Is All Sin the Same? or Are Some Sins Worse than Others?

Is there Greater and Lesser Sin?

  Over the years, I have periodically posted theological musings that are rather speculative. When I do so, I try to label them as such. I distinctly remember John Hartog's guest lecture in my sophomore class on Romans in which he discussed Abraham, his faith, and eschatology while being clear that some of his ideas were speculative. This made the lesson quite interesting; and as I recall, his basic speculation was whether Abraham would be physically raised to walk on this earth given the promises that God would give him the land. This post should not be that speculative, but it is certainly more a musing than a statement.

 You may have heard someone say, "All sin is equally bad"; you might have even said it yourself. But is it true according to the Bible?

 Here are some initial Scriptures to consider: Leviticus 4:2, 13, 22, 27; 5:15-18; Numbers 15:22-31; Proverbs 21:27; Ezekiel 8:6, 13, 15; John 19:11. Click this link to read the verses. Spread throughout the Scriptures in the Law, the Writings, the Prophets, and the Gospels, these passages certainly seem to suggest that some sins are more serious or worse or greater in some way than others. A leadership role (cf. James 3:1), motivation, and amount of knowledge seem significant in God's weighting of sins. For instance, consider what Numbers 15 shows below:

 From these passages, it seems clear that not all sins are the same. Still, someone might object that while all sins are not the same, they all still deserve the same judgment due to God's just wrath. Certainly, all sin dishonors the Creator God of the universe, separate us from Him, and can justly be punished by Him. However, the Bible does not seem to portray all sin as deserving the same degree (?) of judgment. Lamentations 4:6; Matthew 11:20-24; Mark 12:38-41; Luke 20:45-47; Hebrews 10:26-29; James 3:1 (link), as well as the details of the Mosaic sacrificial system, point to varying levels of judgment as being appropriate to varying sins. I do not mean to suggest that God is not angry at some sins; instead, I think it might be appropriate to say that some sins are more grossly and deeply offensive than others.

  This suggests the question whether all sinners are equally evil and equally deserving of judgment. That is a very different question, which I don't intend to go into in detail. However, I think the simple answer is that rejecting God's revelation in nature, Scripture, and/or His people and preferring our own way is the root sin of all sinners. Thus, we are all equally sinners separated from God whether the weight of our individual sins and their respective appropriate judgments are equal or not. 

  In summary, we must realize that God does not necessarily evaluate sins in the (constantly shifting) way that human cultures do. Ingratitude is a major sin in Scripture (Numbers 21; 2 Timothy 3:2), as is disobedience to parents. Thus, a Scripturally-tuned conscience and set of evaluations is needed for these topics. At the same time, all sin, no matter how small or large, is abhorrent to the holy God and should be as abhorrent to us. 

 Do you have any thoughts or additional texts to mention?

Additional texts to consider:
~ Romans 1:18-32 begins with God's wrath against ALL ungodliness and then describes some of the different developments and aspects of sin.
~ Luke 7:36-50 seems to suggest something about both quantity and weight of sin committed by different individuals in both the parable and the subsequent comments by Jesus.
~ Matthew 23:23 seems to suggest that some good actions are more significant than others. We can wrongly evaluate positive things we do as well.
~ Matthew 12:31 - the unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit
~ 1 John 5:16-17 - the sin that leads to death 
~ Matthew 5:17-22
~ John 15:22-24
~ 1 Corinthians 14:20 - be infants, not mature in evil.

The Necessity of a Practical Ecclesiology

 The other day, a mentor commented to me again on the practical importance of a strong theology of the church and its workings, good ecclesiology. When Christians do not have a strong, practical ecclesiology, we are more likely to act in ways that disagree with the spirit of the Scriptures. I am not referring to breaking explicit "rules" of Scripture, but to the fact that we may fail to fulfill our roles as integral and integrated parts of the body of Christ. Thus, there could be a failure to care for a sister or brother in need, to submit to the (church) body or its leaders, to value troublesome and supportive members equally, to provide for those who minister the Word, etc. These problems could be supplemented with a list of difficulties that a weak theology of the church can impose on the structuring of the church, such as choosing proper leadership and removing those who are persisting in behaving in ways that disagree with Scripture.

  As I was reading 1 Corinthians 12 in the last couple days, I was struck by one of these practical aspects of ecclesiology:

  Shepherds of churches may see a requirement here to spend more time and energy on those people who seem 'less lovable', but the point in 1 Corinthians seems much wider. This is BODY work. The whole body of Christ, everyone in a church, should be united in intimate concern with the health and progress and honor and needs of every other member or organ. (As I've shared before, the word "member" here has more of the modern idea of "body parts" or "limbs and organs.") Anthony Thiselton (2006) comments, "So-called unpresentable parts play an even more indispensable role in sustaining the life of the body than, for example, an eye or an ear, which on the surface may appear more important." While a body can live without an eye, living without an intestine or stomach - as unpresentable as those may be - is obviously far more problematic. The "unpresentable" parts are "indispensable," and if there were not such differences - gross and under-appreciated though some of them may be, there would be no body. Many indispensable and honorable parts must always be contributing to the "common good" of one body.

 In the context of 1 Corinthians 12, the Holy Spirit and Paul apply this truth by warning the Corinthian believers not to see certain members as having "lesser gifts." There are no second-class followers of Christ! The Spirit has carefully distributed the gifts to the church in such a way that honor and responsibility will be given to all. This, of course, has practical implications for how each one of Christ's living body parts should behave and feel toward each other part. Two more quotes from Thiselton and one from MacLaren's Expositions expose some practical implications of this:

Thornton observes, "In the Body of Christ there are, strictly speaking, no private sufferings. All are shared because there is one life of the whole. Accordingly wrong done to one member is wrong done to the whole Church, and therefore to Christ himself" (Common Life, p. 36). This principle also demands the utmost sympathy and sensitivity between fellow Christians, to share in the joys and sorrows of each. 

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How often do we use this model (as Paul does) to stress that the vulnerable and less favored need the support and service of the strong? 

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For every one of us has something, and no one of us has everything; so, on the one hand, we want each other, and, on the other hand, we are responsible for the use of what we have. (MacLaren)

 In applying this to ourselves, I have two questions for you: How many body parts do you have as a human? Do you keep a list of them? I imagine that you don't know and that you don't have one. Me neither. We don't usually make lists of the things closest to us; but, we recognize our body parts when we see and feel them. In the same way, we should recognize those who are part of the body of Christ which we are part of. Don't simply look to a list of people as the organs and limbs of Christ in your local church: who is there, how are they functioning, how can you support them? You may not know their exact function or gifting, but value and honor them as those whom Christ and the Spirit have valued and honored. Remember they may well be more indispensable than you or I.

~ Expositions of Holy Scripture: Romans Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V) (Maclaren, Alexander)
~ 1 Corinthians: A Shorter Exegetical and Pastoral Commentary (Anthony C. Thiselton)