A person who is married but lusts after another woman is not as bad as an adulterer who commits the act.
Matthew 5:28
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Adultery is a valid reason for divorce HOWEVER you cannot divorce your husband because he looked at a woman lustfully can you?
Matthew 19:19
I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery."
Therefore they cannot be equal sins in that sense.
As I pointed out in my earlier post, in a physical sense, some sins carry greater consequences than others. A murderer will get sent to jail while someone who is simply angry with his brother (generic "brother", not necessarily blood relatives) will not be jailed. But by God's standards they are the same, both are murderers in their hearts.
Thus someone who commits adultery may have physical consequences (divorce) while someone who is married and lusts after another, let's say inappropriate contentography, may not have the physical consequence of divorce - but they are still the same sin in God's eyes.
With that said, I don't think Matthew 5 provides an "exception" to the divorce rule. But it would take far too long to discuss alternatives when the point is rather moot.
Here is some biblical evidence you asked for which shows people will be punished more severely than others.
Luke 20:47
They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely."
Mark 14:21
The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."
Jesus never said this to any other unbeliever.
Matthew 10:15
I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
Thanks for that, if you don't mind, here are my conclusion/s on those verses:
Luke 20:47 - Such men as described here will be up judged by harsher standards, and thus are doubly condemned since they are using their religious standing to take advantage of the widows in their grief. This is not a greater punishment, but a harsher standard of judgement (because those in authority to teach are also capable of leading people astray with false teachings)
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
~ James 3:1
Mark 14:21 - True, Jesus does say this specifically about Judas, but it does not logically follow then that Judas will be punished worse.
Matthew 10:15 - Speaking of sins being treated differently, are you suggesting here that Jesus is saying the town of Sodom, who's inhabitants attempted to engage in homosexual-gang-rape will be punished less severely than the house that simply does not listen to Jesus' disciples? Is it not more appropriate to simply consider that Jesus was comparing a horrific town known in the Old Testament and suggesting that the same wickedness (though not the same sin, of course) exists wherever the word of God is rejected?
What do you think the purpose is of the day of Judgement? It cannot be simply to say a person is going to Hell. As they know that because they would have been in Hades like in Luke 15.
It is to determine the severity of their punishment, those who sinned greater/more will reap a worse punishment, We reap what we sow.
Hades is not Hell, so how can they already know they would be going to hell? At Judgement, Hades will be thrown into the lake of fire -
Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
~ Revelation 20:14
The purpose of the Day of Judgement is to destroy all that is of the old creation, save for those whose names are found in the Book of Life. Notice that the lake of fire is described as "the second death", not "the place of eternal suffering and torture". Then God will usher in the New Creation - the new heavens and the new earth. Those who were not saved will perish with the old heavens and old earth.
Psalm 28:4
Repay them for their deeds and for their evil work; repay them for what their hands have done and bring back upon them what they deserve.
Ezekiel 36:19
I judged them according to their conduct and their actions.
Matthew 12:36
But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
Revelation 20:13
The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.
You might say 1 or 2 are out of context however the principle of judging according to their works remains the same. Dont get me wrong, the bulk of the scriptures are within context and all of the above can be applied to what I have said.
Again allow me to quickly discuss each verse:
Psalm 28:4 - It seems that David is simply asking that God deal with them according to their deeds in a physical sense. Jews don't believe in Hell, nor is it taught in the Hebrew scriptures. The Hebrew Sheol is a place where all people went, including David (Christians understand heaven and hell differently because of what we call "progressive revelation"). Thus David, in Psalm 28, could not have been referring to eternal punishment, but rather immediate physical retribution.
Ezekiel 36:19 - This is past-tense, discussing the physical judgement of their actions. And I have already agreed that on a physical level, some sins carry greater consequences than others. This says nothing of the Judgement at the end of time.
Matthew 12:36 - I don't disagree with this passage. But then, I don't see how this passage suggests greater punishment. It just says they will have to give an account of what they have said/done.
Revelation 20:13 - Again, I have no disagreements with this - everyone will be judged on their deeds. But this still says nothing of degrees of punishment. It's also interesting to note that the very next verse (20:14) discusses what the end result is for those not found in the Book of Life - I discussed this earlier in this response.
P.S. According to what your saying, Hitler who is responsible for having millions of people slaughtered is just as bad as a 15 year old kid who rejected Christ? Scriptures are not required to prove my point, it is common sense that we are not all punished the same in Hell.
P.S. Don't forget,you also made similar claims in quoting Matthew10:15 to support your position! The house (of which a fifteen year old boy may be included) who rejects Jesus will be dealt with more harshly than Sodom and Gomorrah (the inhabitants of Sodom, as noted earlier, attempted to engage in homosexual-gang-rape, this being just one of their many likely other evils). Of course, I don't think Matthew 19:15 is saying that, but you are suggesting it does.
As I said, in the physical world, some sins carry a greater punishment than others. This is common sense. Thus Hitler is deemed a monster for his actions by our physical world. But for God, he is just another sinner.
I think the biggest difference in our views here is that you believe there is torture of some kind involved with God's Judgement, and thus consider different "degrees" of punishment depending on how awful someone was (very Dante-esque actually, with different levels of Hell). I don't see the Bible supporting torture at all, though there is certainly a punishment for disobedience. However, this punishment is not unequal to the crime - no matter how evil a person is, even someone like Hitler, offering infinite torture for finite sins is not the work of a Just God.
~ Regards, PA