“All sins are the same.”
“Sin is sin.”
“No single act of disobedience is any worse than another in God’s eyes.”
Chances are you’ve heard statements like these repeated by sincere believers and cynics alike.
The faithful sometimes parrot these words to avoid sounding judgmental or harsh while discussing wrongdoing. Critics of Christianity, too, will champion notions of equal offense as they mock any efforts to warn about the dangers of particular sins.
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But is the premise behind these declarations true?
Are all sins equally obnoxious to God?
Is gluttony just as offensive to the Lord as adultery?
Should we really equate speeding on the highway with taking the life of another person?
Is a stolen piece of bubblegum just as damning as the pilfered lifesavings taken from an elderly person?
Well, it depends.
In one sense, a single sin of any kind relationally separates us from our Creator. Each act of disobedience falls short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Every person is by nature a sinner who is not righteous, does not seek God, and is incapable of good (Rom. 3:10–12).
As result, apart from grace, we stand before the Lord condemned, dead in our sins as children of wrath (Eph. 2:1–3), resulting in eternal death (Rom. 6:23). Any sin, whether great or small, leaves every human being without excuse or defense in the presence of a holy God (Rom. 5:12). We minimize the gravity of our shortcomings to our peril.
In another sense, however, the Bible clearly teaches that there are categories of sinfulness which bring varying levels of consequence, both temporally and eternally.
Though every sin offends the righteousness of God, all sins are not equally egregious to the Lord. Some transgressions, for instance, can lead to physical death while others do not (1 John 5:16–17).
Degree of the offense
The degree of the offense is key.
Few would dispute that God hates all sin, yet Scripture reveals seven specific actions that are uniquely wicked in His eyes (Prov. 6:16–19).
While describing Judas Iscariot to Pontius Pilate, Jesus made this principled distinction, “He who delivered Me to you has the greater sin (John 19:11).” Clearly, God not only delineates between right and wrong, but also between wrong and more wrong.
Sexual sin, for example, is especially objectionable because, unlike other trespasses, it wreaks havoc against our physical bodies and well-being (1 Cor. 6:18). God does not say, “flee immorality” because He resents our physical pleasures, but due to His desire to protect us from psychological trauma and physiological harm.
Defiling the marriage bed destroys many conjugal unions before they ever get started (Heb. 13:4). Severe consequences like these reveal the seriousness of fornication and God’s judgment of it.
Likewise, homosexuality represents an increased level of carnality because its indecent acts are contrary to God’s design of nature itself. Scripture describes same sex unions as dishonorable, degrading, unnatural, indecent, depraved, and improper (Rom. 1:26-27). Lest you think I’m overstating it, the homosexual perversion of Sodom and Gomorrah led to its destruction (Gen. 19). As the Lord looked upon their wickedness, He declared, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave (Gen. 18:20).” Clearly, these behaviors were not like other shortcomings.
Though some erroneously insist that the real problem in Sodom and Gomorrah was a lack of hospitality, such an assertion contradicts the clear witness of Scripture. Jude described the citizens in Sodom as those who “indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh,” making them worthy of eternal fire (Jude 7). The Apostle Peter explicitly stated that God condemned these cities due to their “sensual conduct” in order to make “them an example of those who would live ungodly lives thereafter (2 Peter 2:6–7).” In other words, increased obscenity kindles the wrath of God differently than other sins.
Ignoring truth
Even worse than these sexual proclivities, though, is the repeated aversion to and ignoring of truth. The more God reveals Himself to us, the greater offense we cause by resisting Him. When Jesus spoke of the cities who rejected the apostles, He measured their condemnation by saying, “Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city (Matt 10:15).”
You read that correctly. The perversion of Sodom was less offensive to Jesus than the rejection of His gospel message.
The same warning appeared in Luke’s account when Jesus chastised Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum for dismissing the miracles in their midst. Vile and wicked cities like Sidon and Tyre will fare better in the judgment than these places that had access to truth but trampled it under foot (Luke 10:10-16). The latter offense is great than the former.
Simply put, increased revelation equals increased accountability.
Though the witnesses of creation (Rom. 1:18–20) and our conscience (Rom. 2:14-16) are enough to send us to hell apart from the cross of Jesus, dismissing or misrepresenting the fuller revelation of Scripture brings additional judgment and consequence. No wonder Jesus warned about the severity of making children stumble in their faith (Matt. 18:6). Similarly, James cautions that not many should desire to be teachers of biblical truth because it invites stricter evaluation (James 3:1).
Some sins are indeed worse than others, but that does give us an excuse to justify ANY sin in our lives. None of us will stand before the Lord and point to the misdeeds of others in order to cover the wrongs we have done. Thank God that the blood of Jesus can cleanse us from every stain, great or small.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This opinion piece was written by Adam B. Dooley, pastor of Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, Tennessee.
