sin is sin, right?

Question

ok, so let's take two people. one never bothers to observe the sabbath. the other is a homicidal maniac who can't help but kill people. they are both devout christians and believe jesus is their lord and personal savior. while the homicidal maniac prays that his affliction for bloodlust will one day end, the other person sees no real need in observing the sabbath. he rationalizes, "at least i'm not a killer, god will forgive me." so my question is this. if all sin is equal, as we are taught in christianity, who is more likely the get into heaven? are they both just as likely? please explain your answer.

Answer 1

ya, and you are all sinners

Answer 2

Christianity does not teach that sin is sin. Okay? It teaches you not to tolerate sin on any level WHILE constantly reinforcing to the believer that he should be aware that he or she will always struggle with sin (Romans 3:23, "all fall short of the glory of God" and Romans 8 "I do what I do not want to do")... For a person to become a homicidal maniac, they have to be extremely sinful before they get to that point. Homicide is the culmination of a pattern of sinful behavior. Skipping the sabbath is a "1st step.." The guy that skips the Sabbath will have committed other sins if he thinks like that. A homicidal maniac who prays as you suggested will become less and less a homicidal maniac. So, such a scenario will never exist. You are separating someone's attitude towards God away from their behavior, and the whole point of Christianity is that they are inseparable. God knows the answer to this and he distinctly tells us not to get caught up in this kind of debate. John 6:48, Matt 7:7, and I Cor 4:4. See what those verses tell you...

I've come to realize that the more and more people attacK Christianity it's because they have the wrong assessment of what Christianity is.

Answer 3

The only reported instances of someone being killed for breaking one of the Ten Commandments anywhere in the Pentateuch were breakers of 1-4. Nobody was ever killed for murder, but there was a blasphemer, several idolaters, and a Sabbath breaker.

Christianity believes that Christ abolished several of the Mosaic laws, but the rest still apply. And each is equally wrong in God's eyes. The point is exactly as you stated in your question--do we repent and seek forgiveness?

This is exactly why the "God won't punish non-Christians if they were a good person," argument is horse poop. You break one rule once in your entire life, you're out! Christ's atonement is the only way around that.

Answer 4

I really am not into religion so of course I do not understand this whole god must forgive stuff? Why have commandments when you can ask for forgiveness. Like if the law worked that way people could go molest children then swear on the bible or law book and go scott free.

myself I think the sin should reflect the punishment and serious sins should be unforgivable or perhaps really hard to be forgiven for.

D and G Gifts Etc <---- Then why are there sins??? I think most religions are pretty messed up when you dig at them.

Answer 5

We get into heaven based on God's grace and forgiveness, not on our own merit. However, God is not a God to be mocked and He requires obedience. Therefore, if a person continually practices sin and habitually choses to live a life of disobedience deliberately there is no longer remission of sins which is Biblically correct.

As a result, a person can have a remorseful heart but if they willfully disobey under the guise that they are going to be forgiven this is not acceptable by God.

Christianity and faith in it should bring about a change of life and a desire to follow God willfully because we do not want to ever do anything that hurts Him. Having said that, your question should not even be the mind-set or desire of someone who is truly saved and has a sincere relationship with God.

Think of it this way, whenever we are in a loving relationship with another human being we usually tell them that we love them and reinforce that with our actions. However, if we constantly ignore the person and their feelings our actions would indicate that we are not sincere in our words.

Along with that, if we continually abused that same loved one from our relationship physically and verbally no one would believe that we cared for them as we stated, including us.

Therefore, why should the homicidal maniac above believe that God will forgive them for premediated murder? The better course for them is to ask God in prayer to take away those thoughts and feelings because they are sincerely sorry for those thoughts and want to be delivered from them.

If they continued to have that desire that does not show a sincere conviction as the old things (habits) have passed away and become new in the person who truly experiences a conversion in Jesus Christ through the working of the Holy Spirit.

Anything else is simply emotional and not a working of the Spirit of God. The better question is why should either person desire to go to heaven if they are living a life that is ungodly and does not model that they have changed to the world and others? Jesus said, "Follow Me." He didn't say listen to my words but ignore my conduct by living a sinful like continually after you have been exposed to My truth.

Jesus also said, "You cannot serve two masters," which He was referring to money at the time but it still fits the point. Either you live for the spirit our you fulfill the lusts of the flesh, which murder clearly satisfies.

Not to mention that Jesus also established the principle that we are subject to the governing laws of our land and must obey those rules. Therefore, since murder/homicide is against the law of most countries-a person cannot expect for God to honor their conduct if it violates every rule of the Bible and the world in which we live.

God gave us grace through His Son Jesus on the cross but He also gave us common sense and self-control through the Holy Spirit. If we don't use it we have no one else to blame for our problems and struggles.

God/Jesus and The Holy Spirit are only as far aways as your prayers.

Answer 6

your premise is nonsensical and full of contradiction. You may as well as said one person was a woman, but she was the runt in a litter of puppies while the other didn't observe Tuesday.

You proceed from a false assumption, which seems to be that a person gets into heaven based on how good they are compared to other people. You've totally missed the boat on that one. As Jesus said, no one is good, not even one.

Jesus said that eternal life is knowing God. Find out how to know God; seek the Way to God, the Truth about God, and the Life.

Answer 7

...this is a legitimate question...and I don't think I'm qualified enough to answer with great clarity and knowledge, however, the book of James, chapter 4 is a reference to read...I will not do the "cut and paste" thing, but in case you desire to read then I will list the link to read it online...
Basically, a "killer", although a believer, as in the BTK murders in Wichita, Kansas where the killer was a professed Christian, asked for "deliverance". In asking, however, the motive for asking was wrong...it was asked for self pleasure...a sort of last ditch effort to justify a severely guilty conscience.
In the case of the Sabbath skipper, apathy comes to mind...for guilt seems to be at work in this scenario, as well.
Instead of looking at this from the standpoint of "is all kinds of sin equal", perhaps it should be looked at this way...is all punishment equal for all sin ? To that I would have to say no...for certainly serial killers punishment is worthy of much more severe consequences that a Sabbath skipper

Answer 8

My belief is that People put degrees on sin but all sin is the same in the eyes of God. As to who will go to heaven, I can't say because it is not my place to sit in judgement and I am sure is far too complex for us to be able to predict God's actions. I do beleive that any sin is forgivable if you ask for forgiveness in honesty and make improvements and sincerly try to not commit that sin again. I explain it this way because some sin is based in addiction and does take some time and work to overcome. Thank God that sin is forgivable, because we all sin and in the eyes of God, a white lie is just as bad as murder!

Answer 9

Once there were two families living in the same community.
One were farmers, and there had been a drought lately and so they prayed fervently for rain.
On the other side of town the other family had a chance to go on a picnic or some other planned family out door event together, and so, were all down on their knees praying for it NOT to rain.
Now the question to you is this: Is rain either good or evil?
Is there not a time for all things, rain or shine.
Do you think GOD is under any obligation to choose for it to rain or not?
GOD does not MAKE it rain or not. GOD IS the rain and drought!!!!! Understand?
This is not for us to question. So Mote it Be.

Answer 10

No. Despite the rationalization, it is not survival to kill off people. Where did you get the idea that all sin was equal? Murder is way more sinful than stealing a candy bar from Walmart. Come on, now.

Answer 11

Aren't there 7 deadly sins? And the question of "observe" is subjective. Can a person properly observe the sabbath without going to church - most certainly they can.