Christians--All Sins Equal?

do you beleive that one sin is as bad as any other?
i'm asking this because some people say "a sin is a sin" and that (for example) "stealing a candy bar is just as bad as killing someone"
i agree that you have to repent and be forgiven of all your sins to get into heaven, but i think that some sins are more serious than others and require deeper repentance.
saying all or most sins are equally bad seems like you're only judged on quantity, and (for example) "god would rather you killed one person than stolen a candy bar twice"
What kind of unjust god would judge that way?

I believe that sins are not equal, but that they all have the same consequence (seperation from god). What makes the sins different is how easy it is to get back into God's graces.

God hates all sin. Some things are worse then others though.

Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you." Mathew 11:20-24

"That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. Luke 12:47-48

Aqualung said:

I believe that sins are not equal, but that they all have the same consequence (seperation from god). What makes the sins different is how easy it is to get back into God's graces.

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I agree with Aqualung. I personally don't view murder to be equal to a lie in terms of severity. However, I have not found any scripture to support this.

Jesus Christ forgives even the worst of sins if we repent.

Aqualung said:

I believe that sins are not equal, but that they all have the same consequence (seperation from god). What makes the sins different is how easy it is to get back into God's graces.

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I agree with you totally. Sin is sin in that all of it leads us away from God. That doesn't mean some actions aren't worse than others, though.

James

I've read a couple of posts here that lead me to think that some ideas about sin are a little skewed. Sin doesn't "lead us away from God." Sin doesn't act to "separate us from God." Sin is more than just the manifest action. Sin is a state of being -- a position wherein one is far from God. Sin is separation from God.

It seems to me that God is more concerned about the disposition of our being than about the manifest action of that disposition. In the Ten Commandments, where lying and murder are listed, the very first commandment is for us to love God. That is, God expects us to be in a state or position of love -- to be in unity with God. If we do that, then, by definition, we can't murder, or lie, or covet, etc.

I think God is, first and foremost, concerned about our relational position to God. If we are "in sin," then we can fall prey to actions, both dire and mild, that harm others and ourselves.

do you beleive that one sin is as bad as any other?
i'm asking this because some people say "a sin is a sin" and that (for example) "stealing a candy bar is just as bad as killing someone"
i agree that you have to repent and be forgiven of all your sins to get into heaven, but i think that some sins are more serious than others and require deeper repentance.
saying all or most sins are equally bad seems like you're only judged on quantity, and (for example) "god would rather you killed one person than stolen a candy bar twice"
What kind of unjust god would judge that way?

Click to expand...

I think that God sees all sins equally. However, here on Earth, we have consequences depending on how "bad" the sin was. If you steal a candy bar, your Mom will make you take it back and apologize to the store manager or whatever. If you murder, you will spend the rest of your life in prison, or get the death penalty. But with the God, the consequence of sin is the same: you will be seperated from him.

I wouldn't agree that God would rather us kill someone than steal a candy bar twice. I would say that God would rather us not sin at all.

dawny0826 said:

I agree with Aqualung. I personally don't view murder to be equal to a lie in terms of severity. However, I have not found any scripture to support this.

Jesus Christ forgives even the worst of sins if we repent.

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Here's one example from the scriptures which implies that some sins are more serious than others:

John 19:7-11 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

I would agree, though, that even the most "insignificant" sin is sufficient to separate us from God.

Squirt said:

Here's one example from the scriptures which implies that some sins are more serious than others:

John 19:7-11 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

I would agree, though, that even the most "insignificant" sin is sufficient to separate us from God.

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I Disagree...

I Believe A Sin is a Sin in the eyes of The Lord. The Sin Could Be from steal a Million Dollars or to a mere cent. A Sin is A sin in the eyes of The Lord. But I also Believe That Jesus Purifiys us to make us white as snow. So thus the Sin is not there any more If you Repent the Sin you Have Commited. I know it is short but thats How I type I can not Stand typing a big Essay Forms Like you Dudes

Tek said:

I Disagree...

I Believe A Sin is a Sin in the eyes of The Lord. The Sin Could Be from steal a Million Dollars or to a mere cent. A Sin is A sin in the eyes of The Lord. But I also Believe That Jesus Purifiys us to make us white as snow. So thus the Sin is not there any more If you Repent the Sin you Have Commited. I know it is short but thats How I type I can not Stand typing a big Essay Forms Like you Dudes

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You're entitled to your opinion, Tek, but Jesus Christ himself compared Judas' sin to Pilate's sin and said Judas' was "the greater sin." I already said that any sin can keep separate us from God, so in that regard, yes, all of us are in equal need of a Savior. But do you really think that the guy who flips you off on the freeway has committed as serious a sin as the guy who pulls out a gun and shoots you? I don't get that. I agree with you, though, that Jesus Christ's sacrifice atones for all sins we may commit (provided we repent of them, of course).

James 2:10-11 states "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For He who said, 'Do not commit adultry',also said,'Do not commit murder'. Now if you do not commit adultry, but you do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law."

Here, James makes a parallel between murder and adultry in the sense that they are both violations of God's law. The example's given above are not example's of the actions themselves being worse than other actions, but rather their effects and consequences being worse. Take for instance, in 1 Cor. 6:12-20, while writting about sexual immorality, Paul states in verse 18 "Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body." If the actions themselves were objectively judged in a comparative way soley based on the actions themselves, then evertime somebody were to gather wood on the sabbath (Num. 15:32-36) or lie to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1-10), there would be cause for the offenders execution. As it is, there have been many people who have commited such sins since and were able to hold on to their physical lives for the time being.

Sincerely,
SoliDeoGloria

All sin is a violation of the law of love but the Bible is clear that the consequences of sin vary. some maybe only require a sacrifice of a kid while others require stoning to death. And the bloody ox too!

Since the advent of Christ's death on the cross and the atonement for sin the sacrifices have ceased though. Consequences still remain. No one is going to jail for lusting in their heart, heck Jimmy Carter did it. Just ask Bill Clinton what the consequences are for lusting in the Oval Office.

"If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that." 1 John 5:16

It seems pretty obvious here that there are different levels of sin, in terms of severity...sin that leads to death, and sin that does not.

FerventGodSeeker

I personally see sin as being equal to God. Not equal to us because the consiquinces here on earth are more serious with some actions than others. How could sin not be equal if in the end you don't repent then you end up in the same place. It really doesn't matter then.

"Making distinctions in sin takes alot more work" said my Evangelical friend. Way too much rationalization claim others. But to be fair their are some catholics who rationalize it by saying "It's just a teensy-weensy little sin" as an excuse for doing whatever they like. That is not what the Catholic Church teaches or encourages.

James wrote, "Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, 'Do not commit adultery,' also said, 'Do not murder.' If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker" (Jas. 2:10-11).

Mark Shea says,
But in so reminding them we are confronted with a question: What does Jesus mean in making a distinction between "little" and "much"? Why did he say that the one who knows his master's will and does not do it will be beaten with many blows, while the one who does not know his master's will and does not do it will be beaten with few blows (Luke 12:47-48)?

If "sin is sin," why this distinction? If all sin is one in God's eyes, what is the apostle John getting at when he writes, "If anyone sees his brother commit sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death" (1 John 5:16-17)?

To a "sin is sin" Evangelical like me, all this was incomprehensible. It sounded so . . . Catholic. I started to ask around, since I knew these verses couldn't mean what the Catholic Church meant. They had to refer to something other than mortal sin, so what was it?

Most likely, said my Evangelical teachers, they referred to the sin against the Holy Spirit which couldn't be forgiven in this age or in the age to come (Matt. 12:32). God, these good people taught, was always ready to forgive sin--even so-called "mortal" ones. As an Evangelical, one of the most treasured Bible verses I ever learned was 1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

<snip>

Do Evangelicals-- does anyone--really believe that a five-year-old who steals a cookie is the moral and spiritual equivalent of Jeffrey Dahmer?

Catholic theology says NO. Distinctions should be made.

Peace In Christ
~Victor

I don't see how all wrong doings can be equal, murdering someone is a whole different ball game to stealing a chocolate bar. If God doesn't know the difference then he better have a reality check!

Tangnefedd said:

I don't see how all wrong doings can be equal, murdering someone is a whole different ball game to stealing a chocolate bar. If God doesn't know the difference then he better have a reality check!

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Your cocky response is not something I don't promote. However, I agree with the first sentence. :clap

What is cocky about it? If you read the Bible, especially the OT, God would appear to get it very wrong indeed! In fact who is he to judge anyone when he is as bad as any of the mass murderers in history, if you believe the Biblical accounts of blood letting allegedly in his name!

there are some sins that eat away at us and others are as bad as murder is. any sin tars into the sprit of man slowly distorting it until it is in the control of the devil. but anything that is the true light of Christ and is of good report and honest to your fellow men and women then the good things build up the sprit and gives it life once more to a wounded sprit. this is the reality of sin. less ye repent to god in the name of Christ and is sincere and do all that you can to make the wrong right and learn form it your sins are forgiven.

And what does that mean The truth? You are entitled to quote from the Bible if you must, but it is much better to give us your thoughts instead of stuff written by authors, not God, so long ago!