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There is no hierarchy of sin

James 4:17

“If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them” 

One belief that is really corrupting our generation is that one sin is greater than the other. We compare our sins with other people and believe that because we don’t behave the same way as others, we are more righteous, neglecting that Jesus’s resurrection makes us righteous in the eyes of the Lord. This isn’t me excusing righteous judgement, but as a culture we need to self-examine where our judgement is stemming from. We need to stop conditioning our minds to the belief that if we commit that sin instead of that other sin, that somehow, we escape the consequences. The truth is that all sin leads to a consequence, and in order to understand why we shouldn’t place a sin above another, we must first know what sin is, how does it affect us and God, and what are the consequences. 

Apart from blaspheming the holy spirit (Luke 12:10) all sin is viewed and judged equally before the Lord. But what is sin? The Hebrew origin of the word “sin” is “khata”, which means “to miss the goal” or “to fail”. That “goal” is being made in the image of God (Genisis 1:27) and because of this, there a certain expectations placed on us. 

God in nature is the epitome of holiness and righteousness, and when we sin, we are not only hurting God, but we are also preventing a relationship with him. God wants a relationship with us, but sin leads to spiritual death, and spiritual death is the separation from God. 

I know from our perspective it can seem confusing that a lie and a murder can be viewed and judged the same in front of God, but if we look at it from God’s perspective it makes much more sense. The reason why we shouldn’t place one sin above another is because we are essentially saying “I am hurting God less than you”, and if you really rationalise that sentence, it doesn’t make sense. You wouldn’t say “I hurt that person less than you, so I’m a better friend”, so why is it when it’s with God the rules change? 

I heard a sermon the other day that explained why we continue to sin, despite our knowledge of it’s consequences and she said, “All sin is rooted in unbelief”. If we examine all the sins we have ever committed, then we realise that our sin is based on the disbelief of God’s character. We keep unforgiveness in our hearts because we don’t truly believe that vengeance is God’s (Deuteronomy 32:25) We place idol’s out of impatience because we don’t believe God is a promise keeper. We commit acts of sexual immorality because we don’t truly believe that our bodies belong to God, and that our bodies are a part of God’s temple (1 Corinthians 6:19) 

If we look at the verse, if we know what is good, we can’t continue to live in sin. Deceiving ourselves of ignorance ruins our intimacy with God. Jesus paid the price of our sins, so that we can have a relationship with God. However, repentance doesn’t end when we give our lives to Jesus, repentance is daily: a constant expression of sanctification.

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