SIN

At the end of the lesson, the students should

be able to:
1. Define sin
2. Enumerate the effects of sin
3. Explain each effect of sin in relation to
human relationship as well as in society
Activity:
Recall a (the) sin(s) you committed recently.
SIN
• a willful transgression of the law of God
• an act of disobedience to God; an offense
against Him
• an offense against reason, truth, and right
conscience
• a failure in genuine love for God and
neighbor caused by a perverse attachment
to certain goods
EFFECTS OF SIN
1. Sin separates us from God because
He wants what is best for us, while
we have chosen what is worst for us.
2. Sin separates us from the people we
love because we can never be at
one with them if we hurt or use them.
3. Sin separates us from ourselves
because it destroys our self-respect.
 Four Essential Elements of Sin

• A law is involved, such as a moral

law.
• God is offended.
• Sin is disobedience.
• The disobedience is deliberate.
Ways that sins are committed:
• by thought
• by word
• by deed
• by neglect
 Kinds of Sin
Venial – an offense against God which does
not deprive the sinner of sanctifying grace

Deliberate venial sin weakens the spiritual

powers, reduces our resistance to evil, and
causes us to wander in our journey towards
God.
Two situations in which we commit
venial sin:
• We violate divine law with full or
partial knowledge and consent.
• We disobey an objectively grave
precept but due to invincible
ignorance we think the obligation is
not serious.
Mortal – an actual sin that destroys
sanctifying grace and causes the
supernatural death of the soul.
Objectively speaking, a sinner who
passes into eternity in a state of mortal
sin sends himself to hell.
Conditions of Mortal Sin:
1. Involves a serious/grave matter –
something that God has commanded
or forbidden under pain of losing the
divine life; specified by the Ten
Commandments
2. Must be done with full knowledge
3. Must have been fully consented to
 Consequences of Sin
• Various miseries such as sickness, disgrace,
contempt
• Remorse of conscience
• Absence of peace
• Death
• Hell
• Purification in purgatory
 Seven Capital Sins
1. Pride – inordinate esteem of oneself and the
insistence on one’s own excellence to the
point of challenging God’s sovereignty;
opposed to humility
2. Avarice – inordinate pursuit of material
goods; opposed to liberality
3. Envy – discontent over the good of one’s
neighbor; opposed to brotherly love
4. Lust – inordinate craving for sexual
gratification; opposed to chastity
5. Gluttony – excess in the enjoyment of food
and drink; opposed to temperance
6. Anger – the intemperate outburst of dislike
with the inordinate desire for another’s
punishment; opposed to meekness
7. Sloth – laziness; opposed to diligence
 Is there a sin that cannot be forgiven?

"Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man

will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the
Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age
or in the age to come." [Mt. 12:32]

"But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit

can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an
eternal sin." [Mk. 3:29]
"And everyone who speaks a word against the
Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever
blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be
forgiven." [Lk. 12:10]

According to the Catechism of the Catholic

Church no. 1864, blasphemy against the Holy
Spirit is the “deliberate refusal” to accept God’s
mercy and forgiveness.
Six species of sin against the Holy Spirit

1. Despair - ceases to hope for his personal

salvation from God (CCC 2091)
2. Presumption - one presumes he can save
himself apart from the grace of the Holy Spirit
or that God will save him without conversion
(CCC 2092)
3. Impenitence - clearly resists the work of the
Holy Spirit in bringing us to conversion and
repentance (CCC 1430)
4. Obstinacy - one not only resists the grace of the
Holy Spirit, but willfully persists in what he knows
to be grave sin (CCC 1431)
5. Resisting Truth - resist that which one knows to
have been revealed by the Holy Spirit as necessary
to “divine and catholic faith.” (CCC 2089)
6. Envy of Another’s Spiritual Welfare - When one is
envious of the spiritual good of another, he places
himself on the level of Satan who wanted God’s
glory for Himself rather than humbly accepting the
gifts God had given him. (CCC 2538)
 Why is “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit”
unforgivable?

“According to such an exegesis, 'blasphemy'

does not properly consist in offending against
the Holy Spirit in words; it consists rather in the
refusal to accept the salvation which God offers
to man through the Holy Spirit, working through
the power of the Cross” (John Paul II, Dominum
et Vivificantem, 46).
 Jesus and Sin
Jesus Christ should be at the very center of our
discussion of sin.

Why?
1. Jesus forgave sin.
2. Jesus proclaimed that God loves sinners.
3. Jesus’ death & resurrection showed that
death does not have the last word.
4. Jesus left the power to forgive sins with his
Church.
5. God’s forgiveness is always available to us,
but it does not reach the hearts of those who
harbor enmity towards others.