Lesson for September 17, 2025

The Doctrine of Hamartiology

Lesson 3

Categories of Sin

II Timothy 3:1-7, “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these. For among them are those who slip into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses,always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Criminal Sins

1. Murder – deliberate taking of another person’s life – Exodus 20:13; Matthew 5:21
2. Robbery – stealing anything that does not belong to you – Exodus 20:15; Ephesians 4:28
3. Sexual Assault – forcing another person to have sex (rape) – Deuteronomy 22:25

Sexual Sins

1. Fornication – the Bible forbids fornication, which is sexual activity by an unmarried person. Fornication is prohibited in I Corinthians 6:18 and I Thessalonians 4:3.
2. Adultery – the Bible forbids sexual activity by married persons outside of marriage by the husband or wife in Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18.
3. Homosexuality and lesbianism are sexual activity between men with men or women with women. This is forbidden in Leviticus 18:22, 20:13 and Romans 1:26-27.
4. Transgenderism – the Bible forbids men dressing and acting like women and women dressing and acting like men. Deuteronomy 22:5; Romans 1:26-27

Sins of the Tongue

1. Lying – telling a falsehood – Proverbs 12:22; Ephesians 4:25; Colossians 3:9-10
2. Gossip – conservation or rumors about the private lives of others – Proverbs 16:28; Ephesians 4:28
3. Slander – statements that harm others’ reputations – Proverbs 11:13, 16:28, 20:19
4. Character assassination – deliberate malicious statements designed to destroy another person’s reputation – James 3:8-9
5. Maligning – speaking about someone in a spiteful or critical way – Romans 1:29

Mental Sins

1. Jealousy (emulation) – resentfulness of someone else’s possessions, achievements, relationships, or qualities – Galatians 5:20
2. Implacability – cannot be appeased – Romans 1:31
3. Vituperation – berating others – I Peter 2:1
4. Vilification – defaming another person – Ephesians 5:4
5. Arrogance – overbearing unjustified self-pride – Romans 1:30
6. Bitterness – a state of lingering resentment and hostility toward another person – Ephesians 4:31
7. Self-pity – a self-centered, self-indulgent feeling of sorrow for oneself Ephesians 5:14-17
8. Fear – a feeling of distress or danger real or imagined – Hebrews 13:6
9. Self-deception – convincing oneself of something that is not true or denying truth, reality, or logic – Romans 12:16
10. Self-justification – the act of providing excuses, reasons, or explanations for one’s thoughts or behavior – Luke 10:29
11. Self-absorption – total preoccupation with self – Romans 12:16
12. Hatred – intense dislike or ill will – Romans 1:30
13. Worry – anxiety about actual or potential problems or circumstances in life – Matthew 6:25-33
14. Anger – a strong feeling of displeasure or hostility – Colossians 3:8
15. Wrath – intense anger or rage – Galatians 5:20, James 1:20
16. Malice – deliberate intent to cause harm or injury – Romans 1:29
17. Covetousness – intense desire or envy for someone else’s possessions – Romans 1:29, Hebrews 13:5

18. Lust – sensual appetite – I Peter 2:11, James 1:14-15, 4:3
19. Inordinate affection – excessive, uncontrolled unrighteous passion for something = Romans 1:31; Colossians 3:5
20. Guilt – remorse, feeling of responsibility for wrongdoing – Hebrews 12:1-2
21. Anxiety – feelings of fear, tension, or uneasiness of the unknown – Philippians 4:6
22. Revenge – inflicting hurt or harm for wrong someone caused – Romans 12:19

23. Vindictiveness – a revengeful retaliatory attitude – Romans 12:19
24. Judgmental – an excessively critical point of view about something or someone – Romans 2:1
25. Unmerciful – unable to show mercy or forgiveness – Romans 1:31
26. Envy – a feeling of discontentment or resentfulness leading to jealousy – Romans 1:29
27. Deceitful – misleading or deceiving others – Romans 1:29
28. Proud – a high or excessive opinion of oneself – Romans 1:30
29. Despiteful – hateful, malicious, spiteful attitude or manner – Romans 1:30
30. Strife – bitter disagreement – Romans 1:29
31. Backbiting – destructive talk about someone – Romans 1:30
32. Covenant breakers – disregarding solemn agreements and promises – Romans 1:31
33. Willfully stupid – deliberate decision to avoid or ignore truth – Romans 1:31
34. Heartless – lack of empathy, compassion or kindness – Romans 1:31
35. Clamor – a noisy demand or complaint – Ephesians 4:31
36. Discouragement – loss of confidence – Colossians 3:21
37. Dishonesty – deceitful or fraudulent thought or action – II Corinthians 4:2
38. Disobedient – refusal to obey rules of someone in authority – Romans 1:30
39. Doubt – lack of conviction or uncertainty – I Timothy 2:8
40. Greediness – excessive and selfish desire for more than one needs -Ephesians 4:19
41. Hypocrisy – a false attitude of virtue or holiness – James 3:17

Societal Sins

1. Homosexuality – men living in a partnering relationship with one another
2. Lesbianism – women living in a partnering relationship with one another
3. Religious – rejecting the truth of God’s Word, teaching works for salvation, forcing people to give money, and perpetrating guilt
4. Political – political activism among Christians in a nation, attempting to change Satan’s world system through politics
5. Media – celebrating and affirming programs, policies, and lifestyles that are contrary to Bible principles
6. Education – teaching anti-biblical concepts and subjects that are contrary to biblical truth
7. Entertainment – any form of entertainment that seeks to change the norms and standards of a society, in opposition to the Laws of Divine Establishment

Lifestyle Sins

Lifestyle sins are those committed by a person or persons who embrace a life that ignores the Laws of Divine Establishment. Under God’s grace policy certain principles or divine laws were established to ensure the function and the perpetuation of the human race. These principles or laws are called Divine Establishment and are given by God to believers and unbelievers alike. Within these laws there is no discrimination based on race, nationality, gender, or any other factor. God’s Laws of Divine Establishment apply equally to all members of the human race. This means that anyone can have a peaceful, happy life, if they apply these principles. On the other hand, failure to abide by these principles or laws by individuals or nations brings only disaster. A divine institution is a law or principle established by God for the entire human race. Failure to abide by these principles eventually results in destruction of a society or nation.

1. Freewill – Freewill sets up the potential for everything in life. It guarantees the right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Violation of God’s establishment laws or the laws of the land can negate this potential. Freewill also guarantees human freedom and privacy. 
2. Marriage – Biblical marriage is a union between one man and one woman. It is a function for the protection of freedom, as the man fulfills his responsibility of leading and protecting his wife and children. The stability of a nation depends upon the institution of marriage. Breakdown of marriages and the home inevitably lead to the destruction of a nation. Couples who live together without being married is a sin and violates these establishment laws. God created marriage between one man and one woman and does not condone merely living together as a couple. The Bible does not condone so-called “same sex marriage.” (Genesis 2:24; Ephesians 5:21-33)
3. Family – The family is designed by God for the perpetuation of the human race. Procreation brings new human beings into the world with freewill that must be protected and trained. Children who are trained properly by their parents grow up to be good citizens of the nation. One of the basic concepts that needs to be taught is respect for authority. Proper training ensures a good possibility that a person will utilize the Laws of Divine Establishment. (Ephesians 6:1-4)
4. Nationalism – In order to provide protection for a nation and its citizens, God established the authority of human government. Nations, regardless of type, were established to provide basic freedoms. These freedoms are privacy, the right to succeed or fail, protection from outside predators, freedom of worship, and freedom of free enterprise. (Genesis 10:5; Deuteronomy 32:8; Romans 13:1-7)

When anti-God policies infiltrate a society’s family, education, politics, entertainment, media, and religion, destruction of that society is inevitable.

This infiltration by Satan and his world system leads to the breakdown of families through abandonment or divorce. In these homes, we often find children left alone to their own devices without proper parental guidance, discipline, or love. Therefore, the children of these homes grow up without any respect for authority and often end up in trouble.

The breakdown of a society’s educational system by rewriting history, introducing subjects that children have no business reading about or learning is destructive. Lack of authority and lack of consequences for bad behavior permeate this environment, leading to lack of qualified instructors and properly educated students.

Politics are typically corrupt organizations run by self-indulgent and power-hungry individuals that care little for their constituents or the nation. Politics cannot solve the problems of Satan’s world system, regardless of how good they seem to be. Only God can solve the problems of Satan’s world system. Mankind has tried and failed many times throughout history.

Entertainment ignores anything to do with God and divine establishment principles in favor of money. Satan uses entertainment to further corrupt society by attempting to make sinful, unrighteous activities seem okay and normal. Normal human behavior is based on the control of the sin nature.

Media is another area of society that has great influence over those individuals who do not follow the Laws of Divine Establishment and ignore God and His Word. Their anti-God slant, on most everything they report, leads people, believers and unbelievers, alike, on to a path of a destructive lifestyle.

Religion is one of Satan’s “ace trumps,” leading millions of people to end up in the Lake of Fire for all eternity. Those who get caught up in religion are led down a path of spiritual destruction through false doctrine. Using a false concept of God and Christ, as a foundation, religion sets up standards of behavior that are difficult, if not impossible to adhere to. A person whose lifestyle is based on following the teaching of religion lives a life filled with guilt and fear. They never know the joy of living a lifestyle in fellowship with God, being filled with the Holy Spirit, and glorifying Jesus Christ by learning and applying accurate Bible doctrine.