If sin is evil...

JerryinMass

Active Member
Apr 27, 2021
42
32
Massachusetts
✟1,658.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Theologian Cornelius Plantinga said: “All sin is equally wrong, but not all sin is equally bad.” I understand what Plantinga is saying, and it confirms what Jesus made clear when He told Pilate "he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” John 19:11. But if Pilate was an unrepentant sinner and rejected the one true God, hadn't Pilate committed the unpardonable sin?

If sin is evil, then sinners are evildoers, and therefore sinners are evil. All sin except blasphemy of the Holy Spirit can be forgiven, and those that are forgiven are born again saints made righteous by the atonement of Jesus Christ. However, what of those that blaspheme the Holy Spirit by outright rejection of God and the Cross, the atheist, and yet live what appears to be by the "golden rule"; are not they equally guilty of the unpardonable sin and therefore evil?
 

Tolworth John

Well-Known Member
Supporter
Mar 10, 2017
8,278
4,680
68
Tolworth
✟369,559.00
Country
United Kingdom
Faith
Non-Denom
Marital Status
Married
If sin is evil, then sinners are evildoers, and therefore sinners are evil.

Sorry this is false reasoning.
Your non Christian neighbour is a sinner, but by the way he lives he is not automatically evil.
He made be a law-abiding, generous and kind man, who does not do evil deeds.

True he is a willing servant, if an ignorant servant of the devil.
That does not mean he is evil.
 
Upvote 0

Dave L

Well-Known Member
Supporter
Jun 28, 2018
15,549
5,875
USA
✟580,110.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Theologian Cornelius Plantinga said: “All sin is equally wrong, but not all sin is equally bad.” I understand what Plantinga is saying, and it confirms what Jesus made clear when He told Pilate "he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” John 19:11. But if Pilate was an unrepentant sinner and rejected the one true God, hadn't Pilate committed the unpardonable sin?

If sin is evil, then sinners are evildoers, and therefore sinners are evil. All sin except blasphemy of the Holy Spirit can be forgiven, and those that are forgiven are born again saints made righteous by the atonement of Jesus Christ. However, what of those that blaspheme the Holy Spirit by outright rejection of God and the Cross, the atheist, and yet live what appears to be by the "golden rule"; are not they equally guilty of the unpardonable sin and therefore evil?
Remember, Hebrews 6 speaks of returning to Temple sacrifice and it too is unforgivable. Think of the many mislead "Christians" who plan to do this very thing in a so-called 3rd temple.
 
Upvote 0

spiritfilledjm

Well-known Member
Supporter
Apr 15, 2007
1,844
1,642
37
Indianapolis, Indiana
✟225,404.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
Theologian Cornelius Plantinga said: “All sin is equally wrong, but not all sin is equally bad.” I understand what Plantinga is saying, and it confirms what Jesus made clear when He told Pilate "he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” John 19:11. But if Pilate was an unrepentant sinner and rejected the one true God, hadn't Pilate committed the unpardonable sin?

If sin is evil, then sinners are evildoers, and therefore sinners are evil. All sin except blasphemy of the Holy Spirit can be forgiven, and those that are forgiven are born again saints made righteous by the atonement of Jesus Christ. However, what of those that blaspheme the Holy Spirit by outright rejection of God and the Cross, the atheist, and yet live what appears to be by the "golden rule"; are not they equally guilty of the unpardonable sin and therefore evil?

Basically, yes. I mean, as previous replies have mentioned, calling them evil, as in an evil-doer, is a bit of a stretch but ultimately the most righteous person on earth who does not believe in God and does not accept Christ as savior still ends up in the same place as the person who did evil all their lives and never repented. They both have their share in the lake of fire and judgment.

I will also go on to say that one cannot commit the "Unpardonable Sin" until they have died. The unpardonable sin, I believe, is dying in unbelief without having accepted Christ as Lord and Savior and not repenting of sin.
 
Upvote 0

Aussie Pete

Well-Known Member
Supporter
Aug 14, 2019
9,081
8,268
Frankston
Visit site
✟727,030.00
Country
Australia
Faith
Non-Denom
Marital Status
Divorced
Theologian Cornelius Plantinga said: “All sin is equally wrong, but not all sin is equally bad.” I understand what Plantinga is saying, and it confirms what Jesus made clear when He told Pilate "he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” John 19:11. But if Pilate was an unrepentant sinner and rejected the one true God, hadn't Pilate committed the unpardonable sin?

If sin is evil, then sinners are evildoers, and therefore sinners are evil. All sin except blasphemy of the Holy Spirit can be forgiven, and those that are forgiven are born again saints made righteous by the atonement of Jesus Christ. However, what of those that blaspheme the Holy Spirit by outright rejection of God and the Cross, the atheist, and yet live what appears to be by the "golden rule"; are not they equally guilty of the unpardonable sin and therefore evil?
It helps to go back to the garden of Eden. The fruit of the tree of knowledge was good and evil. So it is with human nature. Atheists are capable of doing good as much as saints are well able to sin.

God's initial evaluation of those before Him is simple. Are you alive or dead? Those who are born again are judged differently. It's more a prize giving ceremony. Those who have lived for themselves will get little or nothing. Those who have chosen the narrow way, the cross and death to self will receive great reward.

Those who are dead in trespass and sin will also be judged according to what they have done in this life. They will not be found in heaven and will have to live with themselves for eternity. No thanks.
 
Upvote 0

com7fy8

Well-Known Member
May 22, 2013
13,649
6,108
Massachusetts
✟583,329.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Theologian Cornelius Plantinga said: “All sin is equally wrong, but not all sin is equally bad.”
Well, I think there is sin that is more wrong than other sin. Going five miles an hour over the speed limit on a highway is less wrong than shoplifting a pack of cigarettes. And it is not as bad - - maybe >

Even if a little bit of speeding might not be a serious sin, still it can be a stepping stone to worse sinning. And the weakness of giving in to a less serious sin can be weakness that then increases so a person can suffer more and more deeply, in one's emotional weakness. Plus, the person can become able to do worse and worse things. For example, you could have an argument in justifying your speeding, and this hurts your relating with the one trying to correct your driving habit. If you value your pride more than your honesty with someone who cares about you, this is a deeper and much worse problem than just going a little bit fast. The next thing you know, you're going forty miles an hour over the limit, in order to prove your point that you know what you are doing and no one is going to tell you what to do. And then you get a divorce and your kids suffer and get into lousy relationships because your bad example helps them to go the wrong way. One of them could become a politician who helps start a bogus war in another country, so millions are killed . . . because they learned from you not to listen to people who care about them.
 
Upvote 0

JerryinMass

Active Member
Apr 27, 2021
42
32
Massachusetts
✟1,658.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Well, I think there is sin that is more wrong than other sin. Going five miles an hour over the speed limit on a highway is less wrong than shoplifting a pack of cigarettes. And it is not as bad - - maybe >

Even if a little bit of speeding might not be a serious sin, still it can be a stepping stone to worse sinning. And the weakness of giving in to a less serious sin can be weakness that then increases so a person can suffer more and more deeply, in one's emotional weakness. Plus, the person can become able to do worse and worse things. For example, you could have an argument in justifying your speeding, and this hurts your relating with the one trying to correct your driving habit. If you value your pride more than your honesty with someone who cares about you, this is a deeper and much worse problem than just going a little bit fast. The next thing you know, you're going forty miles an hour over the limit, in order to prove your point that you know what you are doing and no one is going to tell you what to do. And then you get a divorce and your kids suffer and get into lousy relationships because your bad example helps them to go the wrong way. One of them could become a politician who helps start a bogus war in another country, so millions are killed . . . because they learned from you not to listen to people who care about them.
Pride is certainly an evil, a sin that God's word warns us of repeatedly. It's easy to see how pride can be the multiplication factor for the compounding of sin.

My thought is: we Christians have all the evidence we need to know God exists and that Jesus Christ was crucified, died, buried, and resurrected. And all the evidence we have we share with the world. Is the atheist's rejection of the evidence we share about God and the Cross grounded in pride?
 
Upvote 0