RESOURCES — SHORT ARTICLES

 

SHORT ARTICLES BY TOM ELSEROAD
	2020-06-16	Are All Sins Equal?
		Judicially, the wages of sin is death. All sin deserves death. It does not matter the nature of the sin, whether we think they are big or small. They all deserve death. So from the judicial standpoint all sins are equal (Rm.1:32, “deserving of death”). However, Jesus and the disciples did make a distinction between certain sins. 1Co 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 1Co 6:10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 1Co 6:11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. The clear implication from Paul is that true Christians do not commit these sins. This may be controversial to some, but this is what Paul is teaching. So those who commits these sins are worthy of death. Also the individual who takes pleasure in those committing sins deserves death as well (Rm.1:32). There are those who commit acts of violence, and there are those who watch it on television and enjoy it. They sit and watch the sin on the screen, but internally like it. They are equally deserving of death. The one watching the sin is not as great as the one doing the sin, but the consequences are the same, namely, death! In Acts 5 we see God killing Ananias and Sapphira for lying to the Holy Spirit (Ac.5:1-11). Others were not sinless, but this particular sin got the death penalty. Their sin would have had a terrible consequence on the testimony of the church. Further in 1 Corinthians Paul lists the sins they were committing. They were complaining (1Co.10:10), puffed up (1Co.4:18-19), and mis-using the gift of tongues (1Co.12-14) These are the sins these Corinthians were guilty of. Col_3:8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. There was the one Christian in Corinth who Paul said to turn him over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus (1Co.5:5). This man was committing fornication with his father's wife (step mom). Some of the other sins the Corinthians were guilty of were not treated with immediate death. So God viewed this sin as greater in terms of its consequences upon the church and community. The Bible makes a distinction between adultery, fornication, murder, witchcraft, etc. which are things in the past. That is, these are the sins committed by those who have not been born again. Christians do have trouble with lying, anger, wrath, malice, and a filthy mouth. Romans 1:21 and following has a list that progressively gets worse. So yes, all sins judicially are the same in that they result in death. And no, not all sins are equal in terms of immediate consequence. The believer has the promise of forgiveness of all sins (Hb.9:26). Heb 9:26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. The sins of the unbeliever (1Co.6:9-11) is different from the list of sins for the believer (Cl.3:8). Pastor Tom Elseroad

 

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