What is a vice?

Answer

A vice is an immoral or wicked behavior. Some synonyms for vice include wrongdoing, wickedness, evil, iniquity, villainy, corruption, misconduct, misdeeds, and sin. Vice crime, as a legal term, is used to describe immoral activities involving prostitution, pornography, drugs, or gambling. Although vices, by definition, are quite negative, people often refer to their “vices” as lesser evils. Bad habits, such as drinking too much coffee or watching too much TV, are sometimes labeled as “vices.” In common usage, a vice is often just a flaw or imperfection, something to be dismissed as insignificant. In Roman Catholicism, a vice is seen as a “habit inclining one to sin.”

The term vice appears once in the New King James Version of the Bible: “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may silence the ignorance of foolish men—as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God” (1 Peter 2:15-16). The New English Translation also mentions the word, contrasting “the yeast of vice and evil” with “the bread of sincerity and truth” «therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. », (1 Corinthians 5:8). Synonyms for vice are frequently found in Scripture. In fact, the vice of human beings, starting in the Garden of Eden, necessitated a Savior who could rescue us from the curse we brought upon ourselves.

While some may view a vice as less severe than outright sin (there is even a popular youth-oriented magazine and media conglomerate named Vice), the Bible does not make such a distinction. God detests all sin equally, even those sins we call vices. All sIn is ultimately a sin against God Himself and is an affront to His holy nature «Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: That thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. », (Psalm 51:4). The Bible teaches that all of us sin «for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; », (Romans 3:23) and that the wages we earn for sin is eternal death «For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.», (Romans 6:23). The Bible makes no distinction between vices and other sins. All sin renders the sinner worthy of eternal separation from God.

The apostle James states that “whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all” «For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. », (James 2:10). Even one small vice, even when unintentionally committed, makes us guilty of transgressing the entire Law of God. If we had committed only one vice in a lifetime (an impossibility), that one vice would make us guilty of the entire Law and merit eternal punishment. God does not distinguish between lesser and greater sins as regarding guilt. To break the Law in one point is to become a lawbreaker. All sins are equally offensive to Him, and all result in punishment.

The Bible also teaches that all sin must be punished. Either the sinner pays for his own sins in hell, or Jesus Christ pays for them by shedding His blood on the cross. When Jesus said, “It is finished” on the cross «When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, andGave up the ghost. », (John 19:30), He was saying that the sin debt was paid in full. He had fulfilled all that was necessary to grant forgiveness and eternal life to those who would believe in Him. This is why Jesus says in John 3:18 that “whoever believes in him [Jesus] is not condemned.” When we trust Christ as our Savior and accept His sacrifice on our behalf, all our sins—all our vices—are wiped clean, and we never have to pay the penalty for transgressing God’s Law « There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. », (Romans 8:1).