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Hello, I'm Kevin DeYoung, pastor at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, North Carolina, and you are listening to Doctrine Matters. Each week on Doctrine Matters, we explore the rich doctrine of the Christian faith. We'll pull from the church's long history, complex debates, and over the course of the year, the hope is that we'll begin to frame out what is a clear, accessible, systematic theology, be looking at different Christian doctrines and their relationship to each other. And the hope, Lord willing, is we will grasp more and more the riches and the beauty of God's Word. Thanks for listening. Let's turn to this week's Doctrine Matters. This week we continue with the Doctrine of Sin. And I want to deal with one very practical question which I have been asked many times, and you've probably asked it yourself. And in my experience, many Christians, well meaning, give the wrong answer to this question. So here's the question, is every sin the same in God's eyes? I'm going to give the answer that, no, not every sin is the same in God's eyes. And that is the scriptural answer, and that's the confessional answer in the Reformed tradition. Let's think about why people are inclined to say, yes, every sin is the same in God's eyes. And maybe you've said that. And I wonder if at some point in my life as a Christian, I probably said that. I think some promote the idea for apologetic reasons. It's a way to say, you know, in a spirit of kind of humility, don't worry, friend, I know what you're struggling with and your sin. But no one's sins are any worse than anyone else's sins. You, you don't want to present yourself as well, you struggle with this sin. But I have a lesser sin. And I think this comes out in particular in our day in talking about homosexuality, for example, people want to say, okay, yes, that's a sin. But in order to get some apologetic cachet, they then want to say, but no sin is any worse in God's eyes than another one. And then I think there is just not just apologetic, but a genuine humility. Who am I to think my sins are less vile than anyone else's? Doesn't it sound rather pompous to think that someone else might have worse sins? No. Doesn't Paul say he's the chief of sinners? So it's understandable why people give this answer, and yet the witness of Scripture gives a different answer. Think about several examples. The Mosaic Law prescribed different penalties for different infractions and required different sacrifices and payments to make restitution, that's all. Throughout Leviticus and numbers there are different penalties. Not every sin was considered of the same weight. The Mosaic law in Numbers 15 also distinguishes between unintentional sins and high handed sins. That is, there are some that they're still sins. Perhaps you didn't know the right thing. You still objectively have broken God's law. There are those unintentional sins and then numbers calls them high handed sins. We might say, if it's not too crass, sort of giving the flipping the bird to God, you know what the right thing is and you just do the wrong thing anyways. Sins of idolatry and rebellion were more serious indictments on the kings of Israel. You know, so many of the kings of Israel and Judah, they will end with a final summary of their reign. And some of them were bad from start to finish and some of them were basically good and it'll but they failed to remove the high places. These were places of, of wrong worship and shrines throughout the land. They were sins and they were so. They were so widespread in the culture it was hard to spot them. That was still wrong. But the, the whole life of the king was basically good. God's anger, we see, is specifically directed against the leaders of his people. The sin sins of the king or the priests or the elders meant judgment. So depending on who is committing the sin, it has a different gravity to it. Remember in Matthew 10, Jesus warned the cities in which he performed his miracles that they would be more severely judged than even Sodom and Gomorrah because they had received more light. Jesus said, Judas, betrayal was a sin worse than others. We see God's anger is especially roused by sins against children. The weak or the helpless would have, you know, tie a millstone around someone's neck. Excommunication in 1 Corinthians 5 seems to be reserved for the most flagrant sins. It's not. Every sin leads to formal church discipline. Cornelius, though not yet saved, was considered a devout man who feared God. Acts 10. So even among non Christians, there is a difference between being a decent person and being a dirty rotten scoundrel through and through. Finally, 1st John 5, 16 there is a sin that leads to death, but not all sins are unto death. In other words, the Bible simply does not make sense if we think that every sin is the same in God's eyes. It doesn't make sense to the Mosaic law, nor the exile, nor church discipline, nor the many warnings in Scripture. In fact, if we think about it. Life doesn't even make sense. People don't operate this way. Parents do not discipline their children. The same for every act of disobedience. Why would we think that God would see our acts of disobedience? Every parent knows there are, you know, mistakes. You told your child you need to be home by 11pm Those are the rules. The, the child was out and lost track of time and came back at 11:30. And they may still need to be disciplined. You know, they didn't mean to, it wasn't willful, and yet they didn't follow your instructions and their consequences. What they did was wrong versus the child who, when receiving that instruction, runs out the door, slams it, curses at you and says, I hate you, mom and dad and stays out and parties and drugs and yeah, there are worse things. There are worse kinds of sins and parents understand that and they discipline accordingly. Employers do not inflict the same punitive measures for every violation of company policy. Police officers do not treat every offense the same. Going 5 miles over the speed limit is different than going 50 miles over the speed limit. And you wouldn't get very far to tell the police officer or later the judge. Well, I thought every sin was the same in God's eyes. So every infraction would be the same in your eyes. No, our judicial system does not hand down the same punishment for every infraction. So we know in ordinary life that not every wrong thing is of the same kind or same weight. Now, one of the reasons why, and here's, here's the, the half truth in here, why we're inclined sometimes to say every sin is the same in God's eyes. It is true, James makes this point that anyone who breaks one of the commandments is guilty of breaking all of them. So when we sin against an infinite God, we are deserving of infinite punishment. So in that sense, every sin renders us liable to judgment from a holy, eternal, infinite God. And yet that does not mean from Scripture and even just from common sense that every sin ought to be considered the same. So then how should we think about the different weights to these sins? Thankfully, there is some good help here. In the Reformed tradition, Westminster larger Catechism, this is 151, says all transgressions of the law of God are not equally heinous. So there it is right there, not equally heinous. But some, some sins in themselves and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others. That's actually 150 and then in 151 it provides a helpful analysis of what makes some sins more heinous than others. Now, it's quite long and detailed, but the summary is rather simple. According to the Westminster divines, sins receive their aggravations, that is they are made more heinous from four different categories. First category from the person's offending. So that means sins are worse when they come from pastors, when they come from parents. And it is worse for a parent to sin against a child, or when they come from public figures or those who were in authority, or Christians who were given as teachers and those who should and know better. So that's one from the persons offending, two sins are made more heinous from the parties offended. So sins are worse when they expressly blaspheme God or demean Christ in the Gospel, when they reject the work of the Spirit, when they show disrespect to parents. So here's the other side. It is bad when children disrespect parents and persons in authority, when they ignore weaker brothers and sisters, when they lead many astray. So sins can be made worse by who is doing the sinning. Second, by who they are or whom they are sinning against. Third category, from the nature and quality of the offense. Sins are worse when they deal with matters that are black or white instead of gray. Sometimes in the Christian life they're matters of application. You got it wrong. And then there are those that are so obvious they're right there. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal, and you do it anyways. The quality of the offense is also manifest when it breaks forth externally, not just internally. Jesus says, you've committed adultery if you look at a woman lustfully. And yet that doesn't mean sometimes I've had well meaning people say, well, then I suppose I should be disciplined by the church because I've committed adultery in my heart. How am I any better than this man who committed adultery against his wife? Well, for starters, hopefully you're repentant. But there are also sins are worse when they break forth. It is still a sin to have hateful thoughts towards your brother. Scripture is very clear. It is a worse sin to then kill your brother. When sins are frequent, when they are celebrated, when they are against nature, against conscience, against the warnings of others. So that's the nature and the quality of the offense. And then the fourth category, the larger catechism says, is according to the circumstances of time and place. So sins are worse when they take place in connection with the gathering of God's people for worship when they could have been avoided, when they are committed in public so that they are well known to others. So there are these four who committed the sin, against whom was the sin committed, the nature of the sin, and the circumstances of time and place surrounding that sin. Now, why does this matter? Let me give you three quick benefits. Public, pastoral personality. So public. When it comes to our public witness, we must have the courage to say that some sins are worse than others. No, that's not always popular. Sounds like we're being proud. But it's just true. Sins by pastors are worse than sins by parishioners. Sins by public figures with many followers are worse than sins by private individuals. That's why when public figures sin, or public teachers or pastors, they can be forgiven. Depending on the sin, there may be means for restoration to some kinds of ministry. God always wants Christians to be doing ministry. And yet there are consequences. There may be lifelong consequences, because when public persons sin, they sin publicly. And there are public consequences even when there can be forgiveness. And although all sexual sins are serious, we should not shrink back from the teaching that sins against the light of nature are especially heinous, particularly when these sins are committed with delight to the detriment of the common good. So to sin against nature, as homosexuality is bestiality, is. Are more heinous sins is not to excuse other kinds of sin, but it is to say there is an added element of offense in those sins. And then pastorally, distinguishing among various degrees of sin can help us apply the comfort and the warnings of Scripture more accurately. Some preachers are quick to pull the punch when they're talking about the warnings of Scripture. And others are ready to thunder judgment for every offense. Anytime you could have been better, you could have prayed more. There's the warning of judgment. No, when we learn to discern how sins receive their aggravations, that's the catechism language. We learn to have the proper categories to hold people responsible for their lesser sins, even as we may sympathize with their struggle, even as they have been more grievously sinned against. So pastorally, this is important. People can be victims of other people's sin, greater sins, and they themselves can also be responsible for their sin. Now, it takes wisdom. There are sometimes people are simply victims and not responsible persons who have. Who are young, who are children, who are mentally incapable. And yet when we have these categories, we can have the wisdom to say, you know what? That person was sinned against, and the sin against them was worse, and yet what they did was also a sin. And then, finally, there are the personal benefits. Too many Christians have flattened the moral contours of the Bible such that we no longer distinguish between falling into sin and running headlong into sin. So some of us are too hard on ourselves. We see no moral space between falling into temptation and then flagrant disobedience. It's all the same. But some of us are too easy on ourselves. We think, well, our heinous sins are, you know, they're just struggles, they're just mistakes. I'm just messed up. And we don't see that some sins indeed are more heinous. And so we often give up striving after holiness altogether, because after all, we're always going to be sinners. So a very practical benefit in all of this is the encouragement to keep fighting the good fight of faith, to know that by God's grace in Christ, sanctified sinners can put to death the deeds of the flesh, we can grow in godliness, and we can do what is pleasing in God's sight. You've been listening to Doctrine Matters with me, Kevin DeYoung, your host and teacher. If you'd like to learn more about the topics we talked about today, you can check out my book, Daily Doctrine. It's available in print or audio from Crossway.org and you may want to talk to your pastor or a trusted friend who can recommend other good resources. The Doctrine Matters podcast is produced by Crossway, a non profit ministry that exists solely for the purpose of proclaiming the truth of God's Word through publishing gospel centered content. To learn more, visit Crossway.org until next week, I'm Kevin DeYoung, and this has been Doctrine Matters. Thanks for joining us.