What is the difference between private and public sins? I realize that most say that sins of a private nature can be forgiven by praying to God for forgiveness, while sins of a public nature need to be repented of. I realize that God doesn’t hear the prayers of Christians who have committed public sins. … If a man told a lie in public, yet no one knew it was a lie, but he and God, would that be considered a public sin? If a man didn’t give as he should in the offering would that be considered a public sin? Are public sins, sins that are done in public in which people identify as a sin or do public sins also include sins done in public, in which only God and the person doing them, know to be a sin? … Also, would breaking the law by going above the speed limit be considered a sin? Would that be public or private? I realize that many brethren probably go above the speed limit, but would that be considered a sin? I realize that we are to obey the laws of the land, but yet I ask would it be a sin to break the law of speeding?
The context of Matthew 18:15-17 makes the distinction between what we might call private sins and public sins, primarily by defining private sins.
“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.”
A private sin is one that is not generally known, though one or more individuals may be aware of it. Contrasted with what we might style as a private sin, we would acknowledge one’s sin to be public when it is generally known (by the church in this case or by the community). Private sins might occur out of sight and away from the knowledge of others, or private sins might occur in a public setting in which neither the community nor the church notice or are aware of the sins. Public sins, irrespective of whether they were committed out of sight of the public or the church or committed openly, are considered public because either the community or the church or both are aware of those sins.
In both the case of private and public sins, Christians who sin must repent of those sins and pray for forgiveness. The difference, though, is the privacy or publicity with which repentance and prayer is pursued, respectively depending on whether the sins are private or public. Take care of private sins privately and public sins publicly. Essentially, the degree to which one’s sins are known is the same degree to which a Christian’s repentance and prayer should be manifest to those around him. (Unbaptized believers, however, cannot simply repent and pray for forgiveness, because they must first obey the Gospel before they can approach God this way, Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9.)
Sin is the transgression of God’s law (1 John 3:4). God’s law includes our amenability to civil law (Romans 13:1), which if we resist, we will be condemned (Romans 13:2).
“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves.”
The only circumstances under which we may resist the laws of the land are when we must appeal to the higher law of God because civil law requires us to commit sins (Acts 4:18-20; 5:28-29). Yet, in such cases, we are only exempted from compliance with the specific laws that require us to violate the law of God.
Mankind typically distinguishes between what he considers grievous sins and other sins of lesser significance. This, however, is a fatal error since God simply states through the pen of the apostle Paul that the “wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), without making a distinction in sins. Further, heinous sins like murder and adultery are listed with lying, the consequence of which if one greets God in eternity guilty of any of these sins is one’s eternal ruin (Revelation 21:8).
Is mankind amenable to the laws of the land that do not conflict with the laws of God (Romans 13:1-2)? Are speed limits laws of the land that do not conflict with the laws of God? Can mankind violate the laws of the land that do not conflict with the laws of God without being subject to condemnation (Romans 13:2)? Therefore, can one violate speed, which are laws of the land that do not conflict with the laws of God, without experiencing divine (and possibly civil) condemnation? (For the child of God, there is a difference between ignorant sin, 1 John 1:7, and willful sin, Hebrews 10:26.)
