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Topic: Are Some Sins Worse Than Others?
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Carol Swenson
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posted
quote:
2)Forgivness of sin is guaranteed insomuch that Christ has paid the penalty, but it doesn't eliminate the consequences of our actions. See David for an example!
David? Do you mean King David?
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Michael Harrison
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posted
quote:
. . . life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. (Exodus 21:23-25)
1)Actually, the neat thing about this is that, it is not a measure of what to do to one who has offended, but rather a limit placed there by a Loving God to prevent one in their anger from overcompensating.
2)Forgivness of sin is guaranteed insomuch that Christ has paid the penalty, but it doesn't eliminate the consequences of our actions. See David for an example!
Posts: 3273 | From: Charlotte N.C. | Registered: Sep 2007
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Michael Harrison
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Yea! I had a spell once, early in my walk, where the devil made me think that i had done that unspeakable thing. It was nerve wracking, you know. I had been backslidden. Someone consoled me by telling me that if i had, i wouldn't be concerned about it. That made sense to me.
But one of the scariest things i have ever heard was told to me by a co-worker once. What compelled him in this i do not know. He told me with a strange and somewhat distant look on his face, of someone who blasphemed God or the Holy Spirit. He described how that this person went out of wherever he was, church or wherever, i do not remember, and he sat down on the curb at the street, opening his mouth as he sat, and a dove flew out.
I consider the manner of the guy who was speaking. I consider the guy of whom he was speaking. The incident will always be strange to me, as in, where did that come from?
Posts: 3273 | From: Charlotte N.C. | Registered: Sep 2007
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Carol Swenson
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Member # 6929
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Concise Theology
UNPARDONABLE SIN
ONLY IMPENITENCE CANNOT BE FORGIVEN
I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.
MARK 3:28-29
When Jesus warned the Pharisees that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit was unpardonable both in this world and in the next (Matt. 12:32; Mark 3:29-30), it was because they were saying that he exorcised demons by being in league with Satan (Beelzebub). His warning revealed his view of their spiritual state.
He could, and later did, pray for the forgiveness of those whose blasphemy against himself was the fruit of ignorance: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). But that was not how he saw the Pharisees.
It is possible for people to be enlightened to the point of knowing inwardly that Jesus is the divine Savior he claims to be, and still not be willing to admit it publicly, because of all the behavioral changes that such an admission would make necessary. It is possible to try to make oneself feel good about one’s own moral dishonesty by inventing reasons, no matter how absurd, for not treating Jesus as worthy of one’s allegiance. Jesus evidently perceived that in calling him Satan’s servant the Pharisees were doing exactly that. They were not ignorant; they were stifling conviction and smothering real if unwelcome knowledge; they were resolutely shutting their eyes to the light and callousing their conscience by calling it darkness. The madness that Jesus exposed in what they were saying (Matt. 12:25-28) was an index of the pressure of conviction that they were feeling; irrational reasoning is a regular sign of conviction being resisted.
By attributing exorcisms wrought through the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:28) to Satanic power, the Pharisees were blaspheming (speaking impiously) against the Spirit. Such a sin would become unforgivable when the conscience had been so calloused by calling good evil that all sense of the moral glory of Jesus’ mighty works (which were in a real sense his credentials: Matt. 11:2-6; John 10:38; 14:11) was destroyed. This hardening of heart against Jesus would preclude any remorse at any stage for having thus blasphemed. But nonexistence of remorse makes repentance impossible, and nonexistence of repentance makes forgiveness impossible.
Callousing one’s conscience by dishonest reasonings so as to justify denial of God’s power in Christ and rejection of his claims upon one is, then, the formula of the unpardonable sin. Another version of it, this time in professed Christians who fall away from Christ, is described in Hebrews 6:4-8. Christians who fear that they may have committed the unpardonable sin show by their very anxiety that they have not done so. Persons who have committed it are unremorseful and unconcerned; indeed, they are ordinarily unaware of what they have done and to what fate they have sentenced themselves. Jesus saw that the Pharisees were getting close to committing this sin, and he spoke as he did in hope of holding them back from fully lapsing into it.
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
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Eden
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I think some sins are worse than others, but thankfully our sins are no longer counted because Jesus paid the wages of death for my sins, so that I don't have to pay the wages of death for my sins anymore.
Some sins have a far greater effect on families and society, but thanks be to God, Jesus paid for my past sins on the cross and YHWH crucified my old man, my sinning machine, me the sinner, onto the cross while Jesus was on the cross.
So God dealt with my sins, and God dealt with the sinner (the first Adam's descendants) by crucifying allthat belongs to that first Adam to the cross, not now, not in the future, but when Jesus was on the cross:
Romans 6
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
So with our sins paid for and with me the sinner nailed to the cross when Jesus was on the cross, what is left for God to look at in me?
Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.
Since Jesus paid for the sins and the sinner, there is only the resurrected me that God can look at, and that can only be about rewards, and not about punishment.
Because my old man is already died when Jesus was on the cross and my past sins were paid for when Jesus was on the cross.
All that came out of Adam, the New Testament calls "the old man" and also "the first man":
Romans 6
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
1 Corinthians 15:47
The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven.
But God went further. Not only did God put all that belonged to the first man Adam onto the cross while Jesus was on the cross, God went further by taking those who believed in their life in Jesus, and put THEM IN CHRIST, just like Levi was in Abraham when Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek:
1 Corinthians 1:30
But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made to us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.
Now all of UNBELIEVING Adam was NOT put into Jesus by God, so unbelieveing Adam DIED on the cross PERMANENTLY.
But, the BELIEVING Adam whom God put into Christ while Jesus was on the cross, THEY ALSO ROSE FROM THE GRAVE WITH JESUS because they were IN Jesus, and so positionally, we are now raised with Christ, just like Jesus is raised:
Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.
So what can God look at behavior-wise when God looks at me now? WHAT IS LEFT OF ME? Only the resrurrected part is left of me. So, can I die again?
So are some sins worse than others? Yes, but thankfully in Christ all that belonged and belongs to the old man no longer is counted.
But one does have to be in Christ to be so reckoned for rewards only, and no longer for death:
Romans 6:11
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Revelation 22:12
And behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
So, who is this every man? It has to be the only man who is still left. It has to be the man that God put into Christ Jesus when Jesus was dying on the cross for all men's sins, but who also was raised with Jesus on the 3rd day.
But positionally all the rest of Adam is dead already, because they believed NOT in the Son of God:
John 3:18
He who believes on Him is not condemned: but he who believes not is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
with love in Him who died for me, Eden
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WildB
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posted
And you have never lied to the Holy Ghost?
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That is all.....
Posts: 8775 | From: USA, MICHIGAN | Registered: Mar 2004
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Michael Harrison
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Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is the only unpardonable sin, which would be a sin unto death. That would be it. In the case of Anan and Shap, they lied to the Holy Ghost, which would be blasphemy thereof.
Separation from Jesus is a type of death. When we are alive to sin, we think that we are living, but there is terrible bondage, and bad decisions. This can prematurely terminate one if they remain hardened and refuse the help of the Lord. But it is there. The sinner can get help even if he doesn't want help. Somthing in your spirit cries out. He hears. It isn't over until it is over.
Posts: 3273 | From: Charlotte N.C. | Registered: Sep 2007
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WildB
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Question: "What is the sin unto death?"
Answer: 1 John 5:16 is one of the most difficult verses in the New Testament. Of all the interpretations out there, I have not found one that seems to answer all the questions concerning this verse. This best interpretation I have found is comparing this verse to what happened to Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-10 (see also 1 Corinthians 11:30). The “sin unto death” is deliberate, willful, continuous, unrepentant sin. God, in His grace, allows His children to sin without immediately punishing them. However, there comes a point when God will no longer allow a believer to continue in unrepentant sin. When this point is reached, God sometimes decides to punish a Christian, even to the point of taking his or her life.
That is what He did in Acts 5:1-10, and 1 Corinthians 11:28-32. This is perhaps what Paul described to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 5:1-5. We are to pray for Christians who are sinning. However, there may come a time when God will no longer hear prayers for a sinning believer for whom He has determined that judgment is due. It is difficult to realize that there are times when it is just too late to pray for a person. God is good and just, we will just have to let Him decide when it is too late and trust His judgment.
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That is all.....
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BrianGrass1234
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posted
All sin separates us from God. One sin keeps us separated. Christ died for all our sins, and they have been forgiven. But one sin, failure to accept Christ's forgiveness, is the one that will keep you from God and will cause your eternal separation from God. This is why I don't understands the church's concentration on other sins. All you hear about in the media is christians talking about homosexuals, prostitutes, drugs, sex before marriage, ect. All these sins do is effect this world, but its their salvation that effects the next. Worry about their salvation first, then encourage, with the help of the Holy Spirit being in their lives, them to change their life styles. The Spirit in a christians life does much more to help sinful behavior then you or I telling a non christian to change their ways.
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Michael Harrison
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As far as relationship with God is concerned, any sin is as big as another. All are wrong. As far as personal devastation goes, there are magnitudes of difference in the practices thereof. In fact, Jesus actually said that if you were going to sin, do it up grandly:
Luk 16:9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
Posts: 3273 | From: Charlotte N.C. | Registered: Sep 2007
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WildB
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Member # 2917
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by Martin G. Collins
Forerunner, "Ready Answer," November 1998
Are there varying degrees of sin? Is it worse to commit adultery than steal? Or to murder than lie? Or to commit idolatry than break the Sabbath? Does God make distinctions between different types of sin?
Romans 6:23 tells us plainly that "the wages of sin is death." Does this mean all sins are equal? Under the law is a gossip equal to a mass murderer? Is a petty thief just as sinful as a child molester?
Although all sin merits the death penalty and requires the blood of Christ for expiation, God's Word reveals that some sins are indeed worse than others. Some sins have greater consequences to the sinner, as well as to those his sin affects. From the judgments God makes regarding certain sins, we will see that some sins bring stiffer penalties and greater condemnation.
Some Examples
Israel's making of the Golden Calf while Moses spoke with God on Mt. Sinai is an Old Testament example of the sin of idolatry (Exodus 32). When he returned, Moses told the Israelites that they had "sinned a great sin" (verses 21, 30-31). The sin of idolatry is so terrible that Moses reports the Eternal as saying, "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book" (verse 33). Being blotted out of the Book of Life may be the most horrible way to end one's existence.
James writes that if we disobey one commandment, we are guilty of all (James 2:10). One sin breaks the entire code of laws. Yet in some of the worse sins, we find that in one act, multiple sins are actually committed. In this example, by committing this great sin, the Israelites directly disobeyed the first two commandments and in principle the third and fourth.
They defied the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:2), when they turned from God in His seeming absence and raised up the Golden Calf to represent something they feared and respected more than God.
They disregarded the second commandment, "You shall not make for yourself any carved image, . . . you shall not bow down to them nor serve them" (Exodus 20:3-4), when they made the Golden Calf, placed it in a position of reverence and worshiped it instead of the Eternal God.
They broke the third commandment, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain" (Exodus 20:7), when they referred to God as "the Golden Calf." They misappropriated the holy name of God for a profane use.
They transgressed the fourth commandment, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy" (Exodus 20:8), when Aaron proclaimed a feast day on which to worship the Golden Calf. By this, the Israelites established their own day of worship to their false god.
In another example, David committed the sin of faithlessness by numbering Israel (II Samuel 24:1-17). Even though Hebrews 11:32 lists David among the faithful, he had his moments of weakness. In II Samuel 24:10 David admits to God that he had "sinned greatly." Because David numbered Israel and began to rely on his own military strength rather than God's power, his sin cost the lives of 70,000 men (verse 15)!
His actions showed a distinct lack of faith in God, who could protect Israel regardless of how many men Israel could field in its army or how many were arrayed against it. David was proudly counting on his own resources for protection, and it is exactly there that God took out his punishment of David for this sin. It reached out and afflicted the whole nation. Seventy thousand men of Israel and Judah—men that could have been counted on to fill out David's ranks—died of plague to teach David and us this vital lesson.
Finally, the apostle John records an example of differing degrees of sin from the life of Christ. Notice what Jesus says to Pilate during His trial: "Jesus answered, ‘You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin'" (John 19:11). Christ's statement to Pilate verifies that there are greater and lesser sins.
Proportionate Punishment
The principle of proportionate punishment states that the more serious sin requires more severe punishment. Consider the method of punishment for broken laws in ancient Israel. Were all the punishments equal? No! The punishment for kidnapping was death (Exodus 21:16), whereas the punishment for stealing livestock was their restoration (Exodus 22:1).
This principle dictates that the punishment must fit the crime. The Romans called it Lex Talionis (literally, "law of retaliation"). Many people know of it from the Bible's vivid description:
. . . life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. (Exodus 21:23-25)
God uses this principle in His judgments—greater and lesser punishments for greater and lesser sins. Under "an eye for an eye" in the Bible, the punishment must match, but not exceed, the damage or harm done by the perpetrator. The law placed strict limits on the amount of damages anyone could collect. It permitted no one to "get rich quick" from another's mishap. Moreover, God intended this law to be a rule of thumb for judges, not an authorization of personal vendetta or private retaliation.
Priority and Importance
What about "the great commandment" (Matthew 22:38) and "the weightier matters of the Law" (Matthew 23:23)? Christ explicitly states that certain things are more important or carry greater weight with Him. These are things that we should give first priority to in our lives.
Matthew 22:35-40 expounds this point. When someone asks Jesus, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" (verse 36), He replies, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment" (verses 37-38). The most important thing we can ever do is to love God completely.
Christ tells the Pharisees in Matthew 23:23 that justice, mercy and faith are the weightier matters of the law. He continues in verse 24, "Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" The stricter Jews customarily strained their wine, vinegar and other potables through linen or gauze—just in case they drank down some unclean insect without realizing it and thereby break the law. They were more concerned about their own interpretation of the letter of the law than the more important spiritual application that results in justice, mercy and faith. Like these Pharisees, some people tolerate major sins to work on minor ones because they are easier to overcome, yet greater sins damage spiritual character far more than lesser ones.
What about "the least of these commandments" (Matthew 5:19)? Are they less important? Does it matter if we keep them or not? Jesus says emphatically in this verse:
Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
By a careful reading of what Jesus says here, we can see that He was not speaking about whether God considers breaking these lesser laws to be sin—He does—but about how our keeping of God's law affects our future position in His Kingdom. Transgressing any commandment—even the least of them—can reduce our reward in the Kingdom. On the other hand, if we are faithful to God's Word and teach it, our reward will be great!
"A Sin Not Unto Death"
The apostle John speaks of how some sins do not lead to death and others do:
If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death: I do not say that he should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin: and there is sin not leading to death. (I John 5:16-17)
"A sin which does not lead to death" is one that is genuinely repented of and for which forgiveness is available because the attitude of the sinner is meek and truly sorrowful. A person may have this attitude, yet still sin on occasion out of weakness, ignorance, bad judgment or even inadvertently. Both greater and lesser sins can fall under this category. Earlier in the book, the same apostle writes:
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:8-9)
Our genuine confession admits to God that we are guilty of breaking His law and seek to be cleared of it by Christ's sacrifice. This true repentance leads to a fierce desire not to sin and to building righteous character. God thus lifts the penalty of the second death, and once again, we, by His grace, are back on the road to salvation.
The sin that John calls a "sin leading to death" is what others know as "the unpardonable sin." Again, both greater and lesser sins can lead to the attitude that causes someone to commit an unforgivable sin. Such a sin is deeply reinforced by the attitude of the sinner—an attitude that denies Jesus Christ as Savior, that flagrantly hates his brother, and refuses to obey God's laws and statutes. Rebellion and defiance set this sin apart from others!
Jesus speaks of this sin in Mark 3:28-30:
"Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation"—because [the scribes] said, "He has an unclean spirit."
A person who blasphemes the Holy Spirit allows Satan to influence him so thoroughly that he refuses to submit to God. He rejects the power of God's Spirit and defiantly shakes his fist at His Creator. In this state he is too proud and rebellious to repent, and thus God cannot forgive him.
In Hebrews 6:4-6, Paul explains another way that can lead to the second death:
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
He expands on this in chapter 10:26-27:
For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.
Christ's sacrifice applies only once for each person, and if we reject God's grace, it cannot be applied again. This is why willing apostasy is so terrible and why the apostles fought so strongly against heresy in the first century. The eternal lives of thousands of God's people were at stake!
In a more passive way, sin can lead to eternal death by continued neglect. The sinner may know he should repent of sin, but because of lethargy he never bothers to overcome it. He is apathetic; he just does not care. The Laodicean attitude (Revelation 3:15-19) comes dangerously close to this type of sin, and if not repented of, it can lead to the unpardonable sin.
All Sin Separates
We see in scripture that there are greater and lesser sins with varying degrees of punishment. Some sins do more spiritual harm than others. Nevertheless, all sin separates us from God! Isaiah writes, "But your iniquities have separated you and your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear" (Isaiah 59:2). If we do not repent of our sins, our separation from God will become permanent, and eventually we will receive the permanent death.
We can avoid this horrible end by working to overcome all sin, placing the highest priority on ridding ourselves of the greater sins. How can we accomplish this seemingly impossible task? Alone, it would be impossible for us. God, however, inspired the apostle Paul to encourage us in this lifelong endeavor in Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Without Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5).
With the strength of Christ, we can overcome!
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That is all.....
Posts: 8775 | From: USA, MICHIGAN | Registered: Mar 2004
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