Types of Sins

Do SIN has types

"Let no man, when he is tempted, say that he is tempted by God.  For God is not a tempter of evils, and he tempteth no man.  But every man is tempted by his own concupiscence, being drawn away and allured.  Then when concupiscence hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin.  But sin, when it is completed, begetteth death."  (James 1:13-15)

1. What is sin?

    Sin is any thought, word, desire, action, or neglect (omission) prohibited (forbidden) by the law of God.
2. When are you guilty of sin?

    To be guilty –
1. You must know that you are breaking God's law, and...
2. You must freely choose to do it.
3. How many kinds of sin are there?

    Two – mortal sin and venial sin.
4. What is mortal sin?

    A "big" sin, a serious violation of God's law.

Examples:  Getting drunk, adultery, stealing something expensive.

5. What does mortal sin do to the soul?

It drives the Sanctifying Grace out of your soul.

"What fruit had you then in those things, of which you are now ashamed?  For the end of them is death."    (Romans 6:21)

6. Where will you go if you die with mortal sin on your soul?

    You will go to Hell forever.

"They shall have their portion in the pool burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."    (Apocalypse 21:8)

7. Can all mortal sins be forgiven?

   Yes, if you are truly sorry for them and do everything necessary for forgiveness.

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity."    (1 John 1:9)

8. What is venial sin?

   A "small" sin, a less serious violation of God's law.

Examples:  Impatience, ordinary anger, stealing something cheap, getting slightly drunk.

9. What does venial sin do to your soul?

   It does not drive out the Sanctifying Grace from your soul, but it does make you less pleasing to God.
10. Where will you go if you die with venial sin on your soul (and no mortal sins)?

   You will go to Purgatory.
11. Can a number of venial sins become a mortal sin?

   No.  (Except that a series of similar small, recurring thefts from the same person amounts to one large theft and therefore can be a mortal sin.)
12. If you do something wrong, but do not know it is wrong, are you guilty of sin?

   No, if it is through no fault of yours that you do not know it is wrong.

Example:  If you eat meat on Ash Wednesday, completely forgetting that it is Ash Wednesday, you are not guilty of sin.





(Ed. note:  There are some things, though, that you know are wrong, even though somebody may never have told you that they are wrong, such as birth control or homosexuality.  Even though you may not have been told that they are wrong, common sense or the natural law tells you that they are wrong.)

13. Are you guilty of sin if you intend to do something wrong, even though you do not actually do it?

   Yes, because even the intention to offend God is a sin.

Example:  If you intend to rob a bank, but are frightened off by the guards, you still commit just as bad a sin as if you had robbed the bank.

14. What should you do if you do not know whether something is mortal or venial sin?

   You should not do it; otherwise, you will commit a mortal sin, because you show yourself willing to offend God seriously.

Example:  You do not know whether eating too much is a mortal or venial sin, but you go ahead and eat too much anyway.

15. What is temptation?

   Temptation is an attraction to commit sin.
16. Can you always overcome temptation?

   Yes, because no temptation can force you into sin, and God will always help you.

"And God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able:  But will make also with temptation issue, that you may be able to bear it."    (1 Corinthians 10:13)

17. What should you do when you are tempted?

   First, ask God to help you, and then, get busy doing something else.

"And lead us not into temptation.  But deliver us from evil."    (1 Corinthians 10:13)

18. How can you avoid temptations?

   Avoid all persons, places or things that may lead you into sin, and ask God for actual graces.
19. What are actual graces?

   They are "helps" from God which enlighten the mind and strengthen the will to do good and avoid evil.

"My grace is sufficient for thee:  For power is made perfect in infirmity."    (2 Corinthians 12:9)



Actual graces come and go, but Sanctifying Grace remains in the soul.  Sanctifying Grace is LIFE; actual grace is HELP.

20. Can you resist actual graces?

   Unfortunately, yes, for you are free, and God does not force you to use them.

"And we helping do exhort you, that you receive not the grace of God in vain."    (2 Corinthians 6:1)


Lesson 13: Original Sin

"Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death; and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned...  For as by the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners; so also by the obedience of one, many shall be made just."  (Romans 5:12, 19)

Read the first three chapters of Genesis.

1. What is Original Sin?

    The sin committed by Adam, the father of the human race.  By Original Sin, Adam lost Sanctifying Grace.
2. Who were Adam and Eve?

    The first man and woman, from whom every human being on this earth is descended.
3. How did the sin of Adam affect the human race?

    Because of Adam's sin, every human being is created with Original Sin on his soul and without Sanctifying Grace, since Adam was the father of the human race.

Adam's nature became "fallen" through Original Sin, and we his descendants inherit his fallen nature.





"By the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners."    (Romans 5:19)

4. What else did Adam's sin do?

   The gates of Heaven were closed; disease, pain and death came into the world; the mind of man was darkened and his will was weakened.

"For the imagination and thought of man's heart are prone to evil from his youth."    (Genesis 8:21)

5. Is Heaven still closed to the human race?

   No, because of Christ's death on the Cross, God reopened Heaven and made Sanctifying Grace available to man.

"As in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive."    (1 Corinthians 15:22)

6. What happened to the good people who died before Christ?

   They went to Limbo, a place of natural happiness in the next world, and stayed there until Jesus ascended into heaven.

"And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom.  And the rich man also died:  and he was buried in Hell."    (Luke 16:22)

7. How do you get rid of Original Sin and obtain Sanctifying Grace?

   Baptism takes away Original Sin and put Sanctifying grace in your soul.

"Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.    (John 3:5)

8. Was any human being preserved from Original Sin?

   Yes, the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose soul was created with Sanctifying Grace in it.  This is called the Immaculate Conception.

"And the angel being come in, said unto her:  Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee:  blessed art thou among women.    (Luke 1:28)

1. From the way God punished the sin of Adam, it is clear that the sin was a serious one.  If Adam had not committed it, there would have been no disease, pain or death.  So, you can see what a terrible thing sin is in the eyes of God.
2. Only unbaptized babies and unbaptized persons who never had the use of their minds go to Limbo now.
3. Baptism does not restore the other gifts lost by Adam's sin, that is, freedom from pain, disease and death, and the perfect control over the lower nature.
4. The Church teaches that the human race began with one man and one woman.  Any scientific theory of man's biological origin must agree with this fact.