“…not every negative effect finds its specific cause in a specific sin on the part of the person experiencing it. That is to say, mental health is not a sin issue. And while there may be individual sins that contribute to the relative health or malady of a person, the level of health itself is not ipso facto a moral issue.” - Kainos
“In many cases, sin does express itself in shocking debauchery—but most often it expresses itself in more invisible or easily justifiable ways of ‘walking in the flesh.’” - Russel Moore
Read the series.
Why does God treat some sin more seriously than other sin? The answer to that question depends upon at least two factors: the degree of light the sinner possesses, and the degree of intention involved in the sin. Let’s consider each of these in turn.
In Luke 12:47-48, Jesus teaches this principle by way of an illustration:
Are there degrees of sin? The simple answer to that question is “yes.” Jesus himself acknowledged degrees of sin when He said to Pilate, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin” (John 19:11). In light of Christ’s words, we must acknowledge degrees of sin. However, we must also beware of drawing unbiblical conclusions from this truth.
“I can’t say exactly when, most Americans simply lost any sense of being sinful, of needing forgiveness. Most don’t think they are bad…. they will admit to having faults, but basically they think they are ‘good people’ and so are most others.” - Roger Olson
“Killing sin is the focus of the Christ follower until the time they see Jesus face to face.” - Tim McKnight
“We feel sorry for Uzzah, don’t we? From our perspective, he was simply a man with good intentions. He was just trying to help, we say. Yet Uzzah had sinned against God.” - C.Today
“One such falsehood that continues to be passed on from generation to generation is the idea that ‘all sin is equal’ or ‘all sin is the same.’” - C.Leaders
“The first thing to do is: Turn to the Scriptures. Yes, turn to John Owen (never a bad idea!), or to some other counselor dead or alive. But remember that we have not been left only to good human resources in this area. We need to be taught from ‘the mouth of God’ so that the principles we are learning to apply carry with them both the authority of God and the promise of God to make them work.” - Ligonier
