Are all sins equal?

WHAT IS SIN? 
In essence, the failure or refusal of human beings to live the life intended for them by God their creator. The biblical terminology for sin as an act (and its commission) as well as a human condition is extensive. Among the Old Testament words are Heb. ḥāṭā˒ (verb) “miss the mark, fail” and related words, ˓āḇar “pass beyond, transgress” and related words, ˓āwōn “iniquity, perversion,” pāša˓ “revolt, transgress” and related words, šāgag̱ and šāg̱â “err, go astray,” tā˓â “err, wander,” ra˓ “evil,” and rāšā˓ “wicked, impious.” New Testament terminology includes Gk. hamartía (noun) and related words, ponērós “evil,” adikía “injustice, unrighteousness” and related words, parábasis “transgress” and related words, and anomía “lawlessness.”


I. Nature of Sin

“Sin” as a characteristic of human beings is manifested in the committing of “sins,” individual acts of rebellion against God and against expressions of his intentions for humanity. While the Bible can refer to sin in the abstract, it more often cites concrete acts (sins) in collections of commandments against specific sins (as in the law codes of the Pentateuch), narratives of specific sins (which occupy much of the narrative material of the Old Testament), and lists of sins (e.g., Mark 7:21–22; Gal. 5:19–21).

Sin is not to be identified simply with violation of the moral standards of society, though individual sins, as violations of the divine intention for human interactions, are violations of human moral standards as well., Rather, sin in its basic sense is always ultimately against God himself rather than against mankind or any human person (Ps. 51:4 [MT 6]). This is made clear in the resistance of the pentateuchal laws to any thorough distinction between civil lawbreaking, ritual infractions, and moral wrongs. The society presented with these laws was not pluralistic—the people at worship and the people engaging in business or other relationships were not ultimately distinguishable. More importantly, civil, ritual, and moral commands proceeded equally from the will of the one God. An important basis of the ritual regulations was the understanding of God’s holiness as a danger that necessitates appropriate precautions for any who would approach him (cf. Exod. 19:22; 2 Sam. 6:6–7). This view of God’s holiness functioned in relation to the understanding of all sins, not just ritual infractions.


II. Extent of Sin

The Bible invariably regards sin as both universal and pervasive. No individual human being is free from sin (except Christ; Heb. 4:15; 1 Pet. 2:22), and no human behavior or action is free from the effects of sin.

The universality of sin is derived as a sober conclusion from examination of human life (Prov. 20:6, 9; Eccl. 7:20), including observation ascribed to God himself (Gen. 6:5; Ps. 14:2–3) and to Christ (Matt. 7:11). This human condition is regarded to begin with the birth of each individual (Ps. 51:5 [MT 7]; cf. Gen. 8:21). Job 15:14 suggests that it is impossible for a person not to sin. Paul and the author of 1 John regard the universality of sin as a fundamental factor in the understanding of God’s redemption of mankind in Christ (Rom. 3:23 [cf. vv. 10–20]; 1 John 1:8–2:2).

The pervasive effects of sin on human behavior make it such that even acts intended to be righteous are affected by sin (Isa. 64:6 [MT 5]). Even persons who keep all of God’s commandments are no more than “unworthy servants” (Luke 17:10) because of the presence of sin. Underlying this inability of humanity at its best to be free from sin is the possibility of human self-deception (Jer. 17:9).


III. Origin and Effects

Because sin is so great in its effects on humanity, the question naturally arises of the origin of sin. The narrative of the sin of Adam and Eve in the garden (Gen. 3) is an account of the first sin and its effects, but chs. 3–11 can be considered together as an account of the origin, pervasiveness, and effects of sin.

The role of the serpent as a tempter (identified with Satan at Rev. 20:2) is prominent in Gen. 3, but the emphasis in this chapter is on the working and results of human envy and distrust of God. After this envy and distrust are suggested by the serpent (vv. 1–5), the beauty of what is forbidden completes the temptation (v. 6). The sin is very clearly an act of rebellion against a specific injunction of God (2:17) and, because of the content of the temptation, against God himself. How it was possible for the serpent’s temptation to be effective—i.e., what human responsiveness to the temptation arises from or is based on—is not a question with which Gen. 3 is concerned. (Paul considers deception to be a factor here; 2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:14.) Nor is the origin of the serpent’s behavior as tempter explored.

The primary lessons of the account of the fall are that, though sin is as old as mankind, it arises not from the way in which mankind was created, but from the way in which mankind exercises free will, and that sin is not simply an act, but begins with thought—specifically, thought that denies the truth of what God says and that seeks some gain for the human creature that has not been provided by God.

The larger part of Gen. 3 (vv. 8–24) is concerned with the effects of the sin. The centrality of this concern continues in the succeeding chapters as they build up a picture of the human situation as it existed prior to the commencement of God’s redemption and blessing of humanity with the call of Abraham (ch. 12). The progressive growth of sin is matched by the progressive increase of the effects of sin. These effects come about partly as God’s responses to sin by which he controls the extent of the rebellion against him. The first sin leads to pain in childbirth, male dominance, the toilsomeness of work, and death (3:16–19; cf. 6:3). The first murderer (4:1–8) becomes the first fugitive (vv. 12–16) and the progenitor of a vengeful and violent people (vv. 17–24). The growth of human evil leads God to destroy most of life on earth (6:5–7), and the restoration of human life leads only to a new collective act of hubris, which brings about the disintegration of the unified human society (11:1–9).

In accordance with Genesis, Paul understood the first sin committed by “one man” (Adam) as that which led to all further sins, which in turn led to the death of each person (Rom. 5:12 [cf. v. 19]; 6:21, 23). He also describes the growth of sin and of God’s judging responses to sin in terms of Gentile practices that Jews found repulsive (1:18–32), and refers to the mastery that sin has over human beings (6:15).


IV. Redemptive Response

The fundamental effect of sin is alienation between God and the person or society that sins (Isa. 59:2). For this reason, reconciliation between God and humanity is the heart of what is accomplished in God’s salvation of mankind. Because God is the one against whom sin is directed, he must also be—and is—the one to respond by initiating the process of reconciliation. Indeed, only God can make provision for reconciliation, but a human response to God’s actions toward reconciliation is required. This is true with regard to the sacrificial system of the Old Testament as well as to human faith in Christ that answers to the reconciliation God has brought about through Christ.

Part of the process of God’s redemptive response and defeat of sin is his taking on the responsibility of guaranteeing that his people will live no longer in sinful patterns but will live, rather, according to his will (Jer. 31:33–34; Ezek. 11:19–20; 36:26–27).

The eschaton will bring the final defeat of sin Sinners who do not participate in God’s redemption will be judged and punished, and their sinfulness will be excluded from the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev. 21:8). God’s people will experience a complete release from the sin that has until then remained in their lives (1 John 3:2).


Myers, A. C. (1987). In The Eerdmans Bible dictionary (pp. 951–952). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.