Recently I read a blog post by Michael Patton (@CMichaelPatton) from Reclaiming the Mind Ministries where he argues quite passionately against this. I believe that Michael provides a good correction to what our Christian community has been espousing for years. However, I believe Michael goes too far the other way. While I am not sure where I stand on this issue now that you have succinctly written on this, but to play devil’s advocate, here are his biblical arguments:
1. Christ tells Pilate that the Jewish leaders have committed a worse sin than him, saying, “He who has handed me over to you has committed the greater sin” (Jn. 19:11, emphasis mine).
2. Certain sins in the law are distinguished in a particular context as an abomination to God, implying that others are not as severe (e.g. Lev. 18:22; Deut. 7:25, Deut. 23:18, Isa. 41:24).
3. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is set apart as a more severe sin than blasphemy of the Son (Matt. 12:31)
4. Proverbs 6:16-19 lists particular sins in such a way as to single them out because of their depraved nature, separating them from others.
5. There are degrees of punishment in Hell depending on the severity of the offense (Lk. 12:47-48).
6. Christ often evaluates the sin of the Pharisees as greater than the sins of others. You strain out a gnat while you swallow a camel (Matt. 23:24). If all sins are equal, Christ’s rebuke does not make any sense. (See also Lk. 20:46-47)
7. Similarly, Christ also talked about the “weightier things of the law” (Matt. 23:23). If all sins are equal, there is no law (or violation of that law) that is “weightier than others.” They are all the same weight.
8. Unforgiveness is continually referred to as a particularly heinous sin (Matt. 6:14-15; 18:23-35).
While he gives 8 biblical reasons, let me reduce/combine similar arguments so as not to stack arguments:
- Christ tells Pilate that the Jewish leaders have committed a worse sin than him, saying, “He who has handed me over to you has committed the greater sin” (Jn. 19:11, emphasis mine). There are degrees of punishment in Hell depending on the severity of the offense (Lk. 12:47-48). Similarly, Christ also talked about the “weightier things of the law” (Matt. 23:23). If all sins are equal, there is no law (or violation of that law) that is “weightier than others.” They are all the same weight.
- Certain sins in the law are distinguished in a particular context as an abomination to God, implying that others are not as severe (e.g. Lev. 18:22; Deut. 7:25, Deut. 23:18, Isa. 41:24). Proverbs 6:16-19 lists particular sins in such a way as to single them out because of their depraved nature, separating them from others. Christ often evaluates the sin of the Pharisees as greater than the sins of others. You strain out a gnat while you swallow a camel (Matt. 23:24). If all sins are equal, Christ’s rebuke does not make any sense. (See also Lk. 20:46-47)
- There are degrees of punishment in Hell depending on the severity of the offense (Lk. 12:47-48).
- Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is set apart as a more severe sin than blasphemy of the Son (Matt. 12:31-32), and unforgiveness is continually referred to as a particularly heinous sin (Matt. 6:14-15; 18:23-35).
While one may think that these combinations do not make sense, let me explain. First, Christ tells Pilate that the Jewish leaders have committed a worse sin than him, saying, “He who has handed me over to you has committed the greater sin” (Jn. 19:11, emphasis mine). Now, why is Judas’s sin worse than the Jewish leaders’ sin? If you look at “weightier things of the law” (Matt. 23:23), you will see that these things include the abstract like mercy, justice and faithfulness similar to the Greatest Commandment(s) which the whole law and prophets hang. So Judas’s sin of unfaithfulness or apostasy or disloyalty is quite weighty.
Now comes the real point: If all sins are equal, there is no law (or violation of that law) that is “weightier than others.” They are all the same weight. I am not sure that this is the case. While this is true in one sense, this is not necessary in another sense. Let’s take Adam and Eve for example. Was eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil really as bad as murder? Was eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil really as bad as rape? Seriously! Eating the apple is just as tantamount as speeding (since Michael brought it up). However, God saw it as worthy of death! Why? Not because of the act or the natural consequences of the act, but that it was in disobedience or even rebellion against God. So, yes, in one sense there are things that are weightier than other things; however, in another sense, there really isn’t. If you take any one sin regardless of what it is (but that it is sin), then whatever that one sin is (if it really is sin), it separates us from God. Or in other words, if God is God and he hates sin, then God cannot look on any sin. Thus in one’s relation to God, any sin is like any other sin in that it separates one from God. Philosophically, if God is God, then any sin should break fellowship with God whether it be lying, coveting, stealing, murdering, etc. This is not to say that some sins do not compound into other sins thus causing more consternation and anger on behalf of God. Now Michael wrote as one of his reductio ad abserdum arguments about one’s life-theology integrity (does one live their intellectual theology?). Michael writes (emphasis mine):
If all sin is really equal in the sight of God, and one really believes this, then God’s consternation and anger will be equal for whatever sin we commit. Equally important is the fact that our relational disposition before God should suffer equally from the conviction of the Holy Spirit for all sins. Most Christians understand what it means to have a conscience weighed down by unrepentant sin. [Most.] But this weighing down normally only comes from those sins that we perceive to be more severe. If it is true, however, that all sin is equal in the sight of God and one actually lived according to that theology, then they should be just as troubled spiritually and just as repentant before God when they break the speed limit as when they commit adultery. After all, breaking the speed limit, even by 1 mph, is breaking the law and breaking the law is sin (Rom 13).
This is completely true; however, Michael is missing some key complexities that make his conclusion (But nobody does this) flawed such as one’s sensitivity to the Spirit. We all grieve (Eph 4:30; context: words, bitterness, wrath, and anger) and quench (1 Th 5:19; context: array of miscellaneous commands) the Holy Spirit. Second, the fact that “nobody does this” is actually quite wrong. What he means is that he doesn’t know anyone who does this. However, I know a few people who are really troubled by the “small” sins. Instead Michael concludes, “Apparently our conscience bears witness that it is not as bad as other things, even if we confess differently. Either that or the ability for our theology to actually affect the way we believe and think is non-functional in this situation.” However, just because “We all see speeding down the road as water under the bridge of God,” does that make it less offensive before God? Doubtful. Instead it only testifies to the lack of conviction in the “all” which I assume to be the “Christian community.” But do our consciences bear witness that sins are hierarchical? Yes, granted. But my point is this: in one sense all sins are equal; however, it cannot be left there. Michael provides a good correction to what our Christian community has been espousing for years.
Second, the argument that “Certain sins in the law are distinguished in a particular context as an abomination to God, implying that others are not as severe (e.g. Lev. 18:22; Deut. 7:25, Deut. 23:18, Isa. 41:24)” is really an argument from silence and the implication is not necessary. Yes, God highlights certain sins at certain times. However, why can’t the implication be that other sins are also an abomination, even though the text does not say? Furthermore, the notion that “Proverbs 6:16-19 lists particular sins in such a way as to single them out because of their depraved nature, separating them from others,” is again not necessary. This forsakes the Proverb genre and the specific figurative language (i.e., enumeration) being utilized here. Why can’t Proverbs 6:16-19 just be a declaration of God’s hatred towards those sins? Elsewhere in Proverbs, God calls out the way of the wicked an abomination (15:9) as well as other sins.
Third, though we are saved by grace, there are also degrees of “reward”? in heaven (three levels?, ie. 2 Cor. 12:2ff). However, we all enter heaven on the same basis. Likewise, in one sense sin is sin and each isolated sin apart from the others (i.e., they do not exist) is equal before God. In another sense there are varying degrees. And as for James 2:10, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all,” how does this not equate all sin in some sense? If any infraction = a whole infraction then how can they be different? James’s point is that we all have become equal transgressors (for a transgressor once is still a transgressor just as a transgressor many times over is still just a transgressor, cf. James 2:11). So before God, we all stand equal as sinners and transgressors regardless of the sins and transgressions we have committed. Our sins and transgressions have set our disposition before God as equal, simply we fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). However, on the other hand, why do people feel the need to use such a statement? I feel that Michael may be correct in his assertions here and let me add one more: freedom from “judgment.” Simply, if someone points out my sin, I can simply point out theirs and say we are equal. However, we may not be. There are still levels of maturation and growth within Christ. Someone who struggles with pornography is different from a person who struggles with thoughts of lust.
Finally, does the statement by Christ that Christ tells Pilate that the Jewish leaders have committed a worse sin than him, saying, “He who has handed me over to you has committed the greater sin” (Jn. 19:11, emphasis mine) necessitate that all sins are not the same? I do believe that this statement is Michael’s strongest argument, one that may be insurmountable. Because of this verse (coupled with the others), I do believe that sins are different from one another; however, I do not believe that God hates sins differently or in varying degrees (for God hates sin). On the other hand, Jesus does mark the sin of apostasy (“He who has handed me over to you has committed the greater sin”), which I equate with blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (Matt 12:31-32, the word spoken against the Holy Spirit would be to denounce the testimony of the Holy Spirit that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the World). However, I am not sure whether I can say that there is a hierarchy of sin (i.e., adultery is not as bad as murder, etc.). I am too hard pressed to make that leap. I do not believe that the Bible gives any notion towards this—though human nature and human’s idea of social justice does. To me, it makes sense that there is one sin that is greater than all the others: apostasy or blasphemy, which is unbelief that Jesus is the Christ. Apostasy is when a person who supposedly believed but no longer believes and leaves the faith. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is simply not believing that Jesus is the Christ, or an unbeliever (athiest, agnostic, a believer of another religion) who continues to maintain this belief that Jesus is not the Messiah.
