Magnitudes of sins

[Nathan]

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

This is one specifically aimed at Christians, but it would be interesting to hear a wide range of opinions. I took that verse a bit out of context, I know, but I just thought its a good way to open the post.

In this sub-forum, people talk about different sins and different crimes as having different magnitudes. The way I have always believed this from a theological perspective, is that in the eternal sense, once you have sinned, you are no longer perfect, and so, unless you accept the gift of being clensed of this sin, you can no longer be admitted to heaven, which is the place of the ultimate glory of God, and so, must be perfect. The Bible also seems to allow for crimes to have different magnitudes, though. For example:

It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied round his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.

Right, I have to put that into a specific question, so:

To what degree do different sins/crimes have different magnitudes, and how does this affect how they are punishable, both from an earthly and an eternal perspective?

[diciple_of_light]

To what degree do different sins/crimes have different magnitudes, and how does this affect how they are punishable, both from an earthly and an eternal perspective?

Each sin or crime is not judge differently or doesn't have more weight than another, the way the bible state this issue is that no matter what the sin or crime, it is just that another sin or crime. But none the less many sins and crimes are very hard to escape from, once you pop the fun don't stop! and that is what causes the problems.

[seen da light]

I must say that I agree with the statement of "disciple of light"
A sin is a sin
Once you have sinned, it is all over from there
(unless of course, you accept Jesus and are cleansed of your sin.)

All sins are equal.
All seperate us from God
and
All are forgiven by Jesus.
Thus it is really pointless to focus on which is worse.
To lie and to commit murder are really far apart of the "badness " scale of humans.
But to God they are one in the same thing.
He sees them, and they ultimately seperate us from God.
You should rather be focussed on staying with christ, walking with him daily and staying under the blood of the lamb.

May God Bless you

[BeHereNow]

"All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men."
Matt 12:31

[epaphras_faith]

"All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men."
Matt 12:31

Just out of curiosity, what is your point?

[BeHereNow]

BHN: "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men."
Matt 12:31

epaphras_faith Just out of curiosity, what is your point?

My apologies. I was replying to seen da light:
”All sins are equal.
All seperate us from God
and
All are forgiven by Jesus.

I see a contradiction here between what seen da light states and what my bible reference states. He says all sins are equal, and will be forgiven. Clearly Jesus says in Matthew that there is an exception to “all shall be forgiven”.
Do you see it a different way?

[epaphras_faith]

BHN: "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men."
Matt 12:31

epaphras_faith Just out of curiosity, what is your point?

My apologies. I was replying to seen da light:
”All sins are equal.
All seperate us from God
and
All are forgiven by Jesus.

I see a contradiction here between what seen da light states and what my bible reference states. He says all sins are equal, and will be forgiven. Clearly Jesus says in Matthew that there is an exception to “all shall be forgiven”.
Do you see it a different way?

Actually I do. The sin against the holy spirit is a sin that cannot be replicated and was special to the circumstances of the time. In that time Jesus walked the earth. Given that he no longer is physically among us (spiritually he lives forever amen!) the final analysis comes down to Jesus saying "I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the father but by me". He is saying that God forgives all sin in Jesus. Accepting Jesus is what does it. That does not make that a sin, rather it is simply not accepting the free gift that is offered.

As christians we get to wound up in the "blasphemy of the holy spirit" thing when we don't look closely at the remainder of the context which carefully explains that statement.

[BeHereNow]

epaphras_faith Actually I do. The sin against the holy spirit is a sin that cannot be replicated and was special to the circumstances of the time. In that time Jesus walked the earth. Given that he no longer is physically among us (spiritually he lives forever amen!) the final analysis comes down to Jesus saying "I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the father but by me". He is saying that God forgives all sin in Jesus. Accepting Jesus is what does it. That does not make that a sin, rather it is simply not accepting the free gift that is offered.

As christians we get to wound up in the "blasphemy of the holy spirit" thing when we don't look closely at the remainder of the context which carefully explains that statement.

Sorry, I don’t see it.

I do not see where this sin cannot be replicated.
I see no mention of “special circumstances”.
I see no careful explanation to support your position.


You may be framiliar with J.W. McGarvey, who supports my postion:

31 Therefore I say unto you, Every sins and blasphemy (all their sins) shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and their blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme [Jesus here explains to the Pharisees the awful meaning of their enmity. Blasphemy is any kind of injurious speech. It is the worst form of sin, as we see by this passage. This does not declare that every man shall be forgiven all his sins, but that all kinds of sin committed by various men shall be forgiven. The forgiveness is universal as to the sin, not as to the men]: but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 32 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak (blaspheme) against the Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin: ait shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come. b30 because they said, He hath an unclean spirit. [Blasphemy against the Son may be a temporary sin, for the one who commits it may be subsequently convinced of his error by the testimony of the Holy Spirit and become a believer (I. Tim. i. 13). But blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is in its nature an eternal sin, for if one rejects the evidence given by the Holy Spirit and ascribes it to Satan, he rejects the only evidence upon which faith can be based; and without faith there is no forgiveness. The difference in the two sins is therefore in no way due to any difference in the Son and Spirit as to their degrees of sanctity or holiness. The punishment is naturally eternal because the sin is perpetual.

The famous creationist Henry Morris disagrees with you when he says:
"The unforgivable sin of speaking against the Holy Spirit has been interpreted in various ways, but the true meaning cannot contradict other Scripture. It is unequivocally clear that the one unforgivable sin is permanently rejecting Christ (John 3:18; 3:36). Thus, speaking against the Holy Spirit is equivalent to rejecting Christ with such finality that no future repentance is possible. 'My spirit shall not always strive with man,' God said long ago (Genesis 6:3). ...In the context of this particular passage (Matthew 12:22-32), Jesus had performed a great miracle of creation, involving both healing and casting out a demon, but the Pharisees rejected this clear witness of the Holy Spirit. Instead they attributed His powers to Satan, thus demonstrating an attitude permanently resistant to the Spirit, and to the deity and saving Gospel of Christ" [Henry M. Morris, The Defender's Study Bible (World Bible Publishers, 1995), emphasis added.].