Bible Question: My grandfather is looking for the scripture in the Bilbe that says no one sin is greater than the other in the site of God. Does anyone have any idea where to find this? |
Bible Answer: Minna, Your Grandfather may be thinking of the following: James 2:10,11 (KJV) 10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. However, it doesn’t convey that one sin is the same as the other or that one is greater than another. It speaks to transgressing the whole law, not the whole of the law. …”but the sense is, that he is guilty of the breach of the whole law, though not of the whole of the law; as he that breaks anyone condition of a covenant, which may consist of many, though he does not violate every condition, yet breaks the whole covenant; so he that transgresses in anyone point of the law, breaks the whole, commits sin, and is deserving of death, and is treated by the law as a transgressor of it, let it be in what instance it will.” – John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, if he offend in one point, wilfully, avowedly, and with continuance, and so as to think he shall be excused in some matters because of his obedience in others, he is guilty of all; that is, he incurs the same penalty, and is liable to the same punishment, by the sentence of the law, as if he had broken it in other points as well as that he stands chargeable with. Not that all sins are equal, but that all carry the same contempt of the authority of the Lawgiver, and so bind over to such punishment as is threatened on the breach of that law.” – Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible With the previous answers that have been posted, the conclusion is that obviously, some sins are greater than others. Question: "Are all sins equal to God?" Answer: Jesus does equate committing adultery with having lust in your heart (Matthew 5:27-28) and committing murder with having hatred in your heart (Matthew 5:21-22). However, this does not mean the sins are equal. What Jesus was trying to get across to the Pharisees was that it is still sin even if you only think about or want to do the act. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day taught people that it was okay to think about anything you wanted to, as long as you didn’t act on those desires. Jesus is forcing them to realize that God judges a person’s thoughts as well as their actions. Jesus proclaimed that our actions are the results of what is in our hearts (Matthew 12:34). So, although Jesus said that lust and adultery are both sins – that does not mean they are equal. It is much worse to actually murder a person than it is to simply hate them – even though they are both sinful in God’s sight. http://www.gotquestions.org/sins-equal.html © Copyright 2002-2006 Got Questions Ministries. All Rights Reserved. www.gotquestions.org - Are all sins equal to God? WOS |