Does God View All Sin The Same?
What I’ve Been Told…
The time has come. We are about to attempt to answer the biggest question that I believe we have about sin in this day and age. That question, as you can tell, is whether or not God views all sin the same. I have heard this saying all my life growing up in church and it got to the point that I didn’t even care to fact check this statement with scripture. I just assumed along with everyone else that this statement was true. This assumption that God views all sin the same comes from the passage found in James 2:10 which says, “For whoever keeps the whole Law, yet stumbles in one point, has become guilty of all.” So is this the end-all-be-all? Do we just drop our studies here and call it a day? By no means! Scripture has a lot more to say about this exact issue than we may realize. Just because committing one sin makes us guilty of disobeying the entire law, this doesn't necessarily mean that God views all sin the same, that eternal punishment will be the same, or even that the consequences here on earth will be the same. We must be willing to interpret this passage within the context of the rest of the Bible, as well as see what else God has to say on this particular issue. Let’s dive in.
What’s The Whole Story?
To start, let's digest what exactly James is saying here in this verse. The book of James as a whole is one that is very focused on the works and wrongdoings of mankind as both examples of faith in Christ and the fallenness of mankind. If you claim to be saved and led by the Holy Spirit, good works should follow. And if someone isn’t saved and led by the Holy Spirit, don't be surprised when bad works follow. This section of scripture, therefore, is a call out to those who claim to be sinless or better than others. Look at what James says right before this passage in verse 10. James 2:8-9 says “If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the Law as violators.” James’ point here is to view our sin from a guilty/righteous perspective. Meaning, that no matter what sins we have committed, all of them have the same consequence from a relational standpoint with God. In other words, if you have sinned, no matter what that sin is, you are as lost as the worst sinner in the world if you have not repented and believed in the good news of the gospel. However, does this automatically mean that God views all sin the same and that all sin will be dealt with in the same manner? Not quite. Let’s look at the other side of this coin. When we look at things from an earthly perspective, it’s easy to see that some sins have way bigger consequences than others (as discussed earlier this week). As John Piper notes, “If I shoot someone dead right now, or if I just spit on them, both are very ugly sins and Jesus calls hatred murder. But they’re not dead if I only spit on them!” This is probably the simplest view of sin that most of us can agree on.
The way we view sin and the way God views sin is of course different, but the consequences we face here on earth because of these sins is what makes us view certain sins in a different light. I’m sure we would all rather be spat on than killed as Piper alluded to. Now you might be thinking, ‘This is just how we view sin, God doesn’t see sin in the same way we do.’ And as I stated earlier, I would agree with you. However, we have more scriptural evidence to see that our Lord does view sin (at least some)in a different light than others. James chapter 3 ironically has a great example of this. Yup, just one chapter later, we see God’s view on a particular sin that He deals with in a different matter than most. James 3:1 says, “Do not become teachers in large numbers, my brothers, since you know that we who are teachers will incur a stricter judgment.” If it is true that those who teach God’s Word will incur a stricter judgment, one can assume that abusing God’s Word will lead to a stricter judgment here on earth, and if continued and unrepented of, a stricter judgment in Hell as well. As John MacArthur says, “All mankind is guilty of sinning against an infinitely holy God. Therefore, all who die without repenting and trusting in Christ face the same quantitatively eternal punishment for their sins. And yet, because God is strictly just, he will punish those who have committed qualitatively greater offenses with a qualitatively greater punishment.”
The Final Verdict
Look further at what Jesus says in His parable in Luke 12:47-48 “And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accordance with his will, will receive many blows, but the one who did not know it, and committed acts deserving of a beating, will receive only a few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.” Our Lord has made it unmistakably clear that those who incorrectly handle His Word, will be judged more strictly, and the same is true for those who have heard the good news and rejected it. If someone has knowledge of the gospel and yet has denied its authority over their life, a stricter punishment awaits them in the afterlife. This same concept is seen in the Old Testament prophets as well. We can tell a lot about how God views sin in scripture by seeing how He justifies or disciplines the sinner for their actions. If God views all sin the same, why was Moses punished for hitting a rock but not punished for killing a man? Why was God led to forgive the people of Israel through sacrifice and offering in some cases but was on the verge of destroying them in others? The answer here, I believe, is because God doesn’t view all sin the same. Yes, all sin separates us from God for eternity if we are not redeemed. So from a relational standpoint with the Lord, all sin has the same consequence. But when we look at sin from scripture’s perspective, we can see that certain sins result in different outcomes concerning others, stricter punishments in the afterlife, and even different disciplinary actions for believers here on earth. So before quickly assuming that God views every sin the same, let’s do our due diligence to search the scriptures about specific sins to see whether or not our assumptions are true. Because you may be surprised.
Sources
[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/
[2] Piper, J. (2024, May 12). Are all sins equal before God? Desiring God. https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/are-all-sins-equal-before-god
[3] Are some sins worse than others? (2022, July 28). Crossway. https://www.crossway.org/articles/are-some-sins-worse-than-others/
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