All Sins are equal ?

[Bonhoffer]

So many Christians have told me that it the eyes of God to steal a loaf of bread is as bad as killing a million people.

They say that there are no degrees to Sin and no greater and lesser Sin.

Can I ask for biblical support for this teaching?

 

[InnerPhyre]

Read 1 John. Not all sins are equal.

 

[Svt4Him]

So many Christians have told me that it the eyes of God to steal a loaf of bread is as bad as killing a million people.

They say that there are no degrees to Sin and no greater and lesser Sin.

Can I ask for biblical support for this teaching?

That's a misunderstanding of what is being written. If you break one law, you are as guilty as someone who's broken all of them. You either keep them, or you don't. After breaking one, you fall into the latter category. But not all sins are equal, nor is the punishment equal. There are different 'levels' of both heaven and hell.

 

[Newsboy1900]

Diffrent Levels Show me in the bible only person i have ever herd of the diffrent levels is from mormons

 

[reformedfan]

How 'bout to those more has been given, more will be required:Luke 12:42-49, or unforgivable (the worst possible degree of) sin:Mark 3:28-29, or Judas' sin of betraying Christ:John 19:11,
or Ezek8:6,13,15;1Jn5:16,Ps78:17,32,56 (Westminster Larger & Shorter Catechism has good treatment of this subject, that's where some of those verses came from)

 

[ChrisB]

How about this

John 19

11Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin."

Which states that some sins are greater than others.

 

[meezs]

The very bottom line is that sin is what seperates us from God. If you steal a penny or a million dollars, if in your anger you tear a person apart verbally or muder them physically it is sin. It will forever seperate you from God.

The book of James tells us very plainly:
James 2:10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
The verse does not say you will be punished equally for them all but that your guilty of breaking them all.
I believe myself that there is some kind of greater and lesser punishments for those that are condemed, to me this explains why they are judged on their works. But I must say I hold that statement to the fact that without a personal relationship wiht Jesus Christ all men will be seperated from God and in that all those reguardless of greater or lesser are eternally seperated with no hope of anything ever getting better and I believe that alone is a punishement beyond anything we can fathom now.


God Bless

 

[TheOriginalWhitehorse]

Chris gave a really good example. There is also the eternal sin (blasphemy of the Holy Spirit) [Matthew 12:31], whereas others are not, and there are also the sins that lead to death as opposed to those that do not. [I John 5:15-16]

 

[Reformationist]

So many Christians have told me that it the eyes of God to steal a loaf of bread is as bad as killing a million people.

It is the same in the sense that it is all an abomination to the holiness of God and in that they are all, in the original covenant, punishable by death. However, I believe God is more offended by some sins than others:

Proverbs 6:16-19
These six things the LORD hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.

God bless

 

[semper_baptist]

EVERY SIN IS EQUAL, BUT DONT BE AMAZED BY THE DISCIPLINE THAT GOD WILL GIVE YOU FOR EACH ONE...DISGUSTING IS DISGUSTING. BUT SOME ARE DISGUSTING THAT IT MAKES YOU PUKE, OTHERS DONT, OTHERS MAKE YOU HAVE A HEADACHE, OTHER DONT...PRAY ABOUT IT...

 

[Svt4Him]

Diffrent Levels Show me in the bible only person i have ever herd of the diffrent levels is from mormons

Well, God will judge the world in righteousness, which means it's not a yes/no you didn't make it you did which it would be had there only been one degree of punishment.

It was said about Judas that his sin was great, and it would be very bad for him because his sin was great. Again, if only one level of hell, it's not any different than anyone else who's sinned.

Also if you want to be greatest in the kingdom of God is not a bad request. Jesus said to become a servant to all and you will be great.

 

[billwald]

"There is also the eternal sin (blasphemy of the Holy Spirit) [Matthew 12:31], whereas others are not, and there are also the sins that lead to death as opposed to those that do not. [I John 5:15-16]"

The Mosiac Covenant provided a social contract for a specific group of people and some of the provisions of this social contract had a death penalty.

First, every possible sin was not listed in the Mosiac Covenant. The ones not listed didn't incur a penalty under it.

Second, All the blessings and curses in Exo thru Deut only referred to physical life and death in this world. There isn't one single verse that refers to the next world.

 

[Timbucs2]

How about this

John 19

11Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin."

Which states that some sins are greater than others.

what version of the bible do you use there? cause the term "a (greater sin)" is very different from "the (greater sin)" which is what most other bibles say... not neccessarily saying that majority rules in this case though.
I think that the confusion lies in that we see an obvious difference in consequences and effects among sins, but we attribute this difference to the existence of multiple levels of sin. I dont fully know about this myself, but i have observed that people get sidetracked. Personally, at the moment it appears to me that God does not see in different shades, He sees sin and it is an affront to Him no matter what it is, whether murder, gossip, or theivery of a muffin.

 

[march56]

Matthew 25:32
All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.

-M.C.

 

[Ave Maria]

No, all sins are not equal! Others have treated this subject very well but I wish to expand on it. There are two basic kinds of sins: mortal and venial. Mortal sins will damn you to Hell. Venial sins will not but they do damage your relationship with God. Mortal sins can only be forgiven in the sacrament of confession and reconciliation. If you are on your way to confession and are guilty of a mortal sin and have perfect contrition then you will go to Heaven. If you are on your way to confession with a mortal sin on your conscience and have imperfect contrition, you'll go to Hell. If you make it to confession, get absolved (forgiven), and then die you will go to Heaven. There are also the sins known as the Seven Deadly Sins. They are also known as vices and capital sins:

1866 Vices can be classified according to the virtues they oppose, or also be linked to the capital sins which Christian experience has distinguished, following St. John Cassian and St. Gregory the Great. They are called "capital" because they engender other sins, other vices. They are pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia.

Then of course there are two more kinds of sin: original sin and actual sin. Original sin is the sin that we inherit from Adam and Eve's original disobedience to God. Actual sin is the sin that we commit ourselves. Baptism washes away both. Original sin only needs to be washed away once but actual sin (if it is mortal) needs to be forgiven in the sacrament of confession whenever it is committed. Venial actual sin needs to be forgiven in other ways. Here is more information that is much better than what I can provide:

Sin
Original Sin
Mortal Sin

 

[Tychicum]

Don't believe everything a TV preacher says ...