How can I know what is a sin and what isn’t? from Compelling Truth
The Bible is clear on a great many sins. Proverbs 6:16-19 mentions pride, lying, and murder, among others. Galatians 5:19-21 adds sexual immorality, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, and jealousy. And 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 includes stealing, swindling, and drunkenness. But there are many more circumstances that are not as clear. Part of maturing as a Christian is recognizing that the freedom we receive in Christ comes with a responsibility to live as Christ. We are not children to be given a list of do’s and don’ts and gold stars and check marks. We are adults, or we are to become adults (Hebrews 5:11-14), who live in Christ, motivated by love for God and others.
Romans 14 is a key passage on this subject. It starts by saying that outside of the basics, people will have different opinions about right and wrong, and neither side should judge the other. God has placed each individual in specific circumstances which may endorse different standards. There are tribes in South America where shirtless women are not considered nude. But a woman who displays her armpits is because she is exposing hair that developed during puberty. Women in that culture keep their arms down while others of us would require a shirt, but both actions are expressions of godly modesty. Verse 4 explains we are judged by God, and should be gentle with each other.
A sure sign that something is a sin is if it is not personally edifying. In 1 Corinthians 6:12 (NIV), Paul says, “‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but I will not be mastered by anything.” He would not be “mastered”—that is, he would not allow a gray area to become more important than his relationship with God. John Wesley’s mother put it this way: “Whatever weakens your reasoning, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes away your relish for spiritual things, in short if anything increases the authority and the power of the flesh over the spirit, that to you becomes sin, however good it is in itself.”
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