Sin to imagine sin is not sin?

[CuriousInIL]

Is it a sin to wish that an action that is a sin was not a sin? Or to think that one might do the action if it was not sin?

For example, is it a sin to “wish” that taking another’s car was not a sin?

Or to think, if taking that car was not a sin, I would take it?

 

[teachccd]

Interesting question. But I think that it boils down to our will being better than God’s will. To wish that something were not a sin would be, in essence, to wish that God was just that much less in order to allow what is contrary to Him to exist. Anything that places a lesser pleasure in lieu of the infinite Good is a sin. So to wish that something is not a sin is to have hoped that God has that minute imperfection that would not detect our slightest offense to Himself. This cannot ever be since God is Love and any detraction from love (like stealing a car) is sin.

So…to wish for something to not be a sin is the same as wishing that God was not infinite Love. I hope that I made some sense and that you can take it from here…teachccd

 

[StCsDavid]

Is it a sin to wish that an action that is a sin was not a sin? Or to think that one might do the action if it was not sin?

For example, is it a sin to “wish” that taking another’s car was not a sin?

Or to think, if taking that car was not a sin, I would take it?

IMHO it’s not a sin, but rather a good barometer as to the condition of one’s will. Since God has told us that stealing is a sin, then to wish that it wasn’t would mean that one perhaps has some area of the will in need of conversion. That’s a good thing. At least one knows and as along as one is resisting the temptation, then one is probably on the right path.

 

[Pray4Life]

Here is a link to an article on sin that might help (scroll down to “Internal Sins”).

You should read it over but here is a quote from it:

An inefficacious desire is one that carries a condition, in such a way that the will is prepared to perform the action in case the condition were verified. When the condition is such as to eliminate all sinfulness from the action, the desire involves no sin: e.g. I would gladly eat meat on Friday, if I had a dispensation; and in general this is the case whenever the action is forbidden by positive law only.

As far as wishing sins weren’t sins, that seems like a slippery slope to me. What if I wished it wasn’t a sin to murder people? Would you think that was sinful of me? Even if I never meant to do any such thing, that desire would still be a disordered one contrary to God’s will.