A few sin questions

[simpleas]

You are a sinner only if you believe you are, if you don’t believe in sin, then you are not a sinner?

Does God want us to believe we are sinners before we can ask for forgiveness? Does he want us to feel bad, disgusted with ourselves so we can see that some sins are in fact really going to affect our chance of seeing the creator and entering heaven on the last day?

How do you keep yourself humble before God? When something’s start to sound rather ridiculous as you grow in maturity, how do you “contain” your own thoughts, idea’s, action’s without feeling that you should move on from the church into another or none at all?

Thanks .

 

[Gorgias]

You are a sinner only if you believe you are

Hmm… no; I’m not quite sure how you’re asserting that. Are you thinking of mortal sin, which only occurs if your (objective) grave sin is committed in full knowledge and deliberate consent?

After all, if you sin gravely, it’s still at the very least a venial sin, even if it’s not mortal.

Does God want us to believe we are sinners before we can ask for forgiveness?

No – God wants us to know (not believe) we are sinners because… well… we are.

Does he want us to feel bad, disgusted with ourselves

No – the distinction between ‘guilt’ and ‘shame’ is that guilt says, "this thing that I’ve done is sinful’ whereas shame says, “I’m a bad person.” God wants us to feel guilt – not shame – so that we might turn from sin and turn back toward Him.

 

[simpleas]

Hmm… no; I’m not quite sure how you’re asserting that. Are you thinking of mortal sin, which only occurs if your (objective) grave sin is committed in full knowledge and deliberate consent?

After all, if you sin gravely, it’s still at the very least a venial sin, even if it’s not mortal.

No – God wants us to know (not believe) we are sinners because… well… we are.

No – the distinction between ‘guilt’ and ‘shame’ is that guilt says, "this thing that I’ve done is sinful’ whereas shame says, “I’m a bad person.” God wants us to feel guilt – not shame – so that we might turn from sin and turn back toward Him.

Thinking on people who do not believe certain things are a sin, and so they would say you only believe you are a sinner because you have been told you are.

So how do we know were are sinners unless we believe first that we are? Like we don’t say in the creed I know God, we say I believe in God. We have to form a belief first in order to develop a knowledge?

Yes you can feel guilty about something, but you can also feel shame and that is where I wonder sometimes about the whole creation of life.
Just trying to work out how sin, guilt, shame, forgiveness all works out for people when they might find some things hard to understand.

Thanks for your reply.

 

[johnnyt3000]

Regardless of whether a person doesn’t believe a certain action or omission is a sin or not, if it is objectively wrong, then it is still objectively wrong.
Here is an example:
If a young boy was told by a priest that masturbation is a grave sin (and it is, check the CCC), and the boy doesn’t want to believe it is, that would not change the objective fact that masturbation is an objectively grave sin for everyone.
If one does sin, they are to give themselves to the mercy of Christ. Christ wants us to be in Heaven with Him. Having a guilty conscience is the way to repentance. If one is guilty of mortal sin, they must go to confession (presuming they are baptized Catholics).
One must meet three things to commit a mortal sin.

• It has to be grave matter.
• You have to know that it is grave matter.
• You have to give full consent to it.

 

[Richca]

You are a sinner only if you believe you are, if you don’t believe in sin, then you are not a sinner?

Does God want us to believe we are sinners before we can ask for forgiveness? Does he want us to feel bad, disgusted with ourselves so we can see that some sins are in fact really going to affect our chance of seeing the creator and entering heaven on the last day?

How do you keep yourself humble before God? When something’s start to sound rather ridiculous as you grow in maturity, how do you “contain” your own thoughts, idea’s, action’s without feeling that you should move on from the church into another or none at all?

Thanks .

There is such as thing as the natural law written in everyone’s hearts as St Paul says:

For when the Gentiles who do not have the law by nature observe the prescriptions of the law, they are a law for themselves even though they do not have the law.
They show that the demands of the law are written in their hearts,* while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even defend them
on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge people’s hidden works through Christ Jesus (Romans 2: 14-16).

St Paul also says:

The wrath* of God* is indeed being revealed from heaven against every impiety and wickedness of those who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them.
Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made. As a result, they have no excuse;
for although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened (Romans 1: 18-21)