Types of sin (intentional evil action, intentional inaction, unintentional evil action (accidents), ignorance of behavior, societal evil, and entropy)1
Degrees of sin (mortal vs venial, and unpardonable)2
What is repentance?
The word repentance is originally from the Greek word metanoia, which means ‘a transformative change of heart’3,4
Repentance is related to altering a person’s life, both their actions and their attitude5
Luke 17:3 connects repentance to forgiving others6
The forgiveness of sins is tied to repentance in Isaiah 30:15, Luke 24:47, and Acts 3:197,8,9
What exactly is forgiveness?
Forgiveness is a decision and not a feeling (God doesn’t command us to change our feelings, but he does command us to change our decisions)10,11
Luke 17:3-4 discusses that we must continue to forgive others so long as those others repent12
Group Discussion Question: When is it appropriate to forgive someone, and can you gauge another person’s true repentance?
How to treat continued, unrepentant sin
Each denomination has a different attitude toward how their individual churches remove members from the church, and nearly all believe that members involved in unrepentant sin should be removed (though some, like the Catholic church, specifically reference ‘particularly grave sins’)
The Roman Catholic church allows “the Pope, the bishop of the place or priests authorized by them” to excommunicate members, specifically for “particularly grave sins”, per the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 146313
The Southern Baptist Convention states that individual church congregations must hold pastors and church members accountable for sin, and that no larger organization can play a part in these determinations14
The United Methodists place in their official documents that councils, boards, committees, and/or commissions should remove members from a church if they are guilty of immoral conduct, breach of trust, and/or have failed to perform their official duties15
The largest Lutheran denomination in America allows synods (an assembly of clergy) to rule on immoral conduct within the church, similar to a court, and they lay out specific reasons for removing members from the church16
How to communicate observed sin to a friend, family member, or outsider
The Bible states that there is a specific way to approach another believer about their sin (Matthew 18:15-20)17
One-on-one, two-on-one, and then the Church against the one
Sin can be a challenge in today’s culture, with much of society outright not believing in sin, and even those within the church committing idolatry and refusing to believe that their actions constitute sin18
Group Discussion Question: When is it appropriate to be around sin, and when is it considered endorsing sin, when you are involved in activities with people actively sinning in those activities?
We as Christians must rebuke a person gently, humbly, and sacrificially19
Group Discussion Question: Have you ever successfully communicated to another person that they are sinning, and were you successful in making them aware and minimizing or eliminating that sin from their lives?
