Are some sins greater than others?

Believer, God’s word is the only reliable source for answers to questions about the His Word and our lives in Christ. By grace, don't let anyone try to "logic" out God's word for you with fallen human reasoning, "For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18.

Sin does have degrees of greatness. Check out Christ's answer to Pilate in John 19:

10 “Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?” 11 Then Jesus said, “You would have no power over Me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed Me over to you has the greater sin.”

That settles that. Some sins are greater than others. This is no excuse for anyone to feel smug because they are not committing "great sins." Many think that it is their ability to obey the law, lack of fornication and homosexuality or stifling sins that makes them righteous, holy and better positioned to receive God's blessings. Think again. James 2:10 says-

"For whosoever shall keep the whole law yet stumble at one point, he is guilty of all."

Understand the above verse in terms of “all have sinned.” Without Christ as our righteousness, the one who only lied about his location on the phone for a good reason is just as guilty as the world's vilest homosexual pedophile. The Law of Moses demands that every sin be punished to the uttermost, whether rebellion in children which attracts a death penalty in Leviticus 20/Deut. 21, fornication or homosexuality. 

Some people publicly argue for the crucifixion of homosexuals and other "core sinners" because these sins are "worse" in their opinion. This is the height of foolishness: to think that "my sins are better than yours." As if it makes the wages that each will pay for sin any different. Understand that "the wages of sin is death." So, a slow and painful death by a blunt machete for the homosexual because of the gravity of his sin. A quick and painful death by a sharp machete for the fornicator. Painless death by lethal injection for the one that only told a small lie. All sinners will die. But many are more concerned about the kind of death that other people will die rather than death itself! A death that Christ died for all!

If the trumpet should sound right now and our being caught up with Christ depended on how well we are obeying the law, not even the holiest Daddy in the Lord will make the cut, "For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are." Romans 3:20.

Deuteronomy 28:15 tells “But if you disobey the Lord your God and do not faithfully keep all His commands and laws that I am giving you today, all these evil things will happen to you:"

This verse is followed by a host of curses. Notice "and do not faithfully keep all"? ALL, and not just the best you can do. One has to keep ALL the law in order to escape its judgment. If a person under law does not keep all, all the curses will fall on him. And no one can keep all. Nothing as foolish and time-wasting as to dwell on "my sin is better than yours." All have sinned. The wages of sin is death. Christ died that death so that all who believe might "live in triumph over sin and death through the One, Jesus Christ." Romans 5:17.

In Christ, even the vilest offender who believes gets to be transformed to godliness and right-living and it has got nothing to do with human effort. Christ does it all. But we tend to waste time and effort writing posts about how fornicators and homosexuals are cursed and will not go to heaven instead of pointing ourselves and other believers to Christ who came to save us from our sins and redeem us from the curse of the law. Without Christ as our righteousness, the one whose only sin is lying to his boss that he is sick when in reality, he went to do some charity work in his church is just as guilty as a murderer: he is cursed and will surely die! This does not seem fair to many, until we realise one thing:

No sin is beneath anybody.

The reason why we are not committing particular sins is because we have not been tempted beyond what we can bear in those areas. If a big enough trial came our way and it was up to us to save ourselves, even the best of us would fail woefully. No matter how hard a weightlifter trains, he cannot carry a weight that is designed to crush him ten times over. And life does not consider things like weight, resources or level of preparedness before throwing weights at anybody. The potential to commit heinous crimes is in everybody. All it takes is the right amounts of weight and pressure. God sees this potential and how favourable circumstances can make some people think that some sins are beneath them and that they can obey the law of Moses. But this is why you and I in Christ are not held captive by sins and addictions: 1 Corinthians 10:12-13-

12 "So beware if you think it could never happen to you, lest your pride becomes your downfall. 13 We all experience times of testing, which is normal for every human being. But God will be faithful to you. He will screen and filter the severity, nature, and timing of every test or trial you face so that you can bear it. And each test is an opportunity to trust Him more, for along with every trial God has provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out of it victoriously."

If God was not filtering and screening, we'd all be wallowing in heinous sins. But we often think we did good all by ourselves. To the believer who thinks he is “good” and can overcome temptation by himself: so you think you can never be gay or steal - you who don't know what will happen within the hour? Peter too thought he would never deny Jesus, until his circumstances changed. After his boast in the arm of flesh (human effort at not denying Jesus,) Satan asked for him to sift him like wheat, and he lied profusely. Never trust yourself.

Anyone who is boasting in his own ability to avoid doing the unthinkable is making himself into a target to be sifted like wheat by Satan. We can rest assured that the arm of flesh will fail. Pointing fingers and looking down on “core sinners” who are also members of the world that God so loved was a trademark of the Pharisees who could never cast the first stone.

The law takes into account and will punish every sinful deed, no matter how noble the intentions behind the deeds are. And all have sinned. Law-keeping cannot save. All sinners will pay the wages of sin which is death, no matter the degree of their sin or how they arrive at this death. Christ died that death for all who believe.

Because the law is not of faith and the crux of the gospel is righteousness by faith, begging God for forgiveness after committing secret sins while publicly upholding the Law of Moses and crucifying "worse sinners" for their inability to keep the law is an effort in futility. The letter kills. No one can live by it. (Romans 3:20)

Pointing out sins and making the sinner feel guilty and unloved by Christ is the work of Satan the Accuser. Telling people to "stop being a core sinner or you will burn in hell" and discriminating against them because "they are scum" and all without pointing sinners to Christ who saves from sins is the height of self-righteousness. Such have no idea about the severity of the law. No one can live by it. All who are trying to obey it in order to be godly are under the curse according to Galatians 3:10 -

“Those who depend on obeying the Law live under a curse. For the scripture says, “Whoever does not always obey everything that is written in the book of the Law is under God's curse!”

Galatians 5:4 says: “For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.”

Sin also has dominion over those who think that their law-keeping is what makes them godly: “For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under grace.” Romans 6:14. Sin strengthens its grip over those who are trying to obey the law in order to be godly, but many in the church have this verse backwards. If it were up to us to deal with our issues, the arm of flesh will fail. But Christ saves from sins. Matthew 1:21 says of Him:

“And she will have a Son, and you are to name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

The one who does not need salvation from sins does not need Jesus. He came to save those who cannot get their sin act together; those who look to Him for salvation, not those that think that they are superior or “not that bad” because they are not homosexual or that they can do some righteous things by the arm of flesh. When our eyes are opened to see how we are saved, even from our sins, it becomes impossible for us to judge or condemn others who are yet to see His salvation. Rather than dish out more laws to be kept by the arm of flesh that will fail, we point all to Christ who saves from sins.

The gospel is Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. Grace never condemns. Grace saves, even salvation from sins. Grace is a Person: Jesus Christ.

Christ did not come to make it okay for us to sin or "accommodate" sin. NEVER!!! Sinful deeds lead to death (Roman 7:5) and God does not want any to perish. He loves us so. Without Christ, sin will multiply. He came to save us from our sins as it is written in Matthew 1:21. Let’s take our blessed brains to church: how can our Saviour who came to save us from our sins use those very sins that He came to save us from as an excuse for not saving us and even punish us for the sins that He came to save us from? Revelation 21:8 says:

“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

No matter how much a person tries to escape this death by obeying the law, he cannot, “For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands...” Romans 3:20.

God knew how hopeless our case was; we were all destined for death in hell, no matter how good we tried to be. We were appointed to die once and after that, judgment (Hebrews 9.) Because He loved us so, He sent His own Son to die our death and bear our judgment so that “whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16.

Titus 2:14 says of Christ: “He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.”

Notice “free us from every kind of sin”? No sin is too big or too heinous for Him to save the sinner who believes from. No sinner is too vile for Him to transform. Bickering about which sin is worse than others and discriminating against “core sinners” won’t get us anywhere. All sinners, whether big sins or small, will pay the wages of sin: Death. And all have sinned. The difference between life and death is God’s saving Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. His name is Jesus Christ. He paid the wages of our sin, died our death and in Him, we get to “live in triumph over sin and death”. (Romans 5:17.) Preach Grace and Grace will save His people from their sins.

Judgmental criticism, condemnation and wishing death by fire on anyone isn’t of Christ, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.” John 3:17. Right after John 3:16 which opens with “For God so loved the world......" That “world” includes everybody. Christ died for all and saves all who believe in Him, even salvation from sins, from the least to the greatest.