Some of you may be wondering why a guy who writes about church health issues would even be addressing this question.
But it really is relevant to church health, which I’ll demonstrate just below and again, at the end of this post.
Digging around in people’s motives for their actions and words is always dangerous. We can speculate that the Christian who poses the question above is trying to avoid the reality of their own or somebody else’s sin. But it’s probably best for those at the receiving end of these questions to just stick to the facts of what Scripture says, while understanding that the situations prompting these questions are often excruciatingly painful.
The two misunderstood Bible passages which are the usual proof texts for this view – very briefly considered:
Matthew 5:21-22 and 27-28 – In what we call the “Sermon on the Mount” Jesus describes the kind of Spirit-given, miraculous, righteous living that he was (and is) looking for from his followers. The “you have heard that it was said…but I say to you” formula wasn’t an attack on the Jewish Scriptures, but a refutation of the hypocritical and legalistic Bible interpretations of the Pharisees. In speaking of murder and anger, adultery and lust, Jesus wasn’t implying that anger is as bad as murder or lust is as bad as adultery for, as we’ll see below, this would violate the overall teachings of the Scriptures. Rather, Jesus was denouncing the hypocrisy of the Pharisees of his day, which allowed for the acceptability of “minor sins” without facing the ugliness of sin in the sight of God and the sinner’s need of forgiveness and a new heart.
James 2:8-13 – James, likewise, is affirming the sinfulness of all sin and lawbreaking. It’s not that the sin of favoritism is as bad as murder or adultery; the point is that he who “plays favorites” is definitely breaking the command of Leviticus 19:18, to love your neighbor as yourself.
Passages which clearly show that all sins are not created equal:
Exodus 21:12-25 – The greatly varied punishments demanded by the Law of Moses – from the death penalty to the payment of a small fine – reflect the seriousness of various and sundry actual sins in the estimation of God.
Leviticus 4:1-3, 5:14 – Differentiation is made between those who sin willfully and others who sin unintentionally.
Deuteronomy 6:4-6 with Matthew 22:37-39 – If the greatest commandment is to love God with all our hearts, then surely the greatest sin – of which we are all guilty every day – is to fail to do so.
Matthew 5:17-19 – Back in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks of breaking “one of the least of these commandments…” In this post we can’t go deep into the subject of what makes for “greater” or lesser” commandments and sins, but it’s worth your thoughtful consideration – and it makes a great classroom discussion question.
Matthew 12:1-13 – Criticized for plucking heads of grain on the Sabbath, Jesus demonstrates that there are greater considerations than Sabbath keeping: the Son of God trumps the temple, showing mercy trumps sacrifice and human life trumps animal life. There are strong hints here about the relative sinfulness of sins.
I Corinthians 6:18 – Paul seems to imply that sexual sins are worse than other sins because other sins are “outside his body” but sexual sins are “against his own body.”
Here’s how this matters:
Those who espouse the “all sins are created equal” viewpoint would argue that:
- The inequality of sins view supports the hypocrisy and everyday antinomianism (lawlessness) of those who, like the Pharisees, viewed their own “little” sins as inconsequential. This is certainly a valid concern.
- Their inequality of sins viewpoint helps to show lost sinners their need for Christ, as all persons everywhere are equally condemned and in need of God’s forgiveness. This is also a valid concern.
But those of us who reject the “all sins are created equal” viewpoint counter:
- The “…created equal” view violates the clear teachings of the passages above. We must always interpret obscure passages of Scripture in light of numerous, clear passages.
- The “…created equal” view destroys the “legal worth” – the utility of using Scripture to determine civil law – of both the Law of Moses and the commands of the New Testament. Does this not open the door for the trivializing of every imaginable form of crime (as we’re seeing in “progressivism” today)? I can compassionately visit the murderer in prison, knowing that I could have committed the crime which he committed, but that doesn’t mean that he should get a small fine for homicide and be allowed to go free. Only Divine Revelation tells us the truth about the differences between greater and lessor crimes.
- The “…created equal” view lends itself to the antinomianism, the carelessness and callousness of those who equate sins as serious as adultery with sins such as jaywalking or exceeding a speed limit. “You drive too fast; I commit adultery; it’s all the same to God.”
The bottom line truths here are that: (1) All sins are hideous in the sight of our wonderful, Holy God (2) Sins are equal neither in their importance to God nor in the seriousness of their effects (3) All sins, beginning with that of loving ourselves above God and other people, are to be hated and feared by God’s people (4) Our gracious God forgives both great and small sins and gives us grace to live in victory over sin’s power (5) Church members must repudiate and hate their own sins while responding ever-so-wisely to the perceived sins of their fellow believers, distinguishing between somewhat harmful sins (for they all are) and sins which can devastate the lives of individuals and seriously damage a congregation (6) This means that church leaders must deal with destructive sin decisively, without allowing themselves to be intimidated by those who defend their own sin or that of others with their “all sins are created equal” arguments and charges of the closely associated sin of “judging.”
