignoring or persecuting them (Matthew 23:29-39) (Matthew 10:14-15) (Matthew 11:20-24).
10. Being angry with someone for no reason (Matthew 5:22)
11. Calling someone an idiot (Matthew 5:22).
12. Sorcery - conversing with demons. This sin is especially serious for those who are God's true servants (Revelation 21:7-8) (1 Samuel 28:7-25) (Leviticus 19:31).
List of Sins
1. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is sinful (Matthew 12:31-32 read also verses 24 to 30).
2. Disbelief and lack of faith in God the Father and Jesus Christ. Christ said that the world's sin was disbelief in Him. No faith in God - disbelief in Christ (Numbers 14:11) (John 12:37) .
3. Refusal to repent of sins and just having a rebellious, stubborn attitude of disrespect and disobedience to God (Matthew 3:7-10) (1 Samuel 15:10-23 note verses 19 and 22-23) (Matthew 11:20-24) (Luke 13:1-5 note verses 3 and 5).
4. Rebellion of God's rule over our individual and collective lives (Genesis 2:15-17) (Genesis 3:6-21).
5. Deciding for yourself what you think is right and wrong , rather than relying on God and the Bible for your standards (Genesis 2:16-17) (Genesis 3:1-11). God gave Adam and Eve a choice. They could leave it up to God to set the standards, and just respect God and follow His laws and rules of what is right and wrong. Or they could rebel against God and decide for themselves what they think is right or wrong - good or evil. God warned them if they chose that route then the results would be death. In other words God gave mankind free moral agency, but warned of the serious consequences of rejecting God's standards, and instead setting their own standards. Most human beings from Adam and Eve to this very day are in rebellion against God.
6. Being angry with someone for no reason is sinful, but anger itself is a normal human emotion. It is okay to be angry with someone for a reason - like if they cheated you, or lied to you (Matthew 5:22). What you need to do is learn to express the anger productively, or verbalize it. You need to avoid bottling it up, and then letting it express itself in violence. Within the family context - there needs to be open communication between family members, especially between wife and husband - so that the legitimate anger can be communicated to other family members in a useful productive manner. This means communicating - and communications is a two way street - listening is an important part here.
It is not a sin to be angry with someone - if there is a legitimate reason for the anger. Being angry is in no way sinful (as long as there is a legitimate reason for your anger) it is a normal human emotion. There are people these days who will try to make you believe it is wrong or sinful to feel angry or express anger - even if you have a very good reason to be angry. This is nonsense. They will try to get you to deny your feelings and suppress legitimate feelings.
However, if you are angry with someone for no reason - like if you just have a prejudice towards them, or a blind hatred, or because of discrimination - then this is wrong and sinful.
7. Practicing various customs that have to do with idolatry (Jeremiah 44:15-28).
8. Prejudice against others (Acts 1:1-48 note verses 15, 28, 34-35) (Galatians 2:11-13) (Luke 10:28-37).
9. Gross negligence resulting in death, injury to others or their property (Exodus 21:28-29).
10. Failure to speak out against injustices. Jeremiah 36:1-32 (note verses 20-26) is an example of failure to speak up against injustices. Only three men spoke up when the King burned the roll, the rest were silent in the face of this injustice. The words of Jeremiah were from God - it was God's message to the rulers.
11. Bribing others, or accepting bribes (Exodus 23:8).
12. Kidnapping, but this doesn't include disputes over your own children (Exodus 20:16) (Deuteronomy 24:7).
13. Selfishness is sinful, but the proper kind of self-love is okay. It is a sin not to love yourself, and in fact God commands us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves. So we are commanded to love ourselves.
14. Forgery is lying (1 Kings 21:1-16 note verse 7).
15. Slander, malice and gossip (Exodus:23:1) (Psalms 101:5) (Leviticus 19:16).
16. False accusations are wrong, but there are degrees of these - some much, much more serious than others (Exodus 23:1) (1 Kings 21:7-14 note verse 13) (Psalms 101:5) (Matthew 26:59-62) (Luke 23:13-15) (Acts 6:9-15 note verses13 and 14).
17. Impure thoughts.
18. Thinking your race or ethnic group is superior to others (10:9-16 note verse 15) (Acts 10:28, 34-35) (Luke 10:29-37) (John 4:3-9).
19. Swearing ( Exodus 20:7) (James 3:1-12 note verses 9-10) (Matthew 12:31-32 note verse 32). Jesus Christ is also part of the Godhead, so when people use Christ's name in vain this is also cursing or swearing.
20. Greed (2 Kings 5:20-27) (1 Samuel 2:12-17, 27-29).
21. Gluttony (Deuteronomy 21:20-21)
22. Laziness is wrong (Exodus 20:9) This does not mean we must have a six day workweek. It just means part of the weekly Sabbath command has to do with us doing our work. God expects us to work. (1 Timothy 5:13)
23. Drunkenness - where the drinking is excessive and causing much problems for the person and to others.
24. Smoking is sinful - unless done very rarely - like smoking the odd cigar on a special occasion.
25. Taking illegal drugs just to get a high. Some drugs that are regarded as illegal like marijuana, can have beneficial results for those suffering from serious diseases like MS, so it would not be a sin to take them for this. God gave us various herbs and plants for medicines. However, we are commanded to love ourselves, and taking hard drugs and becoming a drug addict is harmful to your health and to the well being of others like those in your family.
26. Serious gambling (that can cause harm) not the small petty variety like the odd church raffle or bingo. Gambling teaches the attitude of getting something for nothing.
27. Homosexuality is a sin (Leviticus 18:22) (Leviticus 20:13) (Deuteronomy 23:17) (1 Corinthians 6:9) (1 Timothy 1:10-11) (2 Peter 2:4-8) (Jude 1: 7) (Genesis 19: 1-13)
28. Incest - having sex with a near relative is a sin (Leviticus 18:1-18) (Leviticus 20:17, 19-20) (Romans 1:26-28) (1 Corinthians 5:1-7 note verse 1).
29. Sex with animals is a sin (Leviticus 18:23) (Exodus 22:19).
30. Prostitution (Deuteronomy 23:17) (Leviticus 19:29)
31. Abortion is wrong, except if woman's life is in danger, or in the case of rape, or incest, or if the woman is severely handicapped, or is very much under age (Exodus 21:22).
32. Rape is a sin (Deuteronomy 22:23-27 note verses 25-27) (2 Samuel 13:1-22 note verses 11-14) .
33. Fornication (1 Corinthians 5:1)
34. Parents not treating children fairly, if there is more than one (Deuteronomy 21:15-17).
35. Fighting in the wars of the world, unless your country is attacked unjustly, or you are attacked in the war, then you are allowed to fight to defend yourself from others.
36. Supporting corrupt government activities.
37. Supporting sinful, unjust government policies.
38. Failure by government to execute those who murder deliberately (Exodus 21:12,14) (Deuteronomy 19:11-13) (Numbers 35:9-34 note verses 16,17,18,21,29,31).
39. Government of the country selling out the country's resources to foreigners.
40. State sanctioned discrimination.
41. Dominating and intimidating others, but think about this. Sometimes you need to intimidate the bully who is abusing you. A husband dominating his willing wife in bed sexually - this can be part of the sex act, and some men may need to do this to get a strong erection. It depends on the couple. Parents must occasionally dominate their small children and lay down the law - for the kids personal well being and safety. You can't reason with a one or two year old.
42. Nepotism and patronage, if this results in injustices and sin. There are degrees of these things, and there is absolutely nothing wrong or sinful with promoting and helping family members on the job ahead of other workers, if you are the full owner of the business. It depends on the situation. If you are merely a manager in a business and tried to give your family members the inside track and special treatment then it would almost certainly be unfair and unjust to your other employees especially long term, dedicated, competent employees.
43. Treating foreigners better than your own people - discriminating against your fellow countrymen and favouring foreigners and pandering to foreigners at the expense of your own. This happens far too often in Canada, and has a lot to do with politics.
44. Turning a blind eye to injustices on the job - it depends on the degree of the injustices naturally, and how much people are willing to go along with it to the detriment and harm of others. In Canada there is far too much white collar crime on the job with theft by employees. The majority of theft by employees on the job is done by those in management positions. The Retail Council of Canada in 2004 did a survey and found, internal theft was the leading cause of retail losses at 48 per cent well ahead of external theft (31 per cent) and administrative error (19 per cent). In most cases (85 per cent), employees were the perpetrators of serious incidents of fraud. Of that group, more than half (55 per cent) of the fraudsters could be found among management.
We could go a long ways to helping to reduce this problem if people stopped turning a blind eye to injustices and things like fraud and theft on the job.
Most Common Sins and Irresponsible Behaviour of People (in general)
Idolatry - putting something or someone ahead of God in their lives.
Not being interested in God (the true God explained in the Bible).
Following their own standards rather than God's standards as explained in the Bible. Having a rebellious attitude towards God.
Not working out their own salvation, but expecting God and Christ to do everything for them.
Preferring Satan's ways to God's Ways.
Being ungrateful and unthankful to God - for everything He has done for them.
Taking advantage of other's.
This unfortunately describes the majority of people That is why only a few comparatively will make it into God's Kingdom - because most people are just not interested in God.
Minor Sins - there are probably more than one here, but this is all I can think of now.
1. Masturbation I do not really have the stomach right now to go more into detail about this.
Grey Areas of the Law and Commandments
These have to be clarified and explained more fully, and I hopefully will do so in more detail later on, but not right now. The list will be left up here, but please tread carefully here. And some of these may actually be taken off later on, since I may have gotten it wrong. Meditate on these and be careful.
1. Hating others - whoa there - are we not supposed to love others ? Well David was a man after God's own heart, yet he hated people and made war with his enemies and killed many of them. There is a time to love and a time to hate. We should hate the devil and his ways.
Don't you just hate the evil things some people do, and wouldn't you want to bring these criminals to justice for their crimes ? People like Robert Pickton and Clifford Olsen here in Canada. Pickton who murdered women and then fed some of them to his pigs !!! Don't you just hate some of the barbaric and cruel policies of many of the leaders of this corrupt world, who have been responsible for the death of millions of innocent people - cruel and barbaric men like Joseph Stalin, Mao tse Tung and his gang of Communist murderers who still rule Communist China and who are still killing and oppressing innocent people, Robert Magabe of Zimbabwe and on and on it goes. Wouldn't it be wonderful to see these evil rulers pay for their crimes against humanity ?
If I had the power to do so I would personally deal with these criminals, and give justice to their victims (1 Samuel 15:32-33). But I don't have that power - God does and He is the Judge not me. God the Father and Christ are merciful to sinners - why on the day of Christ's crucifixion God showed how great His mercy is to sinners by allowing Barabbas (who was a murderer) to be released instead of Jesus - for Jesus came to die for sinners (Matthew 27:11-26).
2. Prejudice towards others - depends on whether this leads to sin or not. If it leads to sin it is wrong.
3. Respect the elderly - sure we should respect the elderly, but what about a blatant old sinner who blasphemes God and who abuses you ? Are you supposed to respect such a person ? I don't think so.
4. Not to be cruel. Once again we need to love others, but we need to also work for justice too. Sometimes you need tough love.
5. Respect the higher powers - be subject to the higher powers - as long as in following man's laws they doesn't force or require you to sin. If there is a clash between man's laws and God's laws we need to put God first and please God rather than man. If the law is an ass designed to stifle and oppress - should it be respected - a judgment call no ??? (Acts 4:1-22 note verses 18 to 19) (Acts 5:17-29 note verse 29)
6. Trying to force your religion upon others through the power of the state. In ancient Israel there was a combination of Church and state, with God as the Ruler. In almost all circumstances it is wrong to do this (with human governments) - but not in the case with Christ and His Kingdom. When Christ returns He will rule the world with a rod of iron, and the saints will be right there helping Him.
7. Cheating - can be a subjective term to some - subject to interpretation. Serious cheating is wrong, but what about in warfare ? Isn't deception in war against your enemies a legitimate military tactic ? This doesn't mean out and out lying, but deception.
8. Lusting after a man or woman in ones heart. Some may call it lust you may call it attraction and appreciation of the woman's beauty or the man's handsomeness, and praise to God for making someone who is so lovely or so good looking. Naturally God doesn't look at people the way most humans do - God looks at a persons heart, at their attitudes and emotions - He really doesn't care too much about how we look on the outside - that part is just temporary. That does not mean however we should neglect our appearance and personal grooming. God looks at a persons heart(1 Samuel 16:1-13 note verse 7).
9. Flattery. Flattery is a form of hatred. However, we may interpret someone's praise of others as flattery, but the person may be just an emotional type and like heaping a little extra heaping of praise upon others. God is the Judge you know.
10. Eating of unclean meats. It depends if you lust after it or not. Basically these are dietary laws, since unclean animals like swine and monkeys can spread diseases to people. That is why God gave us these dietary laws. There is a widespread belief (which is the most likely the true cause) that the aids virus (HIV virus) originated with monkeys or perhaps chimps. Anyways the speculation is that someone in Africa must have killed and butchered for food a monkey or chimp that was infected with the aids virus. There are people who eat these animals. The person accidentally perhaps cut themselves in the process, and some of the monkey blood with the aids virus got into their bloodstream through the open wound. This virus was then transmitted to other humans through sexual intercourse, and eventually spread due to sin - that is sexual promiscuity, which is particularly common among a lot of black Africans.
11. Fearing God. We should fear to disobey God, but my Bible says there is no fear in love (1 John 3:10-21 note verse 18). Is this just a contradiction ? Maybe - maybe not. We are admonished to fear God and keep His commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). Christ warned people that we should fear God (Matthew 10:28).
12. Polygamy. A sticky subject needing much more clarification. The Bible does not condemn polygamy outright in the Old Testament or regard it as sinful in the Old Testament (except under certain circumstances). Even under the New Testament it maybe is not sinful in certain circumstances, but we must be very cautious here.
I do not want to encourage people to get involved in sinful practices. However, God is no prude and many of God's best servants practiced polygamy, like Abraham, David and Jacob. Samuel's father was a polygamist. God made man upright, but he sought out many devices. This is not a perfect world where everything happens by the book - people sin, people make mistakes - people get things wrong and get involved in things they don't really understand, or shouldn't get involved in and sometimes they get forced into things. Jesus Christ is the judge of these matters, and it got to be a tough job. Jesus is qualified and will Judge the secret lives of us all - for nothing is hidden or secret to God.
13. Petty gambling.
14. Pornography. One person would call it pornography another would call it appreciation of the beauty of the human body. Serious, ugly pornography is definitely wrong, like where they have pictures of people copulating or degrading someone's body sexually. That is perverse and disgusting.
15. What kind of sexual techniques a husband and wife use. God is no prude and He gave sex to us to enjoy, but at the right time with the right person, between committed, consenting adults - the preferred and natural arrangement is called marriage. So use your imagination while having sex with your mate. Where in the Bible does God command you not to enjoy sex with your mate to the full ??? I can't find any such scripture. However, sexual abuse is certainly wrong and sinful, but again we are not the Judge - Christ is the Judge.
16. Jealousy. There is the jealousy that leads to sin, and there is the good sort of jealousy that leads one to want to emulate or copy someone whom they admire, etc.
17. Drunkenness (wrong when it harms others or yourself), but some people can hold their liquor much better then others. Someone may call it drunkenness, while another would interpret it as just celebrating and enjoying life. God is the Judge not me or thee. Christ drank wine and was falsely accused of being a drunkard (Matthew 11:16-19 note verse 19). He certainly was not a drunkard, but He did enjoy His wine on occasion. If someone trys to tell you Christ only drank grape juice - not wine - they are seriously misinformed about what the Bible plainly says.
18. Smoking a cigar, or pipe, or cigarette very rarely - once in a long while.
19. Smoking of marijuana or taking other drugs for ones health - if your health condition is improved by taking these drugs.
20. Cruelty to animals - for example some farmers think it very cruel to cage their chickens, while other farmers do not feel it cruel to cage their laying hens. Like maybe someone should ask the chickens about this - Don't you think - let them vote with their feet ?
Some may keep their cat in the home and never led it outside, while others may think that is cruelty to cats, and will secretly keep their window open at night to let old Sylvester roam about freely at night (to perhaps howl and yowl and fight with other cats all night) and come and go as they please - even if it is against the by-laws.
Some think it is cruel to shoot your dog if it is seriously injured, and think you should take it to the vet to try and save its life no matter the costs, or get them to put the poor pooch down gently if the hound can't be saved. The other person may feel it cruel and barbaric to let the animal suffer too much, and believe it more merciful, and merciful to their wallet to just put it out of its misery with a bullet to the head - it just costs a few cents and is quick. Different strokes for different folks - again God is the judge. God does not approve of needless senseless cruelty though. But animals are not humans.
Deuteronomy 25:4 " Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. "
Proverbs 12:10 " A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. "
Exodus 23:19 " .......thou shalt not seeth (boil) a kid (young goat) in its mother's milk. "
Genesis 49:5-7 from the Living Bible " Simeon and Levi are two of a kind. They are men of violence and injustice. May I never be a party to their wicked plans. For in their anger they murdered a man, and maimed oxen just for fun. Cursed be their anger for it is fierce and cruel. I will scatter their descendants throughout Israel. "
Malachi 2:16 " from the Living Bible " For the Lord, the God of Israel, says He hates divorce and cruel men. Therefore control your passions - let there be no divorcing of your wives. "
