Fountain of Thoughts: Degrees of Sin? Part 3

We say there is no such thing as a little white lie, but do we live it? Do we think of that little lie we told as something about which to be horrified? I'm certainly not anywhere close to perfect in this area. Are you? we say getting a little mad sometimes is good to clear the system. If we say this, though, that means we're only murdering our brother an equally small amount, which must be equally good for clearing the system, right? To quote my brother, "Really, people? Really?"(See Matthew 5: 21-25)
I said this all the way in Part 1, which you can find here. And again in Part 2, found here.

Here goes for the long-promised Part 3; the last of the Fountain of Thoughts series (as such) and the last of the consistently long posts.

I think we would all agree that sin is sin. It cannot be dismissed or excused as something less than it is. So are there degrees of sin? You might be surprised to find that my answer is No, and then Yes.

First No, because I believe all sins are sins. Also, I think specific sins, such as Murder, is not a greater sin than a Lie.

But I answer Yes for the following reasons:

All throughout Scripture, and in many governments, a distinction appears to be made in the Punishment of Murder vs. the Punishment of a Lie or Stealing.

Exodus 21-23 is a great example. Exodus 22:1 says: (Paraphrase) If someone steals an ox, sheep, or other possession, and kills, sells, or breaks it, he must restore five oxen, or four sheep, or in other words, replace with interest.
Vs. 4 (Paraphrase) However, if the stolen item is found in the thief's hand alive and unharmed, he only has to restore double.

Here we see that stealing is a sin that ought to be punished. But we also see that the punishment is different in the above cases. Can we then conclude that there are degrees of sin? I think yes, sort of. It really might be better called: Degrees of Consequence. The sin is not any the worse or better depending on whether the stolen item is broken or not, but the punishment can be more or less.

I think this has everything to do with God's justice and mercy. In both the Old and New Testament, there are allowances for sinning through ignorance or sinning on purpose. Those who sin on purpose are punished more. (generally) Those who sin through ignorance have still sinned, but God through His mercy, gives them a lesser punishment, (usually).

So, since I love to read and interrelate my books with my posts, I have to use Martin Luther. I recently read a biography of Martin Luther "Here I Stand: A life of Martin Luther by Roland Bainton" Martin Luther, as you may know, was a monk for a while. His purpose for being a monk was to achieve perfection by separating from the world. He soon discovered however, that in spite of being separate from the world and all by himself, that he still could not achieve perfection because he still sinned, although, as he said "I often couldn't even think of what I had done, but I had done it."

First Corinthians 4:4 explains it best: "For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord" (NASB) Martin Luther discovered that although he knew of no sin that he had committed, he could still not obtain salvation because God knew that he had sinned, though perhaps in ignorance.

Was that a rabbit trail. Perhaps a little.

What I'm trying to say is, that though we sin through ignorance, or sin through purpose, it's still a sin, but God makes allowances when He deals out his justice. Since God is perfect, and perfectly just, He must punish all sin whether through ignorance or not. But in His perfect mercy, He gives grace.

Furthermore, there are often I believe, degrees of Responsibility. If I'm left in charge while my parents are gone, and I say my little brother can throw rocks at the house, my brother would be in trouble for throwing the rocks, but I would be in more trouble for giving him permission. Why? Because I'm older, and I know better. I have the greater responsibility for the sin.

This is dealt with by Jesus himself in John 19: 10: 11. "So Pilate said to Him, 'You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?' Jesus answered, 'You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.' (NASB)

Now, I'm not a Theologian, so this is just my thought. I think that the words "the greater sin" are really dealing with the greater responsibility. All the Pharisees etc. and ultimately all sinners, have the greater responsibility for the sin of crucifying our Lord Jesus Christ. Pilate still sinned, but his responsibility was less because his authority, his role, had been given to him from above. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Anyway I hope I've been clear here. This was all triggered by reading The Legacy of Cain by Wilkie Collins, The Life and Battles of Lt.-General Stonewall Jackson by R.L. Dabney, and Here I Stand: a Life of Martin Luther by Roland Bainton. Some of these books may be going onto the Bookworms Library Page, but not until I have time to review them.

My apologies to those who got an email saying that I had posted a new post. My computer randomly decided to post this while I was in the middle of writing it.