Is It All the Same?

Scripture Reading: 1 John 5:16-17

I’m sure you have heard someone say it, or maybe you have said it yourself. The gist of what is said is that all sin is the same. There is not one sin that is worse than another sin. Well, I can’t believe anyone thinks that is true. Is, for example, taking a pen from work the same as embezzling a million dollars? They are, in fact, both the sin of theft, but are they on the same level of sinning?

When people make that claim, it is typically done to minimize some sin, either their own or another person’s. So, if someone commits adultery, a person might comment that we are all sinners, and we are all guilty of some sin and we are no better than that person. While there is truth in that, what it ultimately does is minimize the sinfulness of the sin of adultery.

But didn’t Jesus say that if we lust after someone, we have committed adultery in our hearts? Yes. Jesus was dealing with the problem of thinking that only the action matters, and you could lust and hate and not be guilty of sin. His point was that acts of sin are rooted in attitudes of the heart and there is guilt before God even in the thoughts that may or may not bear fruit in life. He wasn’t saying that the greatness of the sin is the same. If a person has a lustful, adulterous thought but doesn’t follow through and kills it before it is born into action, it doesn’t have the same harmful outcomes and effects that it would have if that person acted on those thoughts.

Let me put it this way…If you are driving 10 mph over the speed limit on a highway and are stopped, the fine won’t be as large as if you are driving 40 mph over the speed limit through a school zone. One will result in a warning or a ticket with some financial penalty attached. The other will lead to your arrest and some jail time and the suspension of your driver’s license. Both are breaking the law and can be rightly judged and punished. But, as they say, the punishment fits the crime.

Setting aside for a moment what John means by a sin unto death, what I would point out is that John makes a distinction between sins. “There is a sin that leads to death…All wrongdoing is sin, but there is a sin that does not lead to death.” It is all sin but not all sin is equal.

All sin is indeed sin. It is not true that all sin is the same. All sin indeed leads to judgment. And it is true that God is just and will judge accordingly. Therefore, repent and trust in Christ for the forgiveness of sin. If you don’t you will die in your sins, the books will be opened, and you will be judged according to what you have done. You will be thrown into the lake of fire. Better far to have your name written in the Book of Life and be saved. (Revelation 20:11-15)