When Christians say "all sins are equal" do they really mean?

Question

all sins are equal unless its one that doesn't apply to them, and then its much much worse and they will point it out every opportunity they get?

Answer 1

Much like animal farm, all sins are equal, but some sins are more equal than others.

Answer 2

Often, people try to make themselves feel better by comparing themselves to others. Another temptation some Christians struggle with. We're not perfect. That's why we realize we need the blood of Jesus.

All sin, any sin, separates us from God. That's why they are all equal. Some sin has consequences on earth that others do not. But that's not a Biblical issue.

Answer 3

Some "christians" do mean that. It is a distractive ploy, called "as long as I can point out your faults, nobody will see mine." It is also called hypocritical and lame.

Technically, though, it isn't the actions that count so much, it is the heart of the sinner (that God examines). That is why "all sins are equal"; it's the type of soul that counts, how we use it springs from that!

Answer 4

No, all sins are not equal...

Christians who say this are simply wrong...or else they may be hinting at another Biblical concept, expressed by James:

"For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." -James 2:10

The point of this verse is not that "all sins are equal", but that even 1 small transgression makes you a "lawbreaker" (James 2:11)...or a "sinner".

It is also written that "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23).

So, one could argue or ask, "how much sin or how *bad* of a sin is required for it to mean my death?"

Or more direct: "what is the absolute smallest amount a person could sin and still be able to go to heaven?"

In answering these two questions, it might be "argued" that "all sins are equal"...because even 1 small sin in your entire lifetime must meet with death and hell, and you would not be allowed to go to heaven.

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For this is the very BASIC Christian message: that ALL are sinners...and fall short of God's glory (Romans 3:23). But the "good news" (i.e. "Gospel") is that although we have all sinned and deserve to go to hell, God sent His Son Jesus Christ so that whoever believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16)...for the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23).
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But each will be rewarded or punished in a just fashion, in direct accordance with their works (whether good or bad).

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But your sentiment hinting at the "hypocrisy" of some Christians sounds like Jesus, who said:

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." -Matthew 7:3-5

SO...a more pressing question for you, my non-Christian friend:

...why are you preaching like Jesus Christ?

;)

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God bless!

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Answer 5

I agree with that. Being gay is just as bad as eating shellfish or not paying the right amount of money to a person who's slave you've killed. Funny how the only people who think all sins are equal are the ones who don't believe in sin.

Answer 6

To paraphrase George Orwell: "All sins are equal, but some sins are more equal than others."

You've not read the book (Animal Farm)? It basically means that those who distribute the laws believe they are above it.

Answer 7

no, we mean that they are all equal, UNLESS you find out about the ones we they are committing -- and then it is a little sin

like how you can be a little pregnant!!

Seriously, a sin is a sin...

Answer 8

"One interesting aspect of the religious yearning after the absolute is that, in contrast between the divine and the human, all lesser contrasts between good and evil on the human and historic level are obscured. Sin finally becomes disobedience to God and nothing else." - Reinhold Niebuhr, Moral Man and Immoral Society

This is the one of the keys to why religion may be sufficient to "save" individuals but not societies. (To the second part of your question... yeah, they don't SEE their own "disobedience" nearly as clearly as they see others'.)

Peace to you

Answer 9

I would say that all sins are equal in forgiveness, but I wouldn't compare killing someone to skipping church.

Answer 10

YES, one may point out your sin but we are all sinners, so how can a sinner judge another sinner? Jesus is the judge not us or any religion can judge.