I’ve had the seven deadly sins on my mind lately. For some strange reason I’ve heard that expression all my Christian life, but really didn’t know from whence it came. I’ve never read it in the Bible, and I wasn’t sure how one sin is worse than another, (save blasphemy of the Holy Spirit,) which is called out in Scripture as being unforgivable. Basically, my Bible study indicates that no sin aside from blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is any more “deadly” than any other sin. Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Basically, this states that ALL sin results in death. The Bible states in James 2:6 – “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.” Even one sin condemns a person as a lawbreaker; however, by the grace of God, through faith in Christ, we can be forgiven. Acts 10:43 – “To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Now comes an interesting twist. According to Catholic theology, the seven deadly sins are seven vices or negative character qualities that, left unchecked, will result in a host of other sins and eventually kill a person’s soul. The seven “deadly” sins are pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, and sloth. The seven deadly sins are also called the seven capital sins or the seven cardinal sins — cardinal in this context meaning, “of basic importance” or “extremely grave.” The seven deadly sins are considered to be the most basic sins that plague humanity and the sins that are most likely to beset us. Each of the seven deadly sins leads to other sins; for example, anger can lead to evil speaking, violence, or murder. A brief explanation of these sins is as follows:
Pride — An inflated, unrealistic sense of your self-worth.
Envy — The feeling that you deserve the possessions, success, virtues, or talents of another person.
Gluttony — An excessive desire for the pleasure of eating and drinking.
Lust — A selfish focus on sex or a desire to have sexual pleasure with someone other than your spouse.
Anger — An excessive, improper desire to exact revenge.
Greed — A strong desire for possessions, especially for possessions belonging to another.
Sloth — Lack of effort in the face of a necessary task, causing it to go undone (or done badly).
A common misconception about the seven deadly sins is that they are sins that God will not forgive. The Roman Catholic Church does not teach the sins to be unforgivable; however, in Catholic doctrine, the seven deadly sins can lead to mortal sins, which will send a person to hell immediately upon death, unless such sins are repented of before death. Catholicism also teaches that the seven deadly sins can be overcome with the seven virtues (humility, gratitude, charity, temperance, chastity, patience, and diligence).
Huh? Only Jesus can forgive sins as He paid the price for them; works don’t forgive anything.
Is the idea of seven deadly sins even biblical? I can’t find any evidence of it. Proverbs 6:16 lists seven things that are detestable to God: 1) haughty eyes, 2) a lying tongue, 3) hands that shed innocent blood, 4) a heart that plots evil, 5) feet that are quick to rush to do wrong, 6) a false witness, and 7) a man who stirs up dissension among brothers. Of course, this is not what most people understand as the “seven deadly sins.”
And while pride, envy, etc., are indeed sins that the Bible condemns, they are never called “the seven deadly sins” in the Bible. The traditional list of seven deadly sins can function as a way to categorize the many different sins that exist but accomplish little else to my way of thinking. Nearly every sin could be placed in one of those seven categories; however, going back to Acts 10:43 – “To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” I think that statement covers all sin and this matter should be settled. Dante wrote his epic poem Inferno in which he pictured Purgatory as having seven terraces corresponding to the seven deadly sins. I don’t know where he came up with it, but I don’t see him mentioned in the Bible either, so take it as poetic license from a dreamer but not fact. I still don’t know why the Holy Spirit prompted me to write about this today, but now it’s done, and my mind should get some rest.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.