Mike Focht 10/24/2025
There is a fallacious notion of sin that permeates Christian circles. Whether through the ignorance of saints with good intentions or the sheer lack of unbiblical teaching flowing from America’s pulpits, most people who believe in sin also think that all sin is the same. Those same people would admit that stealing a cookie from the cookie jar and murder seem very different, but despite their misgivings about particulars, they are convinced that all sin is the same.
Of course, there are many dangers in thinking all sins are equal, and I cannot describe them all. Still, the primary danger is that we will harbor an unbiblical attitude toward sin, which means we will begin to see sin in a way vastly different than God sees it. One does not have to be a theologian to recognize that all sins are not equal in God’s sight. A simple reading of the Bible will prove this to any honest seeker of truth.
Sins were not equal for nations like the kingdoms of Ammon, Egypt, Nineveh, Babylon, Judah, and Israel. God judged their particular sins in particular ways at particular times.
God did not treat the sins of cities equally, as was proven by the history of Sodom and Gomorrah, Tyre and Sidon, Babylon and Jerusalem, and the Word of Christ to Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum.
The sins of individuals are not all the same. Christ said the Pharisees would receive greater condemnation and publicly admitted that the woman who was a sinner had many sins. James warns teachers they too will receive a stricter judgment, and Paul calls himself the chief of sinners and, therefore, a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.
Finally, because sins are not the same, books are kept in heaven, and all unrepentant sinners will find themselves before the Great White Throne to be judged according to their works. Why does heaven bother to keep track if all sins are the same?
There are some ways the Bible teaches sin is the same. Sin has inwardly corrupted us all. We are all sinners—the children of wrath by nature. All sin is the same in that it will send us to hell if it remains unforgiven. Whether we steal a cookie from the cookie jar or murder someone, the mere presence of sinful thoughts and actions proves that we are all fundamentally twisted by sin, and apart from the blood of Christ, all unredeemed humanity is lost.
That is how all sin is the same.
But once we read the Bible and see how God has revealed His view of sin, we immediately recognize that sins differ, and God responds to different sins in different ways. Sin is not the same in its harm to us, in its harm to others, in its spoiling of blessings, in its scope of influence, in its consequences, in its work on the conscience, mind, or heart, in the light that is sinned against, in the ignorance involved, in the foolishness involved, in the wickedness involved, and even in the judgment that follows—whether temporal or eternal.
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. Many sin seeds can be sown, but only a fool would dare think they will all produce the same harvest. Every sin seed is the same in that it will produce a harvest of corruption, but how great a harvest of corruption and what type of corrupt fruit depends on the type of sin seed sown.
My brothers and sisters, God is not trying to convince us that all sin is the same. Throughout His Word, God is trying to instill a healthy fear of sin and its potential to birth death in our lives. I wish the ordinary Christian feared sin more and the Holy Spirit less!
Beware of the deceitfulness of sin. Satan would seek to deceive us and lead us away from the stability of God’s Word and the safety and instruction we find there. Let none of us heed or spread Satan’s lies. All sin is not the same in God’s eyes. The more we see sin as God does, the safer will be our path through this life, and the greater will be our harvest in the next.