Seven Sins & the Early Church
Please note, the early church classified the seven deadly sins as cardinal sins or capital vices and taught that they could not be forgiven. However, according to the Bible these 7 deadly sins are completely and totally forgivable by God, but this doesn’t give free license to commit these sins. Biblically, the only sin that cannot be forgiven is complete rejection of God’s grace which is outright rebellion against God, also known as blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
The Seven Deadly Sins Are:
1 Envy = the desire to have an item or experience that someone else possesses.
2 Gluttony = excessive ongoing consumption of food or drink.
3 Greed or Avarice = an excessive pursuit of material possessions.
4 Lust = an uncontrollable passion or longing, especially for sexual desires.
5 Pride = excessive view of one’s self without regard to others.
6 Sloth = excessive laziness or the failure to act and utilize one’s talents.
7 Wrath = uncontrollable feelings of anger and hate towards another person.
The Root Cause of These Sins
Each one of these deadly sins listed above has its root in the desire for more and the human need for excess. Each sin goes against the root of Christianity which is: love for God, love for our fellow man, and love for our bodies (keeping them as clean temples for God, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Paul writes in Philippians 4:11-12, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.” This strikes at the root of each of these deadly sins. Paul in effect is saying that God can take care of our needs and there is no need to lust or desire after excessive things.
What Cures These Deadly Sins?
The cure for these sins is the gift of a new heart that acts in accordance to the love and law of God. This new heart can only come from God. Ezekiel 36:26-27 says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” Humanity’s only hope is the miracle of a regenerated heart that acts according to the direction of the Holy Spirit to walk in God’s statutes and judgments.
Power does not come from self to change the heart. On the contrary, this verse clearly points out that God alone gives you a new heart and causes you to walk in His ways. As this event becomes a reality in your life, the seven deadly sins of gluttony, envy, sloth, wrath, pride, lust, and greed will lose their power in your life. With the indwelling Holy Spirit in your life, you will instead desire to live a life based upon the principles of the Bible.
Seven Deadly Sins in the Bible
As mentioned before, the list of seven deadly sins in question does not appear in any Bible verse. However, a slightly different set of sins can be found in Proverbs 6:16-19, “These seven things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
- A proud look,
- a lying tongue,
- hands that shed innocent blood,
- A heart that devises wicked plans,
- feet that are swift in running to evil,
- A false witness who speaks lies,
- and one who sows discord among brethren.”
Additionally, Galatians 5:19-21 mentions several more sins to be on our guard against: “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
The Seven Deadly Sins are listed here again and here are suggested prayers you can pray to help you battle these sins. These are not the only prayers, you may know of others or you may find a prayer in some other place, please find and use prayer to help you fight your sins in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! Let him help you!
1 Envy = the desire to have an item or experience that someone else possesses.
PRAYER FOR OVERCOMING ENVY:
Psalm 37 King James Version (KJV)
1. Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
2. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
3. Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
4. Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
5. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
6. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
7. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
8. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
9. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.
10. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.
11. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
12. The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
13. The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.
14. The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.
15. Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.
16. A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.
17. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the Lord upholdeth the righteous.
18. The Lord knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.
19. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
20. But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.
21. The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.
22. For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.
23. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.
24. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.
25. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
26. He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.
27. Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.
28. For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
29. The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.
30. The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.
31. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.
32. The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.
33. The Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.
34. Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.
35. I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.
36. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.
37. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
38. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.
39. But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble.
40. And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.
Amen.
2 Gluttony = excessive ongoing consumption of food or drink.
PRAYER FOR OVERCOMING GLUTTONY:
Psalm 49 King James Version (KJV)
1. Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:
2. Both low and high, rich and poor, together.
3. My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.
4. I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.
5. Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?
6. They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;
7. None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:
8. (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)
9. That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption.
10. For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.
11. Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.
12. Nevertheless man being in honor abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.
13. This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah.
14. Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
15. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.
16. Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased;
17. For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him.
18. Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself.
19. He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light.
20. Man that is in honor, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.
Amen.
3 Greed or Avarice = an excessive pursuit of material possessions.
PRAYER FOR OVERCOMING Greed and Avarice:
Psalm 115 King James Version (KJV)
1. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.
2. Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?
3. But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
4. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
5. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:
6.They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:
7. They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.
8. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
9. O Israel, trust thou in the Lord: he is their help and their shield.
10. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord: he is their help and their shield.
11. Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord: he is their help and their shield.
12. The Lord hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron.
13. He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great.
14. The Lord shall increase you more and more, you and your children.
15. Ye are blessed of the Lord which made heaven and earth.
16. The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.
17. The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.
18. But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the Lord.
Amen.
4 Lust = an uncontrollable passion or longing, especially for sexual desires.
PRAYER FOR OVERCOMING LUST:
Psalm 81 King James Version (KJV)
1. Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
2 .Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.
3. Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.
4. For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.
5. This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.
6. I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.
7. Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.
8. Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;
9. There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.
10. I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11. But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.
12. So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
13. Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!
14. I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.
15. The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.
16. He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.
Amen.
5 Pride = excessive view of one’s self without regard to others.
PRAYER FOR OVERCOMING PRIDE:
Psalm 39 King James Version (KJV)
1. I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.
2. I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.
3. My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,
4. Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is: that I may know how frail I am.
5. Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
6. Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.
7. And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.
8. Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish.
9. I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.
10. Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand.
11. When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah.
12. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.
13. O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.
Amen
6 Sloth = excessive laziness or the failure to act and utilize one’s talents.
PRAYER FOR OVERCOMING SLOTH:
Psalm 78 King James Version (KJV)
1. Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:
3. Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
4. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.
5. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:
6. That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:
7. That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:
8.And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God.
9. The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.
10. They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;
11. And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had showed them.
12. Marvelous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13. He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as a heap.
14. In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.
15. He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.
16. He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
17. And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.
18. And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.
19. Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?
20. Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?
21. Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;
22. Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:
23. Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,
24. And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.
25. Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full.
26. He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind.
27. He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea:
28. And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations.
29. So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire;
30. They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths,
31. The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.
32. For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.
33. Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.
34. When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and inquired early after God.
35. And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.
36. Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.
37. For their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his covenant.
38. But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.
39. For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
40. How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!
41. Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
42. They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.
43. How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan.
44. And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink.
45. He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.
46. He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labor unto the locust.
47. He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost.
48. He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
49. He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.
50. He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;
51. And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham:
52. But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53. And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54. And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased.
55. He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
56. Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies:
57. But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
58. For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
59. When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:
60.So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men;
61. And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy’s hand.
62. He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance.
63. The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage.
64. Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation.
65. Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.
66. And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach.
67. Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:
68. But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved.
69. And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever.
70. He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:
71. From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
72. So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.
Amen.
7 Wrath = uncontrollable feelings of anger and hate towards another person.
PRAYER FOR OVERCOMING WRATH:
Psalm 109. A psalm of David.
1. Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise;
2. For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
3. They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.
4. For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.
5. And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
6. Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.
7. When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.
8. Let his days be few; and let another take his office.
9. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.
10. Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.
11. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath, and let the strangers spoil his labor.
12. Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favor his fatherless children.
13. Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.
14. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the Lord; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15. Let them be before the Lord continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.
16. Because that he remembered not to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.
17. As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.
18.As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.
19. Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.
20. Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the Lord, and of them that speak evil against my soul.
21. But do thou for me, O God the Lord, for thy name’s sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me.
22. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.
23. I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust.
24. My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.
25. I become also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shook their heads.
26. Help me, O Lord my God: O save me according to thy mercy:
27. That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, Lord, hast done it.
28. Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice,
29. Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame; and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.
30. I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude.
31. For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.
Amen.
Let’s end this on a positive note, I’d like to mention The Seven Virtues:
The seven virtues were originally defined in the poem, Psychomachia, by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, a Christian governor who died around 410 A.D. Because of the poem’s prevalence the concept and idea of the seven virtues spread throughout Europe. The following is a listing of the seven virtues and how they cure each of the seven deadly sins:
1 Kindness = Cures envy by placing the desire to help others above the need to supersede them.
2 Temperance = Cures gluttony by implanting the desire to be healthy, therefore making one fit to serve others.
3 Charity or Love =Cures greed by putting the desire to help others above storing up treasure for one’s self.
4 Chastity or Self Control = Cures lust by controlling passion and leverages that energy for the good of others.
5 Humility = Cures pride by removing one’s ego and boastfulness, therefore allowing the attitude of service.
6 Diligence or Zeal = Cures slothfulness by placing the best interest of others above the life of ease and relaxation.
7 Patience = Cures wrath by taking time to understand the needs and desires of others before acting or speaking.
All Glory to God!
His humble servant Lee Buchanan