I spoke to you on the phone the other day and you mentioned you do not believe that all sin is equal. Would you please explain your reasoning?
I'd be happy to. I have often heard the Protestant stance on "sin being sin" with no matter of "degree" of evil or wickedness. Many will tell you there is no "difference" if one steals a nickel or commits mass murder?
I disagree. I believe God is a fair and just judge (Deut. 32:4; John 5:30). At the time of judgment, I find it hard to believe that He would treat the two sinners the same under those circumstances as that would be anything, but "just."
We have biblical proof of this in Exodus as God specifically differentiates "punishments" for different sins. All sins are not equal in the eyes of God. Why is the punishment for ALL sins in the above passages from Exodus, not death?
How can the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah be "very grievous" in Genesis 18:20 if all sins are the same? The words "very grievous" themselves distinguish the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah.
What is a "great" sin as opposed to another sin in Genesis 20:9? Again, "great" is a word distinguishing a "lesser" sin from a "greater" one.
In John 19:11, Jesus Himself uses the words "greater sin." If all sins are the same, how can one be "greater" than the other? I hope this explains why I believe not all sin is equal.
14 comments:
Many will tell you there is no "difference" if one steals a nickel or commits mass murder?
That isn't my understanding. As far as sin being sin as how it separates us from God, without Christ, stealing a nickle will exclude you from heaven just as mass murder does. However, here on earth, all sin has concequence, and not all concequences are equal.
Fortunately for us, Christ paid for ALL sins on the cross. Thus, a repentent, forgiven, and saved mass murderer will enter heaven clean of sin as will a repentent, forgiven, and saved nickle thief.
As for those who die without Christ, are their differing degrees of punishment in hell? I don't know. According to The Apocolypse of Peter, there are.
I disagree, there are different degrees of sin and since Jesus is fair I would think that we would be judged according to our sin and made accountable for it at some point, why would Jesus give the same punishment to a murderer and someone who stole a nickle.
The smallest sin separates us from God to the point that without forgiveness, we can't enter heaven. Praise God that Christ took all of our sins on the cross, so we don't have to "be accountable" for any of them in an eternal sense.
But as I said, all sin also has ephemeral concequences, and this is where I agree, there are "greater" and "lesser" sins.
To summarize:
1 sin = no heaven; often referred to 'sin is sin'
Each (and subsequently ALL) sin receives it's own 'just recompense of reward' = degrees of punishment while still eternally banished
I think we are accountable for our sins even though Jesus died on the cross for us. Why did he give us the commandments to follow then?
Eternally accountable? If that's true, why did He bother dying on the cross???
I distinctly recall the nation of Israel ASKING for the commandment and God GIVING them to them.
It wasn't God's plan to have man as a slave to the LAW, but rather an object of His divine love.
We're not eternally accountable for our sins, but we are accountable for committing them because God gave us a free will.
I believe that Jesus died so that our sins would be forgiven but we must also ask his forgiveness and try not to commit the same sins again.
We're not eternally accountable for our sins, but we are accountable for committing them because God gave us a free will.
Explain free will. I ask because most of the time it is confused with the freedom to choose.
I would assume freedom to choose is the same thing as a free will
Fixin' a typo ...
It isn't.
I offer you an apple and an orange. You have the choice - 100% free to choose either.
You pick one - you always will choose based on your preferences; you therefore are not free.
Mankind has been offered both blessing and cursing, death and life, innocence and sin - he chose cursing, death and sin.
It's his preference. The Word of God says that mankind loves darkness rather than light because he is evil.
If you pick something because it is your preference then you are practicing a free will do make that choice, right?
Free and will do not go together - there is no will until a person has decided or determined something.
You are perfectly free to will, as far as constraint by another goes. But as far as your faculties go, you cannot be otherwise. It is your own will where you have one - your body, your actions may be constrained, and fear may make you will as other inclinations would not have led you, but your will, as will, is always your own.
Having one's own will IS sin. It is determining without reference to God, instead of obeying - the claim of independency to have a right to act supremely, without reference to another having authority over us - it is what determines the will, and makes it what is called "free". The idea of free-will IS sin.
So the freedom you speak of is an alleged freedom. It is the pretension to be independent of God, which is as I said the very principle of sin - it is rejection of God and His authority. It is presented to us as the Scriptures say "pleasant to the eyes, good for food, a tree to be desired," etc.
Will is the "I" in the determination of activity; when choice is made, then there is will, the lust or desire, which has gained the mastery over "I," leads "I" to intentional activity towards the object desired.
This is that character of God. He is the Author/Initiator from Himself.
To claim free-will is to set your self up independent of Him; AS Him!
We are not free; we are the creation of God. Those in Christ have been liberated and are free; if the Son shall make you free you shall be free indeed! Completely free to live in the good of a relationship with God and completely free to please and honor him.
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