All sin is equal in the eyes of God.

PDA Introduction (Why are we doing this?)

What is the purpose of this series?

The most important thing for you to remember from this series and practice during it is not how to defend your argument, but how to do it with love.

In other words, your goal is not to win the argument. Your goal is always to win the person. Sometimes both are not always possible.

Rules:

I will open by stating my argument with a little bit of fuel.

My argument must come from the Bible.

After I present my argument, you’re allowed to start defending Christianity.

Your argument must come from the Bible; you’re allowed to have notes, but those notes must be from a source that uses the Bible.

I’m allowed to lie to you; but if you ask me if I’m lying I’ll tell you honestly. **The truth is never afraid to be questioned. A lie never likes to be challenged.**

If the majority either wishes to give up, y’all win, or we run out of time, I will open a Q & A for any of you.

If I feel an argument is at a dead end, either by me losing or you going silent, I’ll open a new one and we’ll address the old one during the Q&A.

To make things more efficient, I will only pick those who raise their hand. If you have a thought to add, raise your hand.

Any questions? Let the game begin.

Opening Argument

Romans 6:23 CSB

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So what is it that causes someone to go to Hell?

The fall of man? Not trusting in Jesus? Sin? What is the one thing that causes us to go to Hell?

What is it that causes one to earn eternity in Hell?

Sin. But which sin causes eternity in Hell?

All of them. Any sin, no matter how small, is enough to earn you a one way ticket to eternal damnation.

Therefore, what it sounds like to me is that all sin equal in God’s eyes.

Counter for OT Law

Well that was only the law for us. For people. I’m arguing that sin is equally bad in the eyes of God. The OT Law laid out differing levels of punishment for us because it’s the laws for a nation.

James 2:10 CSB

For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all.

Answers

Exodus 22:1–4 CSB

“When a man steals an ox or a sheep and butchers it or sells it, he must repay five cattle for the ox or four sheep for the sheep. If a thief is caught in the act of breaking in, and he is beaten to death, no one is guilty of bloodshed. But if this happens after sunrise, the householder is guilty of bloodshed. A thief must make full restitution. If he is unable, he is to be sold because of his theft. If what was stolen—whether ox, donkey, or sheep—is actually found alive in his possession, he must repay double.

Exodus 21:22–25 CSB

“When men get in a fight and hit a pregnant woman so that her children are born prematurely but there is no injury, the one who hit her must be fined as the woman’s husband demands from him, and he must pay according to judicial assessment. If there is an injury, then you must give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, bruise for bruise, wound for wound.

Deuteronomy 25:1–3 CSB

“If there is a dispute between men, they are to go to court, and the judges will hear their case. They will clear the innocent and condemn the guilty. If the guilty party deserves to be flogged, the judge will make him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes appropriate for his crime. He may be flogged with forty lashes, but no more. Otherwise, if he is flogged with more lashes than these, your brother will be degraded in your sight.

OT Law Counter Answer

Hebrews 2:1–2 CSB

For this reason, we must pay attention all the more to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away. For if the message spoken through angels was legally binding and every transgression and disobedience received a just punishment,

1 Kings 16:25 CSB

Omri did what was evil in the Lord’s sight; he did more evil than all who were before him.

Jeremiah 7:24–26 CSB

Yet they didn’t listen or pay attention but followed their own advice and their own stubborn, evil heart. They went backward and not forward. Since the day your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until today, I have sent all my servants the prophets to you time and time again. However, my people wouldn’t listen to me or pay attention but became obstinate; they did more evil than their ancestors.

Hebrews 10:28–29 CSB

Anyone who disregarded the law of Moses died without mercy, based on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you think one will deserve who has trampled on the Son of God, who has regarded as profane the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

Matthew 11:20–22 CSB

Then he proceeded to denounce the towns where most of his miracles were done, because they did not repent: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

John 19:7–11 CSB

“We have a law,” the Jews replied to him, “and according to that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this statement, he was more afraid than ever. He went back into the headquarters and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not give him an answer. So Pilate said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?” “You would have no authority over me at all,” Jesus answered him, “if it hadn’t been given you from above. This is why the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

Luke 12:47–48 CSB

And that servant who knew his master’s will and didn’t prepare himself or do it will be severely beaten. But the one who did not know and did what deserved punishment will receive a light beating. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be expected.

So how should we interpret James 2:10?

James 2:10–11 CSB

10 For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all. 11 For he who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not murder. So if you do not commit adultery, but you murder, you are a lawbreaker.

The Letter of James 2. Discrimination Is Wrong Because It Violates the Kingdom Law of Love (2:8–13)

If we view the law as a series of individual commandments, we could assume that disobedience of a particular commandment incurred guilt for that commandment only. But, in fact, the individual commandments are part and parcel of one indivisible whole, because they reflect the will of the one Lawgiver. To violate a commandment is to disobey God himself and render a person guilty before him.

Picture a large window with a small target on it.

You’re standing in front of this target with a hammer and you hit the window on the small target, but the whole window shatters.

Should you pay for the small piece of glass that you hit or are you responsible for the entire window?

Why would someone say that all sins are equal?

There’s two occasions where someone will say that all sins are the same.

The individual is trying to equate their sin to a ‘small sin’ to ease their conscience.

The individual will claim that the sin of their lifestyle (such as homosexuality, alcoholism, or pride) is called out more compared to other sins (such as gluttony).

To say that all sins are equal, so why is my sin more persecuted.

So if all sins are not equal in the level of how evil they are, does that mean that there is a hierarchy of sin?

Hierarchy of sins

While the Bible doesn’t have a detailed numbered list of which sins are the worst, it does give hints. From just a short amount of time, I would put at the top:

The Unforgivable Sin

Mark 3:28–29 CSB

28 “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for all sins and whatever blasphemies they utter. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—

So what is the unforgivable sin? Maybe we’ll do a lesson on it.

Seven things the Lord hates

Proverbs 6:16–19 CSB

16 The Lord hates six things; in fact, seven are detestable to him: 17 arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet eager to run to evil, 19 a lying witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up trouble among brothers.

Capital Sins

Murder (Exodus 21:12-14; Leviticus 24:17, 21) Attacking or cursing a parent (Exodus 21:15, 17) A Lifestyle of Defiance (Deuteronomy 21:18-21) Kidnapping / “Manstealing” (Exodus 21:16) Refusal to restrain an animal who was known to kill (Exodus 21:28-29) Witchcraft and sorcery (Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 13:5; 1 Samuel 28:9) Human sacrifice (Leviticus 20:2-5) Sex with an animal (Exodus 22:19; Leviticus 20:16) Doing work on the Sabbath (Exodus 31:14; 35:2; Numbers 15:32-36) Incest (Leviticus 18:6-18; 20:11-12, 14, 17, 19-21) Adultery (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22) Homosexual acts (Leviticus 20:13) Prostitution by a priest’s daughter (Leviticus 21:9) Blasphemy (Leviticus 24:14, 16, 23) False prophecy (Deuteronomy 18:20) Perjury in capital cases (Deuteronomy 19:16-19) Disobeying a court order of a judge or priest (Deuteronomy 17:12) False claim of a woman’s virginity at time of marriage (Deuteronomy 22:13-21) Sex between a woman pledged to be married and a man other than her betrothed (Deuteronomy 22:23-24)

These sins have no sacrifice. That’s why David was so heartbroken.

David was known as a man after God’s own heart? Why? There was no sacrifice to cleanse what David did. He committed adultery and murder. Both capital crimes!

Psalm 51:1–3 CSB

1 Be gracious to me, God, according to your faithful love; according to your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion. 2 Completely wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me.

Psalm 51:16–17 CSB

16 You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it; you are not pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. You will not despise a broken and humbled heart, God.

Sexual Sins

1 Corinthians 6:18–20 CSB

18 Flee sexual immorality! Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the person who is sexually immoral sins against his own body. 19 Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.

The Bible tells us that sexual sins are a higher category than most sins. Why? Every other sin is committed outside of the body, but a sexual sin is committed against one’s own body.

What makes that so much worse? You were bought at a price! What price? The death of Jesus.

1 Peter 3:18 CSB

For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,

Why is it so important for us to know the magnitude of sin?

Have you ever rinsed your mouth with Listerine? Anti-septic mouthwash? It’s strong, isn’t it? It burns, right? What would happen if I started adding water to it? It would become weak. It would get watered down.

We live in a society that is constantly watering down the severity of sin.

Sin, no matter how small, is punishable of an eternal wrath from God. We live in a world that makes a joke and a mockery of it.

The first Devil’s Advocate was to remind us that we forget the power of the Bible. This should remind us that we forget the holiness of God and His intolerance for sin.