Question
I have heard in Evangelical circles that a sin is a sin and one is not greater than another. In my Sexual Ethics class, the Prof says that there is no Biblical foundation for this position. Would you explain about degrees of sin and indicate where in the Bible I might find a reference to this question?
Answer
A sin is a sin is a sin. Isaiah wrote that our sins separate us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). Paul explains in Romans 6:1-9 that in order to be cleansed from our sins, we must be “buried with [Christ] through baptism” (Rom. 6:4).
I guess I would ask your professor what sin is a lesser sin and what is a greater sin, and could he please provide a passage from the Bible to prove his point?
Certainly we may mistakenly believe that some sins are not as bad as others. For example, if I lie to my boss by telling her that I can’t come to work because I am sick when I really am not, that’s not nearly as bad as murdering someone, right? Or raping someone? A little lie that I might tell my boss certainly isn’t as bad as raping someone, right?
The problem with this reasoning is that we confuse current consequences with eternal consequences. If I lie to my boss about being sick, she probably won’t find out and it will never come up again. No harm, no foul some might say. But if I were to kill or rape someone, I would eventually be caught, tried, jailed, and possibly even executed. Wow, that’s a lot worse, isn’t it? At least, from a human perspective.
But when we go to the Bible, we find that God has a different attitude about sin. There are many passages like Isaiah 59 that teach that sin–any sin–separates us from the Lord. From a salvation perspective, no where does the Bible teach that some sins are worse than others. In fact, we find some interesting groupings of sins when we study this topic. For example, Paul wrote in Galations 5:19-21,
“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleaness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Paul says that just like a murderer won’t get into heaven, neither will someone who tells lies. Neither the adulterer nor the person who can’t control his temper (see “outbursts of wrath” in verse 20) will see Heaven. Revelation 21:8 has a similar list of sins that we might not equate on a mortal level of consequense, but that God does equate.
So does the Bible teach that some sins are not as bad as others? No. Men have convinced themselves of that because we see a difference in the consequences imposed on lawbreakers here. However, the Bible plainly teaches that we will each be held accountable for the sin that we commit (Ezekial 18:20), whether it be lying to someone or killing someone or any other sin.
By Michael Molloy
