Bumper Sticker
Theology
by steve johnson
All Sin is the Same to God
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All sin is the same to God!” People use this phrase either to emphasize the seriousness of sin or to equalize sin so they are indistinguishable from each other, making every sin the same weight. By trying to level the playing field of sin and saying all sin is the same to God, the expectation is it doesn’t matter which sin is committed. It also allows everyone to be lumped together into an undifferentiated mass. There is one sense in which this statement is true. Any and all sin is enough to separate us from God and invoke His wrath—even eating fruit (Genesis 3:6)! All sin is equal in the sense that all sin breaks God’s law and falls short of His perfect standards. The Bible portrays sin as straying from God’s paths, opposing Him, and rebelling against Him. Whether it’s the sin of stealing a small item, telling a lie, or
murder, all sin transgresses the law of God. So yes, in that sense all sin is the same in God’s eyes. The problem with this phrase arises when it is used to assert that no sins are worse than any other. Doing so confuses the result of the sin (separation from God) with the personal and social consequences of the sin. In human law, jaywalking does not have the same personal and social impact and consequence as committing murder. The Bible also teaches that not all sin is equal in its personal, social, spiritual, and eternal impact. The sins David committed in connection with his adultery with Bathsheba had a far greater negative personal, social, spiritual, and eternal impact than the lie told by Rahab to protect the Israelite spies (Joshua 2:1–7). Measuring it in this way, some sins are obviously greater than others.
