James 2:10 says: "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." Does this mean all sins are equally bad? Does it mean that me being a little impatient with someone who wastes my time no better than someone who tortures and murders for pleasure? I don't think it does.
God is holy and perfect. God's law is also holy and perfect. If we break even one minor point of God's perfect law, we become sinners, and are no longer perfect. Either we have kept God's law perfectly, or we have not. The bible says that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". Only one minor infringement is needed before we fall short of God's glory. We are all legally guilty before God. In this way, all sins are equal - it only takes one sin, any sin, to make us guilty before God.
The difference comes when we start talking about relationships with God and other people. Clearly I am going to get on better with people who I am only a little impatient with, than people who I beat up everytime I see them. The bible recognises this as well. Jesus once said about the Pharisees: "You give a tenth of your spices - mint dill, and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law - justice, mercy, and faithfulness." Jesus said there are more important matters of the law, implying that there are also less important matters of the law. If all matters of the law were equal, then Jesus would have presumably got along with the Pharisees a lot better, because they kept a large number of the laws.
So, while all sin is legally the same, the effects are different. Some sins hurt me, or other people more than other sins do, and not recognising this fact would lead to absurdity very quickly - we could not say a mass murderer was was any different to someone caught in a little white lie.
God is holy and perfect. God's law is also holy and perfect. If we break even one minor point of God's perfect law, we become sinners, and are no longer perfect. Either we have kept God's law perfectly, or we have not. The bible says that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". Only one minor infringement is needed before we fall short of God's glory. We are all legally guilty before God. In this way, all sins are equal - it only takes one sin, any sin, to make us guilty before God.
The difference comes when we start talking about relationships with God and other people. Clearly I am going to get on better with people who I am only a little impatient with, than people who I beat up everytime I see them. The bible recognises this as well. Jesus once said about the Pharisees: "You give a tenth of your spices - mint dill, and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law - justice, mercy, and faithfulness." Jesus said there are more important matters of the law, implying that there are also less important matters of the law. If all matters of the law were equal, then Jesus would have presumably got along with the Pharisees a lot better, because they kept a large number of the laws.
So, while all sin is legally the same, the effects are different. Some sins hurt me, or other people more than other sins do, and not recognising this fact would lead to absurdity very quickly - we could not say a mass murderer was was any different to someone caught in a little white lie.
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