Three Types of Sin

            By my estimation, there are three types of sins.  No, I am not talking about those discussed by John in First John 2:15-17 (i.e., the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life).  No, I am talking about a different three.

            The first type of sin I’m talking about is the type of sin we most often think about as being sin: rebellious sin.  This is where a person says, “You know, God, I know that You have told me to do this or not to do that, but I’m going to do what I want to do and that’s that.”  This is what Eve did in the Garden (Genesis 3:1-6).  This is what Nadab and Abihu did at Mount Sinai (Leviticus 10:1-3).  This is what all Israel did in the Wilderness (Numbers 13-14).  They knew the will of God and did something else.  And, so often, people are guilty of this sin.  We say, “God, I know You don’t want me to drink any amount of alcohol, but I’m going to do it any way” (1 Peter 4:1-7).  We say, “God, I know that You don’t want me to engage in any form of fornication or even to lust after a woman, but she is just so good-looking” (Hebrews 13:4; Matthew 5:28).  We say, “God, I know You tell me to love my brother/neighbor and forgive him, but You just don’t know what he has done to me.  So, I’m not going to do it” (Romans 12:10; Luke 10:25-37; Ephesians 4:32).  We know that things like this are sin and deserving of everlasting punishment (Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:14-15; 21:8; Matthew 25:41).  But, there are two other types of sin to go along with this one.

            Another type of sin is accidental sin.  What I mean by that is this: a person is going about their daily business and rather carelessly falls into sin.  This is what happened with Uzzah when he touched the Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 6:6-7).  He knew that he wasn’t supposed to touch it, but it was a knee-jerk reaction to stable the Ark.  Some people might argue that it wasn’t sin, but God called it an irreverent error; it was just as much of a sin as if he had intended to touch it because it violated God’s Law.  It is interesting that the Old Law even made this point, that an unintentional sin was still a sin and that the sinner was in need to the Lord’s forgiveness (Leviticus 4-5; Numbers 15).  And, how many people are guilty of this today?  An example of this in today’s life would be something like stubbing your toe in the middle of the night and accidentally letting a curse word come out of your mouth (Ephesians 4:29).  Another example would be speeding when you don’t exactly know what the speed limit is (Romans 13:1-7).  And, another example would be a man going to the store for milk and noticing an attractive young woman and then realizing that he has lusted in his heart (Matthew 5:28).  In none of these examples do people set out to sin; it was never their intention to sin.  But, they did.  And, each one is just as much of a sin as if they had intended to sin.

            And, a third type of sin is the sin that we don’t even know is a sin.  This is one of the many sins Judah was guilty of at the beginning of Josiah’s reign (2 Chronicles 34-35).  They people were sinning in various ways, but one way they were sinning was in not keeping proper Temple worship.  And, when Josiah learned of this sin for reading the Law for the first time, he tore his clothes because he knew that they had been sinning.  The same could be said today for those who are trying to worship God, but in ways in which they shouldn’t.  For example, many people are ignorant of the fact that God wants them to partake of the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week (Acts 20:6-7).  Also, many people are ignorant of the fact that the only way for the local congregation to receive funds is through the freewill offering of the saints on the first day of the week (1 Corinthians 16:1-2; 2 Corinthians 8-9).  And, many people are ignorant of the fact that God wants us to sing praises to Him with our heart (Ephesians 5:19).  And, because people are ignorant of the Lord’s will, they take the Lord’s Supper only once or twice a year and they raise funds through raffles and bazaars and they “worship” with mechanical instruments.  All of these things are sin, regardless of a person’s ignorance of God’s will, and are just as deserving of punishment as accidental and rebellious sins are (Ezekiel 18:20).

            Sin is sin regardless of whether you intended to cross the line or not, regardless of whether you even knew there was a line or not.  Therefore, let us know the will of the Lord (Ephesians 5:15-17), let us always be sober-minded (1 Peter 5:8), and let us always humbly submit our will to His (James 4:7-10).  May the Almighty and All-Wise God aid us in our endeavor to “perfect holiness” (2 Corinthians 7:1).

~Curtis Carwile