AndrewK9-
There are sins which are universally seen as sins, such as murder, theft, adultery, giving false testimony against another, and plotting to obtain what is rightfully your neighbor's property. Even nations where belief in God in any form is not promoted recognize these actions as evil. Then there are sins peculiar to people who have faith in God, such as not replacing the true God with the worship of idols, and not swearing falsely in his name. As the latter was originally written, it was intended not so much as a ban on profanity as it was a clear warning not to use the name of God lightly, such as swearing in his name that they will accomplish a certain task when they know that either they will not be able to complete that task, or they deliberately have no intention of ever completing the task.
Jesus himself gave us guidelines for what we should consider to be sinful, and those guidelines not only included certain actions, but also certain motivations:
He went on, "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' (The Gospel of St. Mark 7:20-23,NIV)
St. Paul also revealed to us that it is in the motivations which precede our actions, as well as in actions themselves, that sin occurs:
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. (Galatians 5:16-26,NIV)
Look at the list under the heading 'the acts of the sinful nature'. Note that some of those 'acts' listed there are not actions in-and-of themselves, but rather are the underlying motivations which, if left unchecked, invariably result in the commission of sinful acts. And these motivations are condemned along with the actual acts listed there.
Instead, our actions are to be governed by the motivations which we find under the heading 'the fruit of the Spirit'. It is when our actions have their origin in these 'fruit' that those actions truly conform to what God wants of us. Just as the motivations listed as 'the acts of the sinful nature' are to be seen as the impetus for all sinful acts, the motivations listed as 'the fruit of the Spirit' are to be seen as the impetus for all righteous acts.
There's an old saying: "He did all the right things, but for all the wrong reasons." We Christians are not to focus on 'going through the motions' by performing acts which on the surface would appear to be righteous. Instead, the underlying reason for our performing those acts must also be righteous. And that can only take place when that underlying reason (aka motivation) itself conforms to what God wants to be dictating our words and actions.
