Sin: Intention or action?

Question

My question goes more to the divisions within Christianity.

If one group says “this act is a sin” While another says “No it’s not”.
If your group says “Not- it’s not” but you KNOW that other Christians believe it so, you can’t say you were ignorant of the possibility.

At this point you have to decide if it’s a harmless action or a sin. Lets say you decide it’s a harmless action and do it.

You have now done this with INTENT, ACTION and KNOWLEDGE that it might be a sin.

Example:

Church of Christ believes it’s a sin to use musical instruments to praise god.
Most other churches think its fine.

So, you decided it's "ok".
You use musical interments.
You die.

While judged, you find out it was a sin!
Would it be held against you? You played the piano in church with INTENT, ACTION and KNOWLEDGE)

Misinterpreting the bible cannot be used as a defense. Or you would HAVE to support this:

>The bible says “Thou shall not covet they neighbor’s wife”.
Well, my neighbor’s wife is UGLY. I will lust after the woman 3 houses down, since she is NOT my neighbor…….<

And that would just be silly.

loveChrist!! I would love to see scripture on that. can you provide it?

graphitegirl,
do you have the scripture on "follow your heart"? would be very interesting to read.

BTW: on DAVID and him playing the flute- the church of chirst say that old testiment rules no longer apply- so it's a moot point. (Yea- I pointed that same thing to one of them- and that is what they said)

Answer 1

Intention and action . , try to be a cool girl.


The bible says “Thou shall not shag the neighbor’s wife”.
Well, my neighbor’s wife is UGLY. I will lust after the woman 3 houses down, since she is NOT my neighbor…….<

Answer 2

The Bible teaches us not to sin against our own conscience. What does that mean? Simply that if we believe something could be a sin , even though it may not be, then we shouldn't do it. Why? Because by doing the thing we think is a sin we act with the conviction that we really did sin and we carry that with us. The Bible also teaches us that whatever is done must be done with faith. If it's not, it's sin.
God uses the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin. The higher we go the more He'll convict us.
God is gentle and He knows we need a huge learning curve when following Him. God holds us responsible for what we do know, not what we don't.
Even more so, search scripture to see what God has to say about the issue. You'll find plenty of scripture talking of instruments to worship God. David played an instrument and he was definitely a worshiper.

Answer 3

Don't take this wrong, but after reading the Bible of King James i came to the conclusion that most if not all of mans natural tendency's are sins! So there-fore it is impossible to live a full life and never sin! Looking at a model in a magazine and having lustful thoughts could be regarded as a sinful act! Even though it was just a random thought!
Hopefully the lord God doesn't hold every sin against you, because if he follows his own rules to the letter then Heaven will be empty!

Answer 4

We should search the scriptures to see if any doctrine is true! (Acts 17:11, 2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Timothy 3:16-17)

If you decide within yourself that something is or is not OK, then you have made yourself the ultimate authority. Our attitude should be "nevertheless what do the Scriptures say?" (Gal. 4:30)

The Word of God will be the standard by which we will be judged. (John 12:48) Jesus has "all authority" and the apostles were to teach the things He had commanded (Matthew 28:18-20).

If we are "teaching as doctrine the commandments of men", then our worship is "vain", or useless in God's eyes. (Matthew 15:9) We therefore should go to the authority of the Word of God to see if we should believe any doctrine.

"I thought" will not be an excuse. We should have a "thus saith the Lord"!

"O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." (Jeremiah 10:23)

Answer 5

Sin is when you deliberately break one of God's Laws, if it is unintentional it is a mistake...you have to get to know God. How to get to know Him? Read the Word and practice what it teaches in your life...the Wiccan lady Green witch something or other has a good point--Jesus taught us to Love God, and Love our fellow human beings. Imagine if we did keep the Ten Commandments as a society--the first four teach us how to love God, the last six teach us how to love our fellow humans. We would probably be attacked by the other nations who do not wish to serve the God of Love--YHWH. That's the way the Devil works...you can know whom they serve by the fruits they bear...violence and war? Love and Peace?
My ex-wife went to that church which refuses to use instruments...she only went when she wanted to hang out with her friends, or to do some Christmas programs. When the people sang, it sure did not sound like a joyful noise unto the Lord, they needed a piano, or better yet an organ to drown out the wailing sounds of the off-key singing. They are going to get a real shocker when we get to heaven and we have all kinds of musical instruments to praise God with.

Answer 6

When you are saved you are baptized with the Holy Spirit. That is how you know what is a sin or not. It doesn't matter what anyone else is telling you. You just know in your heart what is right and what is wrong. It's not really something you can put into words you just feel when something is wrong. God gave us the Holy Spirit so we won't be able to sin without knowing that we are sinning. That doesn't mean that anyone is able to go through life without ever sinning, it just means that you had a feeling before you did it that it wasn't right, and after you sin you know that you need to pray for forgiveness.

Answer 7

Sin, as I have seen defined by most Religions involves intent. to make something a sin you must intend that it harm someone (another person, yourself, God, but someone). There is no such thing as a sin of accident. Things in and of themselves are NOT sins. You must FIRST KNOW that your action is a sin and then you must intend to perform that SINFULL act. And just knowing that some other religion sees an action as a sin does NOT necessarily make that action sinful in YOUR religion. An innocent act that is percived as a SIN by one small group of people and puts it OUT that THEY consider it a sin does not obigate others to view that act as a sin.
You Christians are too wrapped up in the minutea of your religion. There is ONLY one commadment in your religion... LOVE. If you love everyone else, including your God. then you already have all your bases covered. Just stick to the basics, the rest is all just filler.

Brightest Blessings,
Raji the Green Witch

Answer 8

I believe and know first hand I feel convicted when I sin, so I think its between that person and God,The bible says judge not unless you want to be judged and it also says how can you pull a thorn out of someone Else's eye when you can't see cuz of the plank in your own eye.People will know threw there own relationship with Christ of whats rite and whats wrong,God will reveal these things to you.

Answer 9

Its a matter of common sense, do you really think that God will punish you for using a musical instrument for praising him, I dont think so, if it is a sin then he may tell you off, but no more than that. On the other hand , if you have been coveting wives, whether it be next door or even in the next town, then I would imagine you are toast, in every sense of the word. Just my opinion of course.

Answer 10

Intent is important. Action is critical. Knowledge gives you FREE WILL.

First you have to consider what are you afraid of. Of course you must be afraid of the consequences of your actions if you break the laws of the society. If you believe in any god or deity or simply in the afterlife, you must consider the fact, that your 'sins' may affect how you will be treated after death or in life. But if you know that the gang of DOGS says, that you must not drink milk, and the gang of CATS says, that you are allowed to drink milk, then DO NOT DRINK MILK in the DOGS' territory, but simply move to the CATS' territory and drink it there. It is that simple. As for religions, you must eventually decide what path you prefer. Remember, that all paths are equally valid as long as they do not infringe upon the basic civil rights or free will of another. and that each and every human being is completely responsible for his or her own actions. When a person breaks the laws of society or the tenets of their religion, they are called to account for their actions. So choose wisely.

Answer 11

Sin is not what people say it is....it is what God says it is.
Sin is disobeying God...and God sets the standard.

So a church cannot really state "this is sin"...only God can.

What churches sometimes do...not so much now as they used to was to set us "fences" to keep people from falling into sinful behavior.

So they would say "don't dance"...don't use musical instruments", don't wear jewelry...ect. It is not the action they think is sin....it is that they mistakenly think you will fall into sin by doing them. That is really called "legalism".

God says we are to worship Him and His Son, Jesus...to be in a personal relationship with Him. It is not don't do this, and don't do that...it is do what pleases Him!

Listen and study in the Bible what God says is the right thing to do....listen and obey it....not what "people" say.....and what God says counts. If it isn't there, don't worry about it. Ask them to show you where God says it!