Claiming dire sins the same as common sins is enabling those who are the most extreme sinners. When even Christians claim that all sins are equal, that enables those who would murder and those engaging in fornication and homosexuality. "But", you say, "Murder is rare and effects few!" Wrong! Abortion is murder, it's done frequently and those aborting are victims of society. The devil has deceived many that abortion is something else other than murder and that murder and theft are of equal offense. Enabling sinners compounds sinning.
The "accepted" definition of sin is "willful transgressions of God's law". Is that a valid definition? Is that a full definition?
1 John 3:4 "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."
Firstly, "willful" is not in this definition. It's breaking the "law". Which law and whose law? There is God's law and Mosaic law.
Joshua 8:32 "And he (Joshua) wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel."
The "Law of Moses" is typically understood to be the first five books of the Old Testament called the Pentateuch. Mosaic Law includes the Ten Commandments, but also many more. Jewish theologians have identified 613 laws enumerated by Moses. Are we to keep only the Ten Commandments, which is God's Law, or all 613 commandments, all the law? If it's the latter, we sin every time we breath and "law" becomes trivial.
If we're only penalized for disobeying "God's Law" is it the Ten Commandments or "The Greatest Commandment?" I'll answer that! "The Greatest Commandment" is a summary of the Ten Commandments. The first three commandments are about "loving God" and the last seven are about "loving your neighbor". God's law is about loving God and loving others!
We have identified sins against two persons: sins against God and sins against others. Is that the extent of sinning? No! We can sin against ourselves:
1 Corinthians 6:18 "Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body."
Sin is the absence of love for God, for others and for ourselves! This is my definition of sin deduced from Holy Scripture! It must fit God's definition: "sin is the transgression of the law". Failing to love is "the transgression", the "law" is "The Greatest Commandment" and the "transgression" can be against God, against others or against our own bodies! Surely, we sin if we fail to love God, love others and fail to care for God's temple; our bodies. No where have I found that "willful" is part of the definition.
I'll explain: Is hate willful? No, it's human nature. We don't even have to plan it. Hate comes naturally for various reasons, but the most prominent reason is that mankind has always been into self-worship and "loving" is at odds with the god we've created in ourselves! Hate is a sin! Since "hate" is obviously at odds with "The Greatest Commandment" hate would be the worst sin possible! Other sins are symptomatic of "hate", but "hate" is the disease of sin.
The "Seven Deadly Sins" called "Cardinal Sins" by Catholics are: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. These come from Proverbs:
Proverbs 6:16 "These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, 19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren."
My direct list would be pride, slander, murder, lust, trouble-making, lying and gossip. Slander and lying are similar, but have different motivations. Slander is hateful in nature and lying is more general. This is my partial list of the seven deadly sins. Greed, slothfulness and gluttony is not among them and wrath is included in the sin of "murder". Please note that all these "deadly sins" are hateful against God, others, or our own bodies. Protestants as a general rule pay little heed to "Cardinal Sins", but they are certainly scriptural! Calvinism and it's point of "total deparivity" was taught early, hence "degree is sinning" was inconsequential to those early Protestants. (Man is not "totally depraved". He is depraved, but totally "lost" without Jesus).
Catholics refer to sins as mortal and venial sins . Although there are major and minor sins, one sin is no more deadly than another. Sins have degree, unrepentant sin has the same punishment!
Does this list include all the "deadly sins"? Definitely not!
The most sin or deadly sin is "blasphemy"!
Mark 3:29 "But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.
Denying God is the ultimate sin because it's at odds with "The Greatest Commandment" to love God! Whoever denies God certainly has no love for Him. This extends to those who fail to accept Christ because God, Christ and the Holy Spirit ARE ALL GOD!
Then there are others sins defined as "abominations" as in Proverbs 6:16.
Leviticus 7:18 Improper sacrifices are an abomination. In New Testament this means failure to sacrifice oneself! That's blasphemy.
Leviticus 11: Eating dangerous foods is an abomination because by doing so one "murders" themselves.
Leviticus 18:22 "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. Homosexuality is an abomination.
Leviticus 18: Incest is an abomination. As is unnatural sex, fornication and bestiality.
There are more major sins, but one should get the picture. There are major and minor sins!
The New Testament targets specific sins:
Galatians 5:19 "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies..."
They are sins of the flesh. These are all part and parcel of previously mentioned "deadly sins". Strangely, "hatred" is at the center of the list. That's a truism because all the others mentioned are rebellion (hate) against God, others or self! Yes, God on several occasions targets specific sins as worthy of mention because they are major sins.
All sin is not intentional (willful). Here's an example:
Exodus 21:22 "If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine."
Striving in this passage is intentional. However, the killing of her unborn child is an accidental sin and because it was done without "mischief" there is a lesser penalty.
Leviticus Chapter 5 lists several "accidental sins": incomplete testimony in court, touching something unclean, touching body discharges, and forgetting a promise to the Lord.
Obviously, unintentional sins are "minor sins" and punishment isn't even the same as "intentional sins"! Confession and sacrifice is an adequate punishment for unintentional sins. These sins are all sins of carelessness.
There are two phases of sin. The first phase is easy. Sins we do are called sins of commission. They are many! Sins of omission are things we're commissioned to do, but fail to do. We are all called to tell the world about Jesus. Many people are timid or even lazy. They fail to do this most important command. It's a sin of omission. Guess what? That's a terrible sin because we're not showing the same love to our neighbors as Jesus showed to us! That's a "major sin"!
One specific verse stands out that establishes "degrees of sin":
John 19:11 "Jesus answered, Thou (Pilate) couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he (Judas) that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin."
Judas committed the greater sin because he had sin in his heart. Those sins were greed, hate and murder. Judas knew what would happen. He was an accomplice to the murder of Jesus. Pilate carried out the will of the people. His part in killing Jesus wasn't malicious. He washed his hands of guilt, showing he had no hate for the Messiah. The heart of those who plotted to kill was worse than those who did the killing! The sin of the heart is demonstrated to be greater than the emotionless carrying out out the execution.
Yes, there are lesser sins and greater sins. Sins of the heart (hate, absence of love) are greater than the sins of the hand and mouth.
Some sins are sins for some, but not others. I won't go into scripture, but the Jews sinned if they ate the unclean food, but the Gentiles sinned not for doing the same thing. For the Jews it was an act of disobedience. For the Gentiles they weren't being disobedient. The Jews would be sinning from the heart and the Gentiles of the mouth. For them, God placed little significance in what they did, but what was the condition of the heart!
That's the case for "degrees of sin". I would hope that Christians would discern scripture enough to agree with that. However, punishment for sin is the same for all sins. Unless one accepts the propitiation of Jesus he will suffer eternal death. Jesus died for all sins! However, scripture also tells us if we try to obtain salvation by keeping the law, we'll suffer eternal punishment. Regardless of sins, we're all sinners and if we've broken one law, we've broken them all!
In summary, I've made the case that Sin is the absence of love for God, for others and for ourselves! Also, that there are "degrees of sin". most of which God calls "abominations". Therefore, some sins are in fact worse than others! Without Jesus the punishment for sins of omission, sins of commission, accidental sins, sins of the heart, sins of the hand and mouth, minor sins and major sins all warrant eternal punishment. The unpardonable sin is being "without Jesus", blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. This is because the Holy Ghost is the person who draws you to Jesus and by rejecting his call, it's Jesus a person rejects!
The antidote for all sin is the same without degree. John 3:16.
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