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Are All Sins Equal? Sin… a Big Little Word. A Bad Word.

Sometimes we hear people say that all sins are equal to each other. Perhaps you’ve heard that we shouldn’t judge any particular sin, since they’re all basically the same, right? Is this actually the case? Well, not quite. The Bible actually never says that all sins are equal. Instead, all sins make us equally guilty before God. Outside of the need for eternal forgiveness, the earthly consequences that stem from our sins aren’t always the same.

We’re all sinners. Each of us has acted in rebellion toward God. We’re all standing before him equally covered in the guilt of our sins. Paul writes in Romans 3:23 (NLT) that, “… everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” No matter what kind of sin we’ve committed, we’re all drowning in guilt. The murderer and the liar are in fact equals here. Equally sinful. Equally in need of God’s forgiveness. So who can stand on his own merit? No one. That’s the point.

Thank God there’s hope, though.

In the same way, none of our sins removes us completely from God’s mercy. We’re all stuck in our sin, yet through Jesus’ death and resurrection we all gain access to God’s love again. No matter what we’ve done. That is true and perfect equality!

Forgiveness is equally offered for all sins, but all sins are not equal. In the same way that murderers receive a greater sentence from a judge than petty thieves, our sins have various degrees of consequences we’ll have to deal with in this life. The Bible specifically points out that sexual sins have significant and often painful consequences (I Corinthians 6:18 NLT.) God even names some things he hates more than others. Lying. Pride. Hands that slaughter the innocent, among others. (Proverbs 6:16-19 NLT)

Yet even if our actions still have long-term consequences, this shouldn’t keep us from feeling less forgiven than anyone else. In the end, we all are equally guilty and equally in need of God’s grace—and his mercy is equally extended to each of us who will accept it. No matter where we’ve been. What we’ve done. Ultimately, the Bible calls each of us to surrender to this loving mercy, united in our common need for the freedom God offers.