Christians do you believe all sin is equal?

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   peeplesposted 12 years ago

   Christians do you believe all sin is equal?
   
   This morning I received a text from a christian friend stating that sin was sin. She was implying that a rapist is equal to his victim in god's eyes if the victim doesn't forgive because they are both sinning. Is this the common Christian belief?

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   davidkalugeposted 12 years ago

   Well, I think it depends how people look at it. It can be said some sins are more serious than others for instance even Jesus mentioned that there is a sin (against the holy spirit) which will not be forgiven so people can use that as a base. But we know that a sin is a sin but we may not know if the punishment for all sins will be equal or not.

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   Perspycaciousposted 12 years ago

   Certainly not!  There is, however, but one unpardonable sin.  That sin is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.  All other sins can be forgiven through a sincere process of repentance performed with a broken heart and a contrite spirit.  I believe we can have that broken heart and contrite spirit because we are able to remember.  We can remember how we felt before the sin, and a clear memory of that feeling can make us wish to feel that way again, enough so that our heart breaks over what we have done and we resolve to not repeat the sin...ever, and to restore what can be restored to the victims of our sin.  In the meantime, the rest of us are required to "forgive all men."  If not, we ourselves will not be forgiven for having been found failing to keep that commandment.

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   Dubuquedogtrainerposted 12 years ago

   Yes and no. We will all ultimately be judged for what we have done, not done, so yes the type of sin and hurt and damage it caused does matter.
   
   However, in terms of whether one qualifies as a sinner, yes your friend is right in that "sin is sin." But oftentimes Christians who repeat this phrase fail to go on to explain what that means. It means that we all fall short in God's eyes. We deserve death by God's standards for our disobedience, but Jesus paid the penalty for all of us by dying in our place on the cross.
   
   The penalty is death for the honorable as well as the humble and the hostile to Christ who have not accepted His free gift of salvation. None of us is righteous; only God is good and ALL of us need salvation. It is only after death that we will be judged based on our works.
   
   For followers of Christ, those of us who have repented of our sins and chosen to follow Christ, putting Him at the center of our lives instead of ourselves, we will face the judgement seat of Christ. Our works will be tested by fire. Works we have performed for ourselves are rubbish and will burn. Works performed for Christ will not burn and we will receive a reward.
   
   Those who never accepted the free gift of salvation and rejected Christ, whether honorable, humble or hostile will be judged accordingly in the Great White Throne judgment before being condemned to hell. Everyone's hell (eternal separation from God) will be different, depending on their sins.

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   Rev. Akinsposted 12 years ago

   I agree with dubuquedogtrainer- sin is sin in the eyes of God, but we do not know the punishment or the judgment being given to some. God's mercy is needed to understand we all sin, and if we want to create a hierarchy of sin, which one is worse? according to who? (or is it whom?- sorry, my degree is in Theology not English.) If we start on the slippery slope of what sin is worse than people are going to make decisions like, "if I lie to make this person feel better, it is not REALLY a sin", or "I needed to steal the medicine for my child." We cannot live life without sinning, and this is oddly the good news.
   No matter what we do we are accepted by God's love and the salvation of Jesus Christ. Sin is more of a state of being, like being pregnant- you can't be a little pregnant (or so I am told, being male) . If you sin, you are sinful. God's love for you is your forgiveness. Your friend is right, but the statement is really the negative side of something very positive. Sin is sin, and God's love is God's LOVE.

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   Vegas Eliasposted 12 years ago

   There is no such thing as sin. One has to be just good to society and remain withing limits while enjoying one's freedoms. Jesus made it very clear in his teachings. Sin was created by the Roman Catholic clergy to make a living out of it.

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      Melindas Mindposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Wow.
      
      John 15:22
      John 8:34
      John 9:39-41
      Luke 5:20
      Luke 7:47-48

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7. 60

   glmclendonposted 12 years ago

   I think you can do something very vile, but sis is sin.Somethings are far worst then others ,but it is still sin.

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8. 67

   Melindas Mindposted 12 years ago

   No, but I think the common Christian tends to gloss over their sins as 'not as important', like gossiping and lying (even those are in the top ten). The bible does say that if you want to be forgiven, you have to forgive (which would imply that God has something to forgive us for), but that doesn't mean that your sin is equal to the rapists - for one thing the rapist is guilty of at least three sins I can think of (a sin against another, a sin against God, and a sin against himself), whereas the victim who can't forgive is only harming herself (it's not like the rapist cares if she forgives him).
   
   Furthermore, if there can be a great commandment, then it makes sense there can be great sins and little sins. Even before the time of Jesus there were degrees of sin, and you were required to sacrifice something equal to the size of your sin; there is nothing in the Bible to suggest that has changed. The main difference is that Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice and we don't have to worry about the size of the sin anymore.
   
   If you ask me the greatest sins are the ones that go against the greatest commandments - to love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, mind, and soul and to love your neighbor as yourself. In other words if you sin against God (like blasphemy or idol worship) or you sin against your fellow man (like in rape, incest, pedophilia, lying, gossiping, murder, abuse) those are the big sins.
   
   But that's just my opinion.

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   revwilliamposted 11 years ago

   Yes, sin is sin. Raping someone is a sin and must be condemned. However, Christianity requires that we follow the example of Jesus Christ and forgive our offenders, including rapists. It may sound insensitive to say that the one that is raped is sinning by not forgiving the rapist but it is true. Unforgiveness is a sin in Christianity. Just realize that God's standards as given to us in the holy scriptures are different from human standards. The bible tells us that " whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" - James 2:10. It is not easy to forgive in some instances but by the help of the Holy Spirit it is possible.

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