There has been a considerable amount of feedback in the comments on my first post regarding the teaching of Scripture and the Westminster standards as to some sins being worse than others in the sight of God. Though, as that post notes, these principles are also mentioned in some of my posts on Genesis and Deuteronomy (and I could add Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers). If you have not already read the first article entitled All Sins Are Not “Created” Equal, please click here to do so first. I am not going to try to answer every question that has been or will be posed about these things. I would rather avoid speculation whenever possible and only go as far as Scripture does. Therefore, what I will attempt to do below is to offer a little more of what God’s word says about this issue.
One aggravating factor that I did not mention in the previous post is that of being a Christian. That is, it is worse when a Christian sins than it is when a non-Christian does so. Why? For one thing the Christian has greater and clearer knowledge of the will of God than the non-Christian. And another reason is that the non-Christian does not have the Spirit of God residing in their heart whereas the Christian does. If you are a genuine Christian, then you are able not to sin as well as able to sin. Therefore, when you do sin, it is that much more serious. Having the Spirit in the heart is another way of saying that you have the law written on your heart or that you have a circumcised heart. See my posts on Deuteronomy for a more developed treatment of this point. Nevertheless, let it suffice to say that when Jesus says things such as to pluck your eye out or cut off your hand (as he does in Matthew 5:29-30 among other places) it is a case of understatement not overstatement. It is understatement because what is neccessary is much more serious surgery than the removal of an eye or a limb — what is needed is heart surgery (a heart circumcision). And every believer in Jesus Christ has received a heart circumcision so that they can do that which is pleasing to God.
The first reason mentioned above that sin is worse when done by a Christian than a non-Christian is that much more true for those who are teaching elders (often pastors, but also other elders who specialize in other teaching settings). That is, with greater knowledge of what is right and wrong comes greater offensiveness when the wrong is done. This is not the only reason, but it is certainly one. As James warns, “Not many of you should become teachers, my siblings, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1). This is a humbling reminder. Thanks be to God that He gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).
Another practical application that I did not mention in the previous post regards peacemaking between individuals. That is, there are some sins that are small enough that we should overlook them. Even small sins should not be overlooked when they are standing in the way of our relationships and we are just pretending that everything is ok if we do not deal with them. And small sins should not be overlooked when they are done habitually or demonstrate a pattern. But some sins are truly small enough to overlook rather than to confront in everyday peacemaking. As the Proverbs say, “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense” (Prov 19:11). However, many sins are simply too serious to overlook and when we do so we are really either in denial or condoning the behavior by our silence. Ken Sande’s The Peacemaker can unpack this concept more for you if this is new to you. But I mention it because it is a practical application of the observation that some sins are worse than others.
Many really struggle with the teaching of Scripture that some sins are more heinous in God’s sight than others. Therefore, let me offer a few examples of this from Scripture. First, God asks the prophet Ezekiel, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary?” And then God says, “But you will see still greater abominations” (Ezek 8:6, 13, 15). So God tells the prophet that some abominations are greater than others. This is one of the passages that the WSC cites as an example. The first two examples in Ezekiel 8 are of idolatry breaking the second commandment. The first was an “image of jealousy.” The second was the seventy elders (who should have the Spirit) practicing idolatry. The latter two examples in Ezekiel 8 are of breaking the first commandment. The first of these is women weeping for the god Tammuz. The second of these is of approximately 25 men worshiping the sun with their backs to the temple of the true God. With each example is a still greater abomination than the one before. None of these abominations were little enough that anyone should overlook them.
The WSC also cites 1 John 5:16 regarding the sin that does not lead to death and the sin that does lead to death. Clearly the sin that leads to death is worse than the one that does not. We might also add that clearly blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (no matter what you believe that sin to be) is worse than other blasphemies (Matt 12:31) because the other blasphemies will be forgiven people but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. As I often tell people who say that they are worried that they have committed the blasphemy of the Spirit — ‘if you really have done so, you would not be concerned about having done so.’
The sexual sins that are singled out as especially heinous are often noted in Scripture to not be tolerated even by the pagans. Thus 1 Cor 5:1 says, “It is actually reported that there is a sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife.” This fits with the passages cited in the previous post from Genesis and Romans concerning ‘things which ought not to be done.’ Sins that are worse than others are often recognized as such by the public. Thus Proverbs says, “People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry, but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold; he will give all the goods of his house. He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself. He will get wounds and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be wiped away” (Prov 6:30-33). The comparison here is between the thief and the adulterer. People do not despise a thief who steals because he is hungry but the disgrace of an adulterer will not be wiped away. The worse the sin the more shame it brings.
Perhaps the most obvious example of some sins being worse than others has to do with whether the sins are unintentional or intentional, of omission or deliberate. In Leviticus 4 and 5 (following the Hebrew chapter numbering), for example, there are purification offerings for unintentional sins (Lev 4:1-35), purification offerings for sins of omission (Lev 5:1-13), reparation offerings for unintentional sins (Lev 5:14-19), and reparation offerings for intentional sins (Lev 5:20ff in Hebrew, Lev 6:1-7 in English). The status of the person bringing the offering is also important. The passage shows that the sins of leaders are more serious than that of an individual member from the rest of the congregation. See my post on Leviticus 1-7. It is because I have been teaching through the Torah that I have continually been confronted with this truth that some sins are worse than others. Numbers 15 contrasts inadvertent sins with those that are done with a high hand, such presumptuous sins are worse than the unintentional ones. Numbers 35 applies this to killings that rise to the level of a death penalty compared to those that do not rise to that level. These are just sample references, there are other passages also addressing these issues in the Torah. God’s understanding of justice acknowledges some sins as worse than others.
Not all sins are “created” equal, but, as we have said before, every sin (even if unintentional, even if small enough we should overlook in our dealings with Christian siblings) deserves God’s wrath and curse in this life and the next. But what we deserve, Jesus has taken for us who believe in Him.
As God asked through the Prophet Jeremiah, “Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’–only to go on doing all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?” (Jer 7:9-11a).
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