Board index ‹ Sin

[Elbow Pit]

I've always been told that most sins, with exceptions of things like blasphemy and murder, are judged equally.

For example, lets say Billy asks you if you ate the last cookie. You lie and say no. Later that day, you have pre-marital sex with Billy's sister.

Would these sins be judged equally, even though one is obviously worse by our standards?

[jimwalton]

No, it's not true. Sin is still sin, and sin is always a breach of relationship, but they are not all equal.

• Jesus said some are guilty of greater sins (John 19.11)
• There are some sins that lead to death. (1 Jn. 5.15-16), in contrast with sins that don't lead to death.
• Intentional sins are weighed more heavily than unintentional sin. (Leviticus 4-5)
• We also know that judgment for certain sins will be harsher than judgment for other sins (Mt. 10.15; James 3.1)

What the Bible doesn't give us is a list of the rankings. While morality, discernment, and common sense tell us that murder is worse than stealing a pack of gum, the Bible doesn't rank sins for us in order of evil.

[Truth Seeker]

Hi and thank you for your time, I have a question related to this topic.

1 Corinthians 6:18
"Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body."

Does this mean that any sin against your own body (sexual immorality) is worse off than sins outside the body? If a believer falls into sexual immorality are the consequences worse? Can the believer recover and get back on track?

[jimwalton]

Thanks for entering the conversation. Glad to talk.

I don't see that Paul is saying that one category of sin (sins against one's own body) are worse than sins against others (outside the body). Instead, I read him as saying that sins against one's own body are sins just as much as sins against other. To me, he is taking away someone's excuse, "Well, I'm not hurting someone else, just me, so it's OK." It's not OK. Sins against oneself are sins just as much as sins against others. If I could say it this way, defiling yourself is no less a sin than defiling another.

So study the text and think about what I've said. I'm glad to talk some more.