There's no way that all sins are the same.
Shoplifting and Paedophilia cannot even be compared.

lunafish:

Shoplifting and Paedophilia cannot even be compared.

what's the consequence for the person who keeps committing any of those sins ?

@wormedup,

Rom 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Question: if any sin at all could be forgiven (stealing, shoplifting, adultery, pedophilia, etc.) after repentance, what do you think of this? -

        "Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men:

         but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men."
         (Matt. 12:31).

Clearly, the Bible makes a distinction between various kinds of sins. The ultimate consequence of all sin is eternal separation from God, but that doesn't make them all the same sin!

There is (1) a sin unto death, and (2) there is a sin not unto death - did you see that at all? 1 John 5:16-17.

Again look at this -

Luk 12:47-48 >>
And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.

But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

This is not an arbitrary gradation of man - it's what is stated in the Bible. God doesn't deal with people all at the same level simply because everyone has different levels of sin they commit - sins of commission and ommission.

@bari_kade,

i've been following all ur posts on this topic but what i don't understand is this :

are u trying to make me believe that the punishment for the shoplifter that refuses to repent will be milder than that of the person who blasphemed against the Holy Ghost ??

i understand the Bible made clearifications about certain sins, but are trying to say that, finally, the shoplifter will get lesser punishment compared to the murderer ??

That's not what I'm saying. Read again -

bari_kade:

Clearly, the Bible makes a distinction between various kinds of sins. The ultimate consequence of all sin is eternal separation from God, but that doesn't make them all the same sin!

That's what I said before. Now the point is that most people feel just because the ultimate consequence is eternal separation from God, therefore all sins are the same! There could be nothing further from the truth. Some would argue: what's the point of saying one sin is grosser than the other? My counter argument is that the Bible makes clear that in fact one sin is grosser than another, regardless the consequences. Those who feel that since the consequences are ultimately the same, therefore all sins are the same. That kind of reasoning is only possible where people take their eyes off God's Word.

ALL SIN EQUAL??
MAYBE
GOD KNOWS BEST

Trust naija LOL - the same pple who used a candle-filled cup to cheat a customer out of a full cup of garri is the same one who is an elder at church, leading prayer sessions Letz face it folks, wen it comes to bible, though we don't live the best of lives, we can quote it from genesis to revelation, including the apocrypha LOL

Anyways, getting back on point, sins aren't equal. You have to understand though that as a christian, either you sin or you don't sin. Obviously, anyone who says they don't sin is a hypocrite ("for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God". That leads to my next point: Once you have sinned, just like a person stealing 5 kobo vs N5million, there are grades of sin. There are those against the flesh and those against the spirit. The latter will not be forgiven. I won't preach to the choir by repeating the scriptures quoted above.

'Nuff said

sins are equal before god, but i don't thinks sins are equal before man.i mean, god can forgive u for anything u have commited,as long as u truely repent,but man will forgive u for some sins and not for some others.for example, i can forgive for telling lies against me, but not for sleeping with my wife! ;d

Before God, the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is unforgiveable, no matter how sincere the repentance that may follow (Matt. 12:31). The Bible teaches that sins are not equal before God -

(a) There is a sin unto death. . . (b) and there is a sin not unto death - I John 5:16-17.

Before God, the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is unforgiveable, no matter how sincere the repentance that may follow (Matt. 12:31). The Bible teaches that sins are not equal before God -

(a) There is a sin unto death. . . (b) and there is a sin not unto death - I John 5:16-17.

CORRECT but:
[b]weighing one sin to be greater than the other shows your insincerity to totally obey God, once you go contrary you are a sinner no matter how little.[/b]Every  disobedience no matter what equate you to a complete sinner. that's it

Remmzy:

weighing one sin to be greater than the other shows your insincerity to totally obey God,

Look well again my dear, I'm not the one doing the weighing - God is, because so far I've only been quoting what He says. And if there's any talk of insincerity, talk about your uneasiness to accept what God's Word says on the issue.

Remmzy:

once you go contrary you are a sinner no matter how little. Every disobedience no matter what equate you to a complete sinner. that's it

Thank you. Then I take it that you're as guilty as the one who blasphemes against the Holy Ghost - yes?

@bari cade[b]my guy no be fight now, am just seconding your statement. ain't you a sinner? [/b]

My guy @Remmzy,

No vex, I was also seconding your statements even though I'm a sinner saved by grace - but not the sinner who has no forgiveness by committing the unforgiveable sin.

Itz just that Before God all sins are equal, but before man it definitely isn't
coz you can't compare Adultery to shoplifting or lying to armmed robbery

Oracle:

Itz just that Before God all sins are equal, but before man it definitely isn't

Statements like this are made when people no longer read God's Word and yet want to legislate for Him. Before God, all sins are not equal.

Oracle:

because you can't compare Adultery to shoplifting or lying to armmed robbery

And does God treat them all the same - if you can't compare them?

It not even good to be living in sin whether big or small, but we must be asking God to give us the wisdom to overcome sin. But if all sins are equal, remember that the sins of King Herod was greater than the sins of Moses, and as a result they all face different judgement.

The nemesis that will befall a big sinner is surely different from the nemesis that will befall a small sinner, even if they are born again several times over and over.

wande:

The nemesis that will befall a big sinner is surely different from the nemesis that will befall a small sinner, even if they are born again several times over and over.

are you serious ?? I need you to explain alittle more to me.
God said "Thou shalt not steal", then someone goes ahead and steals all his life (10 nairas).
on judgement day u think God is going to say "My child, i have decided to forgive u because I've been comparing ur sins to Osama bin laden's and i just can't bear the thought of putting u in the same place with him" ??

i don't think so !

You know what is creating so much problems in understanding this matter? Here, let's make some delineation -

1. Sin is sin, no matter what it involves.
    ¤ 1 John 5:17a - 'All unrighteousness is sin'.

2. The Word of God does not encourage any sin in our relationship with the Lord.
    ¤ 1 John 2:1 - 'these things write I unto you, that ye sin not'.
    ¤ Rom. 6:1-2 - 'Shall we continue in sin. . .? God forbid!'

3. Are all sins equal before God? The Bible says NO.
    ¤ I John 5:16-17 - 'There is a sin unto death. . . and there is a sin not unto death.'
    ¤ John 19:11 - 'therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.'

4. Do all unrepented sins lead to the same ultimate end and consequences? The Bible says YES.
    ¤ Luke 13:3 - 'I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.'
    ¤ Rev. 21:8 - 'But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and
       whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the
       lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.'

5. Does God treat all sins as equal on earth today? The Bible says NO.
    ¤ Matt. 12:32 - 'And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him:
       but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world,
       neither in the world to come.

Just because the ultimate consequence of sin is eternal separation from God does not mean we should lump all sins together as equal where in fact God's Word does not say so at all. To do otherwise is to reject the Word and run along with human ideas which fall far short of the explicit statements of Scripture.

One sure thing is that there is no sin that goes unpunished whether big or small, sin is sin!!!

i[b]f you were to advise a sinner,[/b] would you tell him/her it's better to shoplift than commit murder or, tell him/her to desist from all sin cos the consiquencies are all the same ??

Rom. 6:1-2 - 'Shall we continue in sin. . .? God forbid!'

I don't know what you're really getting at, wormedup. Where did you ever read in the Bible that a believer is to advise a sinner about sin? You may be of the opinion that all sins are equal, and that's okay if it suits you. However, if the Word says it is not so, it's all up to you to reject or ignore what God says and push your luck.

The Bible does not teach that all sins are equal, and I've given several texts to bear that out. It's this simple - why don't you take those texts and discuss them and show us how you see the sins described in them as all equal? Let me outline them once again:

¤ did the Bible say in the OT that stealing and adultery are equal sins?
   Text: Exo. 22:1, 4 and Lev. 20:10.

¤ did the Bible say in the NT that blasphemy against Jesus and against the Holy Ghost are the same?
   Text: Matt. 12:32 and Luke 12:10.

¤ did the Bible say that 'the sin unto death' and 'the sin not unto death' are the same?
   Text: 1 John 5:16-17.

The basic point is that we should not favour some texts and ignore the others. Just because the ultimate consequence of any sin is eternal separation from God does not mean that we should ignore how God sees each sin on earth. Maybe I'm missing out on something in the texts I provided; so why don't you discuss them and show how those texts seem to teach that the sins in them are equal?

what i'm asking is this; if you are to help a sinner change his/her ways for the better, would you tell him/her to stop sin or look for a lesser sin to commit ??

i've seen the texts clearly and so far you have been making it clear that there are categories of sin .
what i want to understand is, why bother stressing the categories of sin - of which the consequences are the same ?
when you give people reason to believe that the Bible categorize sin, it's like giving them an option to choose the type of sin they should commit; which should probably have less punishment - which is not true.

wormedup:

what i'm asking is this; if you are to help a sinner change his/her ways for the better, would you tell him/her to stop sin or look for a lesser sin to commit ??

I hope you saw the references I offered from the Bible? How many times did I quote Romans 6:1-2? Let me remind you -

bari_kade:

Rom. 6:1-2 - 'Shall we continue in sin. . .? God forbid!'

and. . .

bari_kade:

2. The Word of God does not encourage any sin in our relationship with the Lord.
¤ 1 John 2:1 - 'these things write I unto you, that ye sin not'.
¤ Rom. 6:1-2 - 'Shall we continue in sin. . .? God forbid!'

I have made it abundantly clear that God's Word does not encourage any sin in our relationship with Him - neither have I suggested anywhere what you're insinuating.

wormedup:

i've seen the texts clearly and so far you have been making it clear that there are categories of sin .
what i want to understand is, why bother stressing the categories of sin - of which the consequences are the same ?

Why don't you ask the Lord Jesus why the inspired Word of God "bothered" to stress the categories in several texts? I'll make it simple again:

(a) if the Word of God did not make such a categorization, I really would not have done so - because there would have been no text in the Bible warranting such a distinction;

(b) if the Bible makes such a distinction, what is the crime in plainly saying so?

(d) if the Word of God does not make such a distinction, why don't you tell us what the following mean -

1 John 5:17 - (i) there is a sin unto death (ii) there is a sin not unto death - are they the same?

Exo. 22:1 & 4 and Lev. 20:10 - did stealing and adultery have the same punishments in the OT - were they the same?

Matt. 12:32 and Luke 12:10 - blashphemy against the Son of Man and against the Holy Spirit - are they the same?

The basic question posed by the topic of the thread is not about the consequence of any sin, but as simply put: "All Sins Are Equal?" (in other words - Are All Sins Equal?). If there's anything wrong with what has been offered so far to the effect that sins are not equal before God, then why haven't you discussed the texts provided earlier that show indeed that sins are not equal in the Bible?

wormedup:

when you give people reason to believe that the Bible categorize sin, it's like giving them an option to choose the type of sin they should commit; which should probably have less punishment - which is not true.

I beg your pardon - where in my posts have I remotely alluded to that idea? Besides, I'm not the writer of the Bible, so please understand that the texts of Scripture explicitly teach that sins are not equal. To further strengthen my point, I have offered again and again that God's Word does not enocurage any sin in our lives - scroll up and read again what I said earlier, reproduced below:

The Word of God does not encourage any sin in our relationship with the Lord.
¤ 1 John 2:1 - 'these things write I unto you, that ye sin not'.
¤ Rom. 6:1-2 - 'Shall we continue in sin. . .? God forbid!'

Where in my rejoinders have I offered people any "option to choose the type of sin they should commit"? You make me wonder if you're actually reading entriess at all before you post replies. Perhaps it would help you answer the simple question of this thread by discussing the verses I offered to the point that sins are not equal before God. If they are, what do those texts mean?

0you all talking
we know its by grace we live as all have sinned and fallen short of that glory
Jesus came to save us from sin and not temptations.
sins are equal but its clear that agains Holy ghost is unforgivable
you all know why.
Repent and lets live in Jesus Christ

softee,Sin na sin ,wether big or small, all sins has the same source which is , lust of the eye lust of the flesh and pride of life, so any thing wey you do wey fall under dis category na sin with the same punishment, all sin has the same punishment which is death,ie physical death,spiritual death and eternal death.aand they all end up in the lake of fire.abi E get small fire and big fire?, lol, if big and small fire dey then sin pass sin

softee,Sin na sin ,wether big or small, all sins has the same source which is , lust of the eye lust of the flesh and pride of life, so any thing wey you do wey fall under dis category na sin with the same punishment, all sin has the same punishment which is death,ie physical death,spiritual death and eternal death.aand they all end up in the lake of fire.abi E get small fire and big fire?, lol, if big and small fire dey then sin pass sin

@ poster
No, dats y dey av different names & meaning

sin is a sin becos sin is a sin!! the bible calls it " unrighteousness" and all unrighteousness is a sin.


to human understanding sins might be categorized but in sight of God, sin is sin for God cannot beyond SIN.