Expert: Elder Greg Madden - 6/19/2009

Question
I teach a Abortion Recovery Assistance Bible study at a local Pregnancy
Resource Center.  One participant flippantly said that all sin is equal . . .
including the taking of her child's life.  I used Bible Gateway to look up 1 John
5:16-19, where John draws a distinction between "sins unto death" and "sin
not unto death".  The commentary I read was written by Craig Keener.  I
googled him and found he is a Baptist.  In his interpretation, he seems to be
saying that John was distinguishing between believers and unbelievers --
leaning to the Baptist doctrine of "once saved, always saved".  I would like
your thoughts on this matter and a recommendation for a commentary with  
more Holy Spirit filled doctrinal comments.  

I need these ladies to break out of denial and deal with their sin, guilt,
shame, etc.  Saying that having an abortion is equal to losing your temper or
telling a lie, is helping them to stuff down their responsibility once again,
leaving them to continue to suffer.

Thanks for your help and have a blessed day!

Cindy Harless

Answer
Cindy,

Thank you for your questions and the opportunity to help. I would be happy to share with you what I have learned about this subject...

In Matthew 5:21-28, Jesus equates committing adultery with having lust in your heart and committing murder with having hatred in your heart. However, this does not mean the sins are equal. What Jesus was trying to get across to the Pharisees is that sin is still sin even if you only want to do the act, without actually carrying it out. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day taught that it was okay to think about anything you wanted to, as long as you did not act on those desires. Jesus is forcing them to realize that God judges a person’s thoughts as well as his actions. Jesus proclaimed that our actions are the result of what is in our hearts (Matthew 12:34).

So, although Jesus said that lust and adultery are both sins, that does not mean they are equal. It is much worse to actually murder a person than it is to simply hate a person, even though they are both sins in God’s sight. There are degrees to sin. Some sins are worse than others. At the same time, in regard to both eternal consequences and salvation, all sins are the same. Every sin will lead to eternal condemnation (Romans 6:23). All sin, no matter how “small,” is against an infinite and eternal God, and is therefore worthy of an infinite and eternal penalty. Further, there is no sin too “big” that God cannot forgive it. Jesus died to pay the penalty for sin (1 John 2:2). Jesus died for all of our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21). Are all sins equal to God? Yes and no. In severity? No. In penalty? Yes. In forgivability? Yes.(gotquestions.org)

Cindy, please let me know if this helps.

Elder Greg Madden