Bible Question:
Dear InMyHeart, Let's see if I understand you. Why did I ask a question (of others) and then never reply? I posed my original question because I was looking for the answer -- and still am. I wasn't just trying to provoke academic debate, although that too is useful and I'm not beyond doing that. Quite simply, if I could have usefully responded, I would have. I shall always try to limit my comments to well thought-out and considered contributions. It will never be my intent to treat this excellent study forum as merely another Internet chat room, and I shall try to refrain from commenting without believing that I'm making a worthwhile contibution. With regard to my original question, what I was really trying to do is find out how to best respond to those Christians who state that their Bible says something like, "No sin is greater than another (excluding unforgivable blasphemy)" or "All sins are of equal importance (gravity)." I believe that some very mature, knowledgable and faithful Christians, who generally fulfill God's will for their life, sometimes regularly and/or repeatedly commit the same sin (peculiar to the individual) and use such statements to mitigate the severity of such behavior. Let me pose some hypothetical examples: Is not a single act of murder a greater sin than repeated small acts of deception? Is not repeated fornication a greater sin than smoking cigarettes? How does one respond with specificity when a person says that their sin is no worse than any other specific sin? This is a real world ministering issue, not just an academic one. Further guidance from anyone would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Henri |
Bible Answer: First, this subject has been discussed before, I'm looking at this as a Christian ... Scripture ... 1 Cor 6:13-20 (vs 18), Jam 2:10-11 (vs 10) ... 1 Cor 6:18 "Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body." ... immorality that is singled out amonst the other sins The context is verses 13-20. Temper that with ... yet if we break any sin we are guily of them all (Jam 2:10). We should never choose to sin, even if we think it is a little one. The context is verses 10-11. |