Identifying Sin

How does one go about proving that eating biscuits is or is not sinful according to Christianity?  There are only two possible methodologies, and only one of them can be correct.  The first possibility is that God has to encourage, command, or otherwise specifically permit something for it to be nonsinful, with everything else being immoral or at least suspect; the second is that something is only sinful if God specifically condemns it or if it follows from some other Biblical command that it is wrong, with every other thing being nonsinful in itself.

The second is clearly what the Bible teaches, and what logic can prove even apart from divine revelation.  If a desire or action is not morally wrong, then it cannot be wrong to indulge in it, regardless of how uncomfortable the thought of it makes other people feel.  If eating biscuits is not condemned by God, then it is not sinful to eat biscuits.  That the Bible teaches this is clear:


Deuteronomy 4:2--"Do not add to what I command you . . ."

Matthew 15:3-7--"Jesus replied, 'Why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?  For God said, "Honor you father and mother" and "Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death."  But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, "Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God," he is not to "honor his father" with it.  Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.  You hypocrites!'"

Romans 7:7--". . . Indeed I would not have known what sin is except through the law."

1 John 3:4--"Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness."


Since the Bible itself defines sin as anything which contradicts God’s moral revelation provided in Mosaic Law (and by extension the words of Jesus and New Testament writings), Christians can know exactly which of the two frameworks of moral epistemology the Bible uses.  The Bible does not leave this point unclear, and one can also deduce, apart from any knowledge of the Bible whatsoever, that if a thing is not morally wrong, then it is intellectually and morally erroneous to treat it as if it is evil.  What reason cannot reveal on its own, however, are which things themselves are actually right or wrong.

It is not that eating biscuits is sinful unless God says otherwise or directly tells someone to eat biscuits; it is that eating biscuits is only sinful if God condemns it explicitly or because of the logical extension of an explicit condemnation.  Since the Bible does not condemn eating biscuits but does demand that people not add to its commands, all while identifying sin as only that which is condemned by God's moral revelation (which corresponds to his moral nature), eating biscuits cannot be sinful on the Christian worldview.  It follows that the person who demands that another person not eat biscuits sins by elevating his or her preferences above the only moral obligations that exist on the Christian worldview.

There are many controversial things (at least controversial in some Christian circles) that one can apply this to, like profanity, polyandry, erotic media, public nudity, alcohol use, or the viewing of entertainment that features miscellaneous sins: one could substitute any of these things, or other things, for the eating of biscuits.  None of them are sinful on their own because they do not contradict anything about God's nature or will, and they are consequently not condemned by Mosaic Law, Jesus, or any New Testament epistles.  What all three of these aspects of Scripture--Mosaic Law (Deuteronomy 4:2), the words of Jesus (Matthew 15:3-9), and the New Testament epistles (Romans 7:7, 1 John 3:4)--unanimously say is that there is no sin where God has not condemned a thing.

Liberating people from unnecessary guilt, false ideas, and suffocating restrictions is a thing of no minor importance!  When people have a right understanding of their ethical obligations, they can serve God in the most thorough way possible, for incorrect moral beliefs held up in God’s name do not glorify God in any way.  On the contrary, they disregard what God has said.  Jesus reacted vehemently at times when people distorted, misapplied, or ignored God’s actual commands while replacing them with non-obligatory rules of human origin.  Identifying what is and is not sinful is a matter of great significance, and the exact methodology described by the Bible is blatant.