📖 Biblical Definition
Actual sin is the term for the particular sins that a person actually commits—in thought, word, and deed, and in the omission of duty—as distinguished from original sin, the sinful state and corruption of nature with which he is born. The distinction is important and biblical. Original sin is the polluted fountain; actual sins are the foul streams that flow from it. From the corrupt heart, our Lord teaches, proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies—these are the actual sins, the active fruit of the inward corruption. Actual sins are committed by every person past infancy, for out of the abundance of a sinful heart the mouth speaks and the hands work. They are of many kinds and degrees: sins of ignorance and sins of knowledge, sins of weakness and sins of presumption, sins of commission (doing what is forbidden) and sins of omission (leaving undone what is commanded), secret sins and open sins, sins against God and sins against neighbor. Though some actual sins are more heinous than others in the sight of God—by reason of the person offending, the persons offended, the nature of the command, and the aggravating circumstances—every actual sin, as a transgression of the holy law, deserves God’s wrath and curse. The doctrine reminds us that we are accountable not only for what we are by nature but for what we do; and that the remedy for both the corrupt root and its actual fruit is the same blood of Christ.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Webster 1828 distinguishes ACTUAL sin—the transgressions actually committed—from original sin, the inherited corruption of nature.
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ACTUAL, a. — ...3. In theology, actual sin, in distinction from original sin, is the act of a moral agent in transgressing a divine law; opposed to that depravity of nature which is inherited.
Actual sins proceed from the corruption of nature, and consist in thoughts, words, and deeds contrary to the law of God.
📖 Key Scripture
Matthew 15:19 — "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies."
James 1:14-15 — "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin."
Galatians 5:19-21 — "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness... and such like."
Romans 3:23 — "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
No major postmodern redefinition of the category, but actual sins are routinely renamed—lust becomes “sexual freedom,” greed “ambition,” pride “self-esteem”—so that the deeds Scripture condemns are recast as virtues.
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While the category of actual sin is not so much denied as ignored, the age has perfected the art of renaming particular sins until they sound like virtues. The lusts of the flesh become “sexual freedom” and “authentic self-expression”; covetousness and greed become healthy “ambition” and “drive”; pride and self-exaltation become “self-esteem” and “self-love”; gluttony and indulgence become “self-care.” By this relabeling the actual works of the flesh that Paul says exclude men from the kingdom are paraded as marks of a liberated and well-adjusted life, and the conscience is anesthetized against the very deeds that destroy the soul.
A second corruption confines sin almost entirely to outward acts of commission—the visible crimes—while ignoring the vast territory of inward sins and sins of omission that Scripture weighs just as heavily. A man congratulates himself that he has not murdered or stolen, while harboring the hatred and covetousness that Christ identifies as the same sins in the heart, and while leaving undone the love, mercy, and worship he owes to God and neighbor. The doctrine of actual sin, rightly held, searches the whole man: it names the renamed sins for what they are, exposes the inward transgressions of thought and desire, and reckons the good left undone as truly sinful as the evil done. To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Actual sins are the erga tou sarkos (works of the flesh) and the evil thoughts that proceed from the heart—the active fruit of the inward hamartia.
Usage
"Original sin is the polluted fountain; actual sins are the foul streams that flow from it."
"Actual sins include omissions as truly as commissions—the good left undone no less than the evil done."
"The age renames actual sins as virtues: lust becomes freedom, greed becomes ambition, pride becomes self-esteem."