How To Kill The Seven Deadly Sins With Grace

Few doctrines are more obvious, or more personally experienced, than the reality of sin. As Reinhold Niebuhr quipped, “The doctrine of original sin is the only empirically verifiable doctrine of the Christian faith.” We don’t need to be taught how to sin. It comes naturally. Instead, we need a vision for virtuous living, shaped by Scripture and empowered by grace.

In The Death of the Deadly Sins: Embracing the Virtues That Transform Lives, a team of authors, including Michael and Melissa Kruger, Dustin Messer, and Jen Pollock Michel, collaborated to encourage Christian virtue. They show how we can kill the seven deadly sins by pursuing the opposing virtues.

The goal is sanctification, which is at the heart of God’s will for every Christian (1 Thess. 4:3). The journey toward sanctification includes both avoidance of evil and pursuit of good. We must flee sexual immorality even as we steward our bodies well. This volume’s contributors wrestle with the positive and negative aspects of sanctification.

Grounded in our union with Christ, the trek toward sanctification is fueled by the Spirit’s power and shaped by God’s Word. This book’s theological insights will encourage readers with practical wisdom for cultivating a life of virtue.

I had an opportunity to interview Daniel Doriani, who edited the volume and contributed several chapters, to hear his perspective on virtue ethics.

Reformed ethics are often framed according to the Decalogue. Why does this book use virtue and vice as an organizing principle? How does that approach mesh with sola scriptura?

Historically, there are three sound and valuable ways to answer the question “How shall I live well?” The Bible affirms all three, though it focuses on the first and the last.

First, we can live well by following God’s law. Second, we can aim to do what is helpful or loving for the people around us. Third, we can develop our character, through our union with Christ, so that we do what is right as a matter of habit and practice.

We can tell the truth (1) because God forbids lying, or (2) because lies, when discovered, damage or destroy relationships, or (3) because we have been telling the truth so long and so carefully that it seems impossible or unthinkable to lie.

We call this third path “character” or “virtue.”

Believers obey the law, in part, because it expresses God’s character. We tell the truth because the Lord is true and truthful. But it’s easiest to obey when love for the Lord motivates love for his laws, ways, and people, so we follow it reliably, even under duress. That consistency is what we call character or virtue.

We tell the truth because the Lord is true and truthful.

The terms “character” or “virtue” don’t occur with a high frequency in the text of the New Testament. However, the concept of character is widespread. For example, 2 Peter 1:3–5 says God’s “divine power” grants us everything necessary for “life and godliness” through “his own glory and [moral] excellence” so that we “may become partakers of the divine nature.” Peter concludes, “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue.” So, virtue is a sound way for Protestants to talk about ethics.

All sin leads to death and judgment apart from God’s grace. So why is an emphasis on the traditional seven deadly sins the best approach for a book like this?

There’s perhaps a morbid fascination with the deadly sins, but there’s no doubt that Scripture often addresses sins such as pride, wrath, lust, greed, and gluttony (especially if we include drunkenness). So the theme of deadly sins is biblical.

All sins equally lead to death and judgment, but sins vary in many ways. Thus, adultery and murder are worse than angry or lustful thoughts because (1) they cause more damage and (2) they proceed from and lead to barrages of evil thoughts.

In the long tradition of studying deadly sins, theologians note that certain sins are gateways to others. Gluttony is an act of self-indulgence or lack of restraint that manifests in drunkenness, luxurious living, sensual sin, even excessive sleep. Pride is another gateway. It leads to godlessness, anger, party spirit, lying for the sake of self-advancement, and contempt for others. Lust leads to adultery but also to dehumanization of others and lack of love for one’s spouse.

Deadly sins typically have a long tail of following sins. That makes them worth studying.

How is an emphasis on cultivating virtues and eliminating vices particularly helpful in our digitally distracted age?

Excellent character or virtue makes everything easier. Restraint—or self-control, as Scripture calls it—is an element of the fruit of the Spirit that lets us break with gluttony, lust, greed, and the indifference to others that we call sloth.

Deadly sins typically have a long tail of following sins.

Globally speaking, restraint makes it easier to bypass both cheesecake and doomscrolling. Beyond that, vast swaths of digital content promote wrath, lust, and greed. If we replace them with thankfulness, contentment, and love, the worst parts of the media lose their attraction. More positively, love and gratitude foster a focus on God and neighbor that displaces deadly sins.

What should local churches do to help congregants cultivate virtuous habits?

We know how people change. The starting point is desire or interest in a better way of life, which the Bible calls “the way of the LORD” (Gen. 18:19; Judg. 2:22; Luke 3:4).

We also need the capacity to do what we aspire to do; we gain that by faith and by union with Christ. Instruction follows, but we may change the most when we pursue it together with trusted friends who both model godliness and spur us on to desire it.