Are there different degrees of sin? Is it worse to commit adultery than steal? Or to murder than lie? Or to commit idolatry than break the Sabbath? Does God make distinctions between different
types of sin?
Romans 6:23 tells us plainly that
"the wages of sin is death." Does
this mean all sins are equal? Under the law is a gossip equal to a mass
murderer? Is a petty thief just as
sinful as a child molester?
Yes, some sins are worse than others!
Although all sin merits the death penalty and requires
the blood of Christ for atonement, God's Word reveals that some sins are
indeed worse than others. Some sins have
greater consequences to the sinner, as well as to those his sin affects. However, all sin is bad and any sin, big or
little, is damnable. When we sin, we sin against an infinitely holy
God. Therefore, our offense has an infinite consequence. The
consequence is called damnation, which is eternal separation from God. (2
Thessalonians 1:9)
From the judgments God makes regarding certain sins, we
will see that some sins bring stiffer penalties and greater condemnation.
Israel's making of the Golden Calf while Moses spoke with
God on Mt. Sinai is an Old Testament example of the sin of idolatry. (Exodus
32) When he returned, Moses told the Israelites that they "...have
committed a great sin." (Vs 21, 30-31) The sin of idolatry is so terrible that Moses
reports God saying, "Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my
book." (Vs 33) Being blotted out of
the Book of Life may be the most horrible way to end one's existence.
James writes that if we disobey one commandment, we are
guilty of all. (James 2:10) One sin breaks the entire code of laws. Yet in some of the worse sins, we find that in
one act, multiple sins are actually committed. In this example, by committing this great sin,
the Israelites directly disobeyed the first two commandments and in principle
the third and fourth.
They defied the first commandment when they turned from
God in His seeming absence and raised up the Golden Calf to represent something
they feared and respected more than God. "...You shall have no other gods
before me." (Exodus 20:3)
They disregarded the second commandment when they made
the Golden Calf and placed it in a position of reverence and worshiped it
instead of the Eternal God, "You shall not make for yourself an idol in
the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters
below...You shall not bow down to them or worship them." (Exodus 20:4-5a)
They broke the third commandment when they referred to
God as "the Golden Calf." They misappropriated the holy name of God
for a profane use, "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God,
for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." (Exodus 20:7)
And they transgressed the fourth commandment when Aaron
proclaimed a feast day on which to worship the Golden Calf. By this, the
Israelites established their own day of worship to their false god, "Remember
the Sabbath day by keeping it holy." (Exodus 20:8)
In another example, David committed the sin of
faithlessness by numbering Israel. (II Samuel 24:1-17) Even though Hebrews 11:32
lists David among the faithful, he had his moments of weakness. In II Samuel 24:10 David
admits to God that he had "sinned greatly."
Because David had numbered Israel and
began to rely on his own military strength rather than God's power, his sin
cost the lives of 70,000 men! (Verse 15)
His actions showed a distinct lack of faith in God by
proudly counting on the resources he had for protection, and it is for that
reason God took out his punishment on David, as well, as the whole nation. Seventy thousand men of Israel and Judah, men
that could have been counted on to fill out David's ranks, died of plague to
teach David this vital lesson.
Finally, the apostle John records an example of differing
degrees of sin from the life of Christ. Notice what Jesus says to Pilate during
His trial, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from
above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin."
(John 19:11) Christ's
statement to Pilate verifies that there are greater and lesser sins.
The principle of proportionate punishment states that the
more serious sin requires more severe punishment. Consider the method of
punishment for broken laws in ancient Israel. Were all the punishments equal? No! The punishment for kidnapping was death (Exodus 21:16), whereas the punishment for stealing livestock
was their restoration. (Exodus 22:1)
This principle dictates that the punishment must fit the
crime. The Romans called it Lex Talionis (literally, "law of
retaliation"). Many people know of it from the Bible's vivid description
in Exodus 21:23-25, which says, “But if there is serious injury, you are to
take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.” (Exodus
21:23-25)
God uses this principle in His judgments; greater and
lesser punishments for greater and lesser sins. Under "an eye for an eye" in the
Bible, the punishment must match, but not exceed, the damage or harm done by
the perpetrator. The law placed strict
limits on the amount of damages anyone could collect. It permitted no one to "get rich
quick" from another's mishap. Moreover,
God intended this law to be a rule of thumb for judges, not an authorization of personal vendetta or private
retaliation.
What about "the great commandment" (Matthew 22:38) and "the weightier matters of the
Law" )? Christ
explicitly states that certain things are more important or carry greater
weight with Him. (Matthew 23:23) These are things that
we should give first priority to in our lives.
Matthew 22:36-38 illustrates this
point. When someone asks Jesus, "Teacher, which is the greatest
commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' He replies, “You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all
your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment." (Vs 36-38)
The most important thing we can ever do is to love God
completely.
Christ tells the Pharisees in Matthew
23:23 that justice, mercy and faith are the weightier matters of the law. He continues in verse 24, "You blind
guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel." The stricter Jews customarily strained their
wine and other potables through linen or gauze, just in case they swallowed some
unclean insect when they drank without realizing it and break the law. They were more concerned about their own
interpretation of the letter of the law than the more important spiritual
application that results in justice, mercy and faith. Like these Pharisees, some people tolerate
major sins to work on minor ones because they are easier to overcome, yet
greater sins damage spiritual character far more than lesser ones.
What about "the least of these commandments"? (Matthew 5:19) Are they less important? Does it matter if we
keep them or not? Jesus was insistent
when He said, “Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and
teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but
whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the
kingdom of heaven.”
By a careful reading of what Jesus says here, we can see
that He was not speaking about whether God considers breaking these lesser laws
to be sin, He does, but about how our keeping of God's law affects our future
position in His Kingdom. The apostle
John speaks of how some sins do not lead to death and others do when he said, “If
anyone sees his brother commit a 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.” (I John 5:16-17)
One of the more difficult and widely debated phrases is in
1 John 5:17, “...There is a sin that leads to death... " The Apostle John
makes a distinction between “a sin that leads to death” and “sin that does not
lead to death.” There comes a point when
God can no longer allow a believer to continue in unrepentant sin. When that point is reached, God may decide to
take the life of the stubbornly sinful believer. The “death” is physical death. God at times
purifies His church by removing those who deliberately disobey Him. In both Acts 5:1–10 and 1 Corinthians 11:28–32,
God dealt with intentional, calculated sin in the church by taking the physical
life of the sinner.
A sin which does not lead to death is one that is
genuinely repented of and for which forgiveness is available because the
attitude of the sinner is meek and truly sorrowful. A person may have this attitude, yet still sin
on occasion out of weakness, ignorance, bad judgment or even inadvertently. Both greater and lesser sins can fall under
this category.
Again, both greater and lesser sins can lead to the
attitude that causes someone to commit an unforgivable sin. Such a sin is deeply reinforced by the
attitude of the sinner; an attitude that denies Jesus Christ as Savior, that
flagrantly hates his brother, and refuses to obey God's laws and statutes. Rebellion and defiance set this sin apart from
others!
Earlier, the Apostle John writes, “If we claim to be
without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from
all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:8-9)
Our genuine confession admits to God that we are guilty
of breaking His law and seek to be cleared of it by Christ's sacrifice. This true repentance leads to a fierce desire
not to sin and to building righteous character. Consequently, God lifts the penalty of the second
death, and once again, we, by His grace, are back on the road to salvation.
Jesus speaks of this sin in Mark 3:28-29
when He says, "I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men
will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will
never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."
A person who blasphemes the Holy Spirit allows Satan to
influence him so thoroughly that he refuses to submit to God. He rejects the power of God's Spirit and
defiantly shakes his fist at His Creator. In this state he is too proud and rebellious
to repent, and thus God cannot forgive him.
In Hebrews 6:4-6, Paul explains
another way that can lead to the second death, “It is impossible for those who
have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared
in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the
powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance,
because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and
subjecting him to public disgrace.”
He expands on this in chapter 10:26-27, “If we deliberately
keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice
for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire
that will consume the enemies of God.”
Christ's sacrifice applies only once for each person, and
if we reject God's grace, it cannot be applied again. This is why willing apostasy is so terrible
and why the apostles fought so strongly against heresy in the first century. The eternal lives of thousands of God's people
were at stake!
In a more passive way, sin can lead to eternal death by
continued neglect. The sinner may know
he should repent of sin, but because of lethargy he never bothers to overcome
it. He is apathetic; he just does not
care. The Laodicean attitude (Revelation 3:15-19) comes
dangerously close to this type of sin, and if not repented of, it can lead to
the unpardonable sin.
We see in scripture that there are greater and lesser
sins with varying degrees of punishment. Some sins do more spiritual harm than
others. Nevertheless, all sin separates
us from God! Isaiah writes, "But your iniquities have separated you from
your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear."
(Isaiah 59:2)
If we do not
repent of our sins, our separation from God will become permanent, and
eventually we will receive the permanent death.
We can avoid this horrible end by working to overcome all
sin, placing the highest priority on ridding ourselves of the greater sins. How can we accomplish this seemingly
impossible task? Alone, it would be impossible for us. But God inspired the apostle Paul to encourage
us in this lifelong struggle in Philippians 4:13,
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Without Him, we can do nothing. (John
15:5) But with the strength of
Christ, we can overcome!
Thank you for reading Part - 2. On Friday we will be looking at the final post on Sin. I hope you can join us. And don't forget to check the references I have posted, and please send me any questions you might have about what I have written. The scriptures remind us to always, "...not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1)
Can God change your life?
God has made it possible for you
to know Him, and experience an amazing
change in your own life.
Discover how you can find peace
with God.
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