Are All Sins the Same?
Why We Must Consider the Effect of Our Transgressions Before God
Good Morning,
Today’s catechism lesson is one that answers a question that is often on people's minds, that there can be a difficulty in answering well. That is one of the many reasons why I love the catechism. It not only takes the inquiry but concludes it with grace and a succinct fullness we don’t normally find elsewhere. When we left off the last time the WLC asked us if anyone was able to perfectly keep the law, and we dutifully responded with no, no man after the fall of Adam is in any sense capable of perfectly performing the totality of the law’s commands. So, it makes sense that the next thing to see is whether or not every sin is the same, and then follow it up with seeking to know what every sin deserves. In today’s Q/A we’ll see an interesting stair step approach that I think is very helpful in assisting us to understand the logic behind the answer.
Here is this week’s Larger Catechism. I’ve underlined each of the sections:
Q. 150. Are all transgressions of the law of God equally heinous in themselves, and in the sight of God?
A. All transgressions of the law of God are not equally heinous; but some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others.
Q. 151. What are those aggravations that make some sins more heinous than others?
A. Sins receive their aggravations, 1. From the persons offending; if they be of riper age, greater experience or grace, eminent for profession, gifts, place, office, guides to others, and whose example is likely to be followed by others. 2. From the parties offended: if immediately against God, his attributes, and worship; against Christ, and his grace; the Holy Spirit, his witness, and workings; against superiors, men of eminency, and such as we stand especially related and engaged unto; against any of the saints, particularly weak brethren, the souls of them, or any other, and the common good of all or many. 3. From the nature and quality of the offence: if it be against the express letter of the law, break many commandments, contain in it many sins: if not only conceived in the heart, but breaks forth in words and actions, scandalize others, and admit of no reparation: if against means, mercies, judgments, light of nature, conviction of conscience, public or private admonition, censures of the church, civil punishments; and our prayers, purposes, promises, vows, covenants, and engagements to God or men: if done deliberately, willfully, presumptuously, impudently, boastingly, maliciously, frequently, obstinately, with delight, continuance, or relapsing after repentance. 4. From circumstances of timer and place: if on the Lord’s day, or other times of divine worship; or immediately before or after these, or other helps to prevent or remedy such miscarriages: if in public, or in the presence of others, who are thereby likely to be provoked or defiled.
The simple answer to this question is: No. Not all sins are the same. Wait a minute? What about a passage like James 2:9-10 which teaches us that to break the law at one point is to break the whole law? This is a case of yes to the general, but no to the specific. One sin, no matter how egregious is enough to condemn us to Hell because it is against the infinite God. However, that’s not what the discussion is about in the Q/A. The Bible shows us that there are gradations to sin in the way our Lord both temporarily in the judicial statutes punishes their breach and in how He condemns their breaking in real life. Nadab and Abihu witness to this.
Something we must not take from what is listed above is to have a sort of Dante’s Inferno understanding of levels of the underworld. In other words, the Catechism is not making the argument that the fact that murder is worse than theft does not therefore say that the murderer is deeper in Hell than the thief. The purpose of the consideration here is to cause us to think more genuinely about the damage our sin does before we commit that transgression against God’s holy law. Consider for a moment the first in the list: From the persons offending. The Bible illustrates this when it holds leaders more accountable than followers, ministers must give an account for their language and works (Heb. 13:17) in a way members of a local congregation will not. Fathers are particularly marked out as in some sense causing sin in their own home by their failure to lead well. (Eph. 6:1-4). That is why we see sons receiving the condemnation when generational sin takes place. (Ex. 20:5). It is also why we see whole nations destroyed for the wickedness of their kings. (Obadiah 1). Who you are and what you are matters when it comes to doing that which is against the will of God.
And it is not just station, but also who you do it against. There is an argument being made both to superiors and inferiors as laid out in the Fifth commandment. It is a greater sin to rebel against God than it is your neighbor. It is a greater sin to exploit a child than it is to take advantage of a colleague. Our society implicitly understands this in the way we react to stories that involve Enron or Pfizer or whoever doing evil towards “the little guy”. The Scriptures again witnesses to this in passages as far flung as Jesus’ rebuking the disciples in Mark 10:13-16 and the she-bears attacking the children for their mocking of God’s prophet in 2 Kings 2:23-24. Rendering honor to whom honor is due is a two-way street all would be wise to follow. To sin in this way leads to all sorts of chaos, hence the reason why the catechism desires for us to consider the follow through whenever we are tempted to break God’s law.
In closing, this is a big subject worthy of more space, but we’ve run out for this week. As usual we will have a link to read more on this subject. The main takeaway for our day-to-day from what we’ve looked at together this morning is men take sin way too lightly. It’s not simply an oops, but it always has a downstream effect that we don’t think about when we give in to the old man within us. Each of the four in the list above are worthwhile to place in our heart so that whenever the devil comes to tempt we have a particularly good way to filter out the nonsense and remember the reason why we should not commit even the smallest of sins.
Sin is destruction, and it will destroy. It can do no other.
Here’s the extra reading:
https://www.reformation21.org/articles/a-godcentered-understanding-of-sin.php
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church