Our Favorite Sin

Why do we sin?

This is such a common question, of which the answer is so important to our spiritual life and to life itself.

We can observe the effects of sin in our lives and the lives of others. Its destructive effects to the individual, to families and societies are self-evident and cannot be denied.

It is observable too that people sin for many reasons. We can observe at least three general types of sin:


1) Some people sin out of ignorance or lack of knowledge. This is the first type of sin.

Say, for example a man who was raised up living a life of crime. His very parents brought him up to steal from others, teaching him it was justified if the victim was well-off or rich.

Nobody ever taught him what is morally right and wrong. He sins against society thinking what he's doing is morally right.

There is always a punishment for any sin whether the sinner is aware the act is sinful or not.


2) Some people sin even when they know the act is sinful. They use logic to justify an action or rationalize to suppress guilt feelings. This is the second type of sin.

It is important to note that the person does not admit the sin.

Say, a woman who has an illicit relationship with a married man. She and the man are church-going Christians and know fully well that this is a grave sin.

The woman rationalizes to justify this. She assures herself "I think it's ok for me to have a relationship even though he is married. He doesn't love his wife anymore. As long as we love each other, I don't think this is a sin."

This type of sin is more severe than the first. To sin with knowledge of the sin carries higher punishment than sinning without knowledge of it.


3) Yet there's still a third reason why people sin. Some people still commit sin even with full knowledge that it is morally wrong. However, instead of using logic, they do something else. They appeal to God's mercy. This is the third type of sin.

If you compare it with the second type of sin (previous topic just above this), this third type of sin is different in one aspect - the admission of sin. The person admits the act is sinful.

This is unlike the second type of sin where there is no admission of sin, rather there is denial of sin.

Case in point: There's a terrorist who was promised payment to his family if he did a terrorist act. He knows it is wrong but says to himself "I will explode this bomb so my family will have a better life. I know God will understand. God have mercy on me for this."

Of course, this heinous crime will destroy the lives of other families. As long as one family benefits, right?

Or this case: A man's son is in the hospital needing an emergency operation. The father knows stealing is a sin and crime but decides to do it anyway.

He becomes a criminal to save up enough money. He takes money from people at the point of a gun. He intimidates them to give him cash in exchange for their lives.

To appeal to God's mercy to lessen the punishment of a sin, while still doing the sinful act anyway (even with full knowledge of the sin and its consequences) is an insult to God.

Yes, God is a merciful God. But He balances this mercy with His divine justice. In His infinite wisdom, He knows without this balance, His mercy will be constantly abused.

So what then is the origin of sin?

The Holy Bible tells us. Ironically, human beings are not the source of sin. The first sin was committed by an angel.

And no ordinary angel he was. He was one of the highest ranked angels (some accounts even state he was the highest ranked). His original name was Lucifer. Now he is known as Satan, The Evil One, etc.

Yup, hard to believe this angel was once envied by even the other angels. It is said that he was the most handsome among them all. Wherever he walked, music accompanied him. He was popular among the other angels.

Until he became vain. His pride was his downfall. He used his God-given gifts to corrupt other angels and turn them against God. He wanted to possess ultimate, infinite power. He wanted to become God, to equal God's power.

Bible accounts state he turned about 25-30% or 1/3 of the angels to rebel against God Himself. A war occurred in heaven.

The battle between the good angels and rebel angels was fierce. At the most critical part of the battle, God Himself gave power to a lower-ranked, yet extremely humble angel. His name was St. Michael the Archangel.

He defeated Lucifer and almost single-handedly won the battle. Because of him, the rebel angels were defeated. They were transformed into devils/demons and God cast them forever from Heaven. Hell was a place made for them.

So how did man sin? I know most of us are familiar with what happened next.

God created Adam and Eve, the first two humans on Earth. They were forbidden to eat of only one fruit - the fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Evil One disguised himself as a serpent and tempted Eve to eat of the fruit.

Eve in turn tempted Adam to eat of it. So both were guilty. We can surmise too that Adam sinned by choosing Eve over God. He chose to listen to what Eve wanted, rather than that of God. This alone is a sin of idolatry (prioritizing someone or somebody before God).

In modern times, there is new yet growing scientific evidence that all human beings of all races can be traced back in origin to only one male and one female. This was discovered through modern DNA testing and other methods. More evidence is needed, and is being gathered as we speak.

It sure is good news. And it sure beats the interesting but highly controversial Darwin's Theory of Evolution.

So there you have it, the origin of sin.