If everything's equally a sin, is innocently joking around is as bad as murdering someone?

Answer 1

What a great question. Everyone has their own opinion and depends on who you talk to. I have always viewed sin as sin even as a protestant christian but I have always believed they were never equal and that are there are different ltypes of sin, I will explain below.

Here are some scripture and points from the bible itself that support that no sins are equal. Some OT and some NT
Leviticus 5:20-24 and chapters 18-20
Varying degrees of sin : Mt 16:27;Rom 2:5-13; 1Cor 3:8-9; 1Pt 1:17l; Rev 22:12 you will have to look up as too long to include here.
Jesus gives an example in Luke 12:47-48 distinguishes between those who "shall be beaten severely" from those who "shall be beaten only lightly"
More specifically, Scripture teaches that not all sins lead to spiritual death 1 Tim 2:4; 2 Pt 3:9


I had a priest tell me once (a little off topic) it's not a sin if you didn't know it was wrong. Wow, that's simple. Sin is an offense against the infinitely good God who is deserving of love and so, in justice, sin deserves infinite punishment. As humans we are finite and can never make up for the punishment our sins deserve.

Joking around and murdering someone are two very different extremes. Jokes can be funny and they can also be insulting and very hurtful to someone. Murder is taking a life, death at your hands not Gods. What about bad habits that can be sin?
Or vices? Habits that can incline us to sin, or vicious cycles. Sins lead to a habit, which in turn leads to more sins.

The bible speaks of several sins or deadly sins and the warnings of them. The seven are Pride, Envy, Sloth, Lust , Greed, gluttony and anger. The Wisdom books, especially Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom and Sirach address them repeatedly.

The catholic church breaks them down into different degrees of sin. However I am in no way pushing those beliefs on anyone, just answering your question. There is personal sin because of our natural human nature and we are in a fallen world. there is Venial sin from latin means pardonable. When what was done is not serious or if it was serious, there wasn't full knowledge or complete consent of the will. Mortal sin meaning deadly see 1 John 5:16-17 when what was done is serious and was done with both full knowledge and complete consent of the will. Finally there are Capital sins when they lead people to commit other sins which were the seven listed above. Jesus refers to the unforgivable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit mark 3:29

The good thing is that for most of us. The first time a sin is committed it is difficult because of the natural fear and shame we have afterwards but the bad thing is each time we repeat the sin it weakens resistance until it can be done with ease and without much attention. So practicing virtue, which is a habit of doing good is good for us.

It all comes down to FREE WILL which God himself gave to us.

Answer 2

to theists all sins arent equal.

to anti-theists all sins are equal, it says so in the bible itself.

laughing at a joke you dont really think is funny, just to not hurt their feelings, is a sin
condemning someone you dont know, is a sin
looking at porn is a sin
drinking alcohol is a sin
smoking is a sin
watching to much tv is a sin
being over weight is a sin
buying more than you can possibly afford is a sin
over eating is a sin
making fun of someone is a sin
eating shellfish is a sin
wearing mixed fibers is a sin
thinking your waitress is hot if your married is a sin
getting divorced is a sin

but do christians actually think most of these are sins? doubtful. They cherry pick what is and isnt sinful, and what does or doesnt apply to them. As they want to be more sinful, sins become less relevant.

Answer 3

Since all sins big, small and otherwise are completely equal, then joking around or having an unkind thought is totally the same as dropping a hydrogen bomb on Switzerland or causing the extinction of all life on Earth~


I'm glad we could clear this up for you!

Answer 4

Killing most often takes train. A killer most often does now not begin with the "Big Kill" however the sinner begins at a extra venial sin like considering dangerous approximately folks, then killing insects, then hurting small animals, then killing small animals, ect-ect -ect. In brief, small (venial sins) aid us activity being dangerous. Eventually we will be numb to what's relatively dangerous and hence we can not see what's well notion all that non secular poison. Sure Barbara's sin is effecting much less folks ( on this example, it is only effecting her Mom) however she's taking steps to be the following Bernie Maddoff (who harm such a lot of ppl and cause them to suicide). Since the entire tale of Barbara has now not been advised, we can not see how she is utilising her God given powers of conciseness for well or evil.

Answer 5

Sorry folks sin is sin. There is no degree. We all will be judged by sin and works. Not something I am looking forward too. But the blood of Jesus give us and out. As to the question at hand. I was raised if you say a word in place of a swear word it's just as bad. While I never held to that it held to me. I watch what I say lol...the teaching of momma went a long way. I would say it depends on you it's a personal thing as in my case.

Answer 6

I'm not quite sure, but I would like to help here.

Every sin is bad, though as humans we are all sinners. So, it is expected for us to sin every day and in many ways. We strive to serve God and others in His name each day and hope that we are a blessing. Not every circumstance is a blessing to someone else. Some are downright sinful.

That is where god enters to forgive us for our sins. Whether we steal, kill lust, etc we are sinning and dishonoring God. But He is a forgiving God.

Innocently joking is not a sin, but slandering someone's name, being a false witness, lying or using profanity or the Lord's name in vain is a sin. It is all bad. My advice, don't ever kill anyone...ever!

If you sin, confess to God and beg for forgiveness. A venial sin can be forgiven, but a mortal sin is greater and must be judged by Him in the end.

Answer 7

I hope I say this correctly. Jesus described any sin as a domino that has the "potential" to push down enough dominoes to become lethal that is the reason why avoiding all sin is the goal. Of course that is nearly impossible but Jesus wants us to understand that the ultimate goal of our "sin nature" is to cause death to the person engaged in it and to others nearby if possible. When we see sin in this light as Jesus saw it then we won't take sin so lightly.

Answer 8

If you believe in Sin than you believe in God and God sees all Sin as equal, but whether you ask for forgiveness of that Sin is what determines the outcome of your life.

Answer 9

It's hard to imagine that all sin (if you believe in sin) could be equal. I've always liked the example of a teenage boy who goes into a liquer store and peeks at a Playboy vs. another teenage boy who takes a gun to school and blows away his math teacher and two students who were bugging him.

Hard to imagine, isn't it ?

Answer 10

No it is the heart that is judged. And yes in Gods eyes all sin is equal.