The Shepherd, September 2004
THE NATURE OF SIN, 2
It is more difficult to struggle with sin when, through frequent repetition, it becomes a habit in one. After acquiring any kind of habit, the habitual actions are performed by the person very easily, almost unnoticed by himself, spontaneously. Thus, the struggle with sin which has become a habit for a person is very difficult since it is not only difficult to overcome, but is even difficult to detect in its approach and its process.
An even more dangerous stage of sin is vice. In this condition, sin so rules a person that it forges his will in chains. Here one is almost powerless to struggle against it. He is a slave to sin even though he may acknowledge its danger and, in lucid intervals, perhaps even hates it with all his soul (such for example is the vice of alcoholism, drug addiction, etc.). In this condition, one cannot deal with oneself without special mercy and help from God, and one is in need of prayer and the spiritual support of others. One must bear in mind that even a seemingly minor sin, such as gossiping, love of attire, empty diversions, etc., can become a vice in man if it possesses him entirely and fills his soul.
The lowest stage of sin, in which sin completely enslaves one to itself, is the passion of one or another sinful type. In this condition, man can no longer hate his sin as he can with a vice (and this is the difference between them). Rather he submits to sin in all his experiences, actions and moods, as did Judas Iscariot. At this stage, one literally and directly lets Satan into his heart (as it is said of Judas in the Gospels: Jn. 13:27; Luke 22:3), and in this condition, nothing will help him except Grace-filled Church prayers and other such actions.
There is yet another special, most terrible and destructive type of sin. This is mortal sin. Even the prayers of the Church cannot help one who is found in this condition. The Apostle John the Theologian speaks of this directly when he entreats us to pray for a brother which has sinned, but points out the uselessness of prayer for mortal sin (1 John 5:16).
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself says that this sin - the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit - is not forgiven and will not be forgiven either in this age or in the future (Matt. 12:31-32). He pronounced these terrible words against the Pharisees who, through they clearly saw that He worked everything according to the will of God and by God’s power, nevertheless distorted the truth. They perished in their own blasphemy and their example is instructive and urgent for all those who would sin mortal sin, by an obdurate and conscious adversity to the undoubted Truth, thereby blaspheming the Spirit of Truth, God’s Holy Spirit.
We must note that even blasphemy against the Lord Jesus Christ can be forgiven men (according to His own words), since it can be committed in ignorance or temporary blindness. Blasphemy against the HolySpirit could be forgiven, says Saint Athanasius the Great, only if a man ceased from it and became repentant. But the very nature of the sin is such that it makes it virtually impossible for a man to return to the truth. One who is blind can regain his sight and love the one who revealed the truth to him, and one who is soiled with vices and passions can be cleansed by repentance and become a confessor of the Truth, but who and what can change a blasphemer who has seen and known the Truth, and who has stubbornly refused it and hated it? This horrible condition is similar to that of the devil himself, who believes in God and trembles, but who nevertheless hates Him, blasphemes Him and is in adversity to Him.
When a seduction, a temptation to sin, appears in man, it usually comes from three sources: from man’s own flesh, from the world and from Satan.
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