Commentary

Does the Bible teach that all sins are equally bad?

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Here’s a neat post by Bill Pratt over at Tough Questions Answered.

Excerpt:

But what about the Bible?  Is there support for the view that all sins are not equal in Holy Scripture?  Yes, actually there is.

Let’s look at the words of Jesus.  In Matt. 23:23, Jesus scolds the Pharisees for neglecting “the more important matters of the law.”  If there are more important matters of the law, than there are less important matters of the law, and thus a moral law hierarchy.

In Matt. 5:19 Jesus refers to breaking the  “least of these commandments,” again indicating a hierarchy.

In Matt. 22:34-40, an expert in the law asks Jesus about the greatest commandment.  Jesus’ response isn’t, “Silly man!  All of the laws are equal!”  No, he tells him that the greatest command is to love God and the second greatest command is to love your neighbor.  Clearly the man who loves his neighbor but does not love God is committing the greater sin.  God comes first.

In John 19:11, Jesus tells Pilate that “the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”  If there is a greater sin, then there must be lesser sins.

What about the apostle Paul?  He says in 1 Cor. 13:13 that the greatest virtue is love.  If there is a greatest virtue, then there must be lesser virtues.  Paul also tells Timothy in 1 Tim. 1:15 that Paul is the worst sinner.  But if all sins are equal, then there can be no worst sinner.

In 1 John, the apostle John informs us that there is sin that leads to death, and other sins that do not lead to death.  Clearly some sins are worse than others.

Bill says that part 2 of this 2 part series comes out today!

My own view of this problem is that definitely any one sin will damn you to Hell for eternity, because the standard is perfection. And since no one can be perfect, we all need to have some means of avoiding the penalty for our own sins. Now the people who don’t accept this offer of redemption are going to be on the hook for all their own sins, but they are not all going to be punished with equal severity. The duration of the punishment is the same for all, but the intensity of the punishment will vary based on the specific sins that each person committed.

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12 thoughts on “Does the Bible teach that all sins are equally bad?”

  1. WK, I think you point out that there is a duality we don’t want to ignore.

    Anyone sin condemns the man in judgment. This is the forensic sense of sin.

    There is also a social effect of sin. While we recognize that God condemns sin (and forgives it through faith in Lord Jesus and by grace, for all who believe), we can simultaneously recognize that there is a present ongoing consequence of sin. It breaks relationships and trust.

    In the final analysis, we can also not ignore the promise of degree of reward and punishment in heaven and hell, though the mechanisms of such are not made entirely clear.

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  2. The doctrine of eternal rewards for Christians used to be a big deal during the Reformation, but nowadays people tend to downplay it. They probably downplay it because evangelicalism is infested with Calvinism in varying degrees, and Calvinism tends to undermine the doctrine by teaching that every Christian “perseveres.”

    But although the idea that *hell* varies in degree is probably true, there aren’t many Bible verses that explicitly teach it.

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    1. There’s not many references to just the degrees of punishment, but they’re there (and any number of the “reward” statements are ambiguous enought to include both ideas):

      Luke 12:42-48
      Matthew 11:21-24
      James 3:1

      Those are fairly clear.

      I’m confused on your Calvinist/perseverance thing… Don’t Arminians teach that Christians persevere, too? Which is to say, that by saying a truly regenerated Christian can become an apostate and lose his salvation, that he has not persevered, but a regenerated Christian who does not willfully turn from salvation and become an apostate has persevered? That seems to square with both Classical and Wesleyan Arminianism… In case I’ve misunderstood, I await your correction.

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  3. Wintery Knight,

    Interesting that your own view that “…any one sin will damn you to Hell for eternity, because the standard is perfection” contradicts 1 James: “In 1 John, the apostle John informs us that there is sin that leads to death, and other sins that do not lead to death.”

    And it is here where it is suddenly visibly that the Catholic distinction between Mortal and Venial Sins is sound and the idea of Purgatory becomes a necessary option to account for key passages of Scripture.

    May the Triune God Bless You,

    RDM

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    2. I’m not sure what “1 James” is, but I think 1 John 5:16-17 is threatening physical death rather than hell. The same goes for James 5:20 (especially given the context mentioned in James 5:14-15, where James discusses physical healing). The Bible records God physically killing multiple NT believers in response to serious sins.

      If 1 John 5:16-17 were talking about spiritual death, furthermore, then it wouldn’t make much sense. It would be advising you to pray for the (spiritual) eternal life of people who had *not* spiritually died. Under my interpretation the passage makes more sense. Specifically, it’s asking you to pray for the continued physical life of people who are still physically alive.

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  4. There are sins committed prior to conversion — any one of which would condemn. And then there are sins committed after conversion. I John speaks of the latter.

    Actually, concerning the state prior to conversion, it is not just a matter of individual sins one may commit, as if you could add them up, it is a matter of an entire life, an entire existence, lived outside the will and worship of God. Sin affects every aspect of our life, even our “goodness”. Calvin was right about sin affecting every dimension of our life. Even our good works, our best efforts, are as filthy rags in God’s sight. That is why we need a Redeemer, a spotless Lamb, whose righteousness is imputed to us.

    Concerning the corollary, good works, we are saved by faith apart from works. However, authentic faith leads to good works, not in order to obtain salvation, but as a consequence of having received it, and by virtue of being saved from this state or condition of sin in order to participate in the life of the Son of God, made possible by being incorporated into Him. That I may be found “in him” — not having a righteousness of my own, which is by the law, but having the righteousness which comes from faith in the Son of God!

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  5. There are sins for which God commanded capital punishment, which to me says He considered these sins as worse than others. While all sins will send one to Hell without a savior, there are still some sins that are indeed judged as worse than others. As Paul says in 1 Cor. 6:18, sexual sins appear to be especially heinous because they are the only sins one commits against his own body.

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  6. You should also mention that Jesus knew their intent [I assume, since He ‘is’ God].

    My suggestion would to be read His word and pray. Don’t be discouraged by a human’s idea of mainstream sin [addicts, adulterers, murderers, etc] As a fictional example, some pastors may have brought thousands to Christ, but how many did they damn when they had sex with a hooker; and the chain reaction of hate and distrust towards ‘Christians’ swells through millions of unsaved souls when scandals are initiated in the media. I don’t pretend to know what God would decide in such a case. I have no idea what an all-knowing God is doing behind the scenes of an extremely complex existence. Don’t fret over it if you’re saved. Let Him be the judge. He’s the one who puts what’s on the plate in front of you anyways.

    Why don’t you post links to anxiety and worry verses?

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