Judging and Sin

[Jman96]

Why do we as Christian think one sin is worse than others? Doesn't the bible say:

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, "You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. (James 2:10, 11 NIV)

We also have no room to judge, for the true person to judge us should be the Lord our God. We all sin, which makes us equally hypocrites.

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:1-5 NIV)

So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? (Romans 2:3 NIV)

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor? (James 4:12 NIV)

This one sticks out but is a but off topic:

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. (Galatians 6:1 NIV)


I see a lot of times we are caught up in the moment saying wow you are bad if you do this, yet we go off and do another sin that in our eyes is nothing. Yet to God all sin is equal. I think that we should more try to live a life where we know of our wrong doings and repent, while helping others in a way other than pointing fingers. We can be accountable for our friends, I can see us being much more successful if we go to our friends and say can you help me stay away from this sin and hold me accountable? So I now am going to try to go and be careful, so I can be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.(James 1:19 NIV) In My Opinion: We have no right to put others down for there sin when we struggle with something else. It just is unfair. We are not perfect...


Sorry if you are offended by this or whatever but I needed room to speak so I started this thread. I am not looking for a debate and if it becomes that I will request an admin locks up this thread...so if you have any additional things to say please ...be my guest.

 

[Hitch]

John 19:11
Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.


Ya think that might be a good reason?

Do you really think spitting on the sidewalk is the same in God's eyes as say, murder for hire?


Jesus speaks to one of your other points as well;

John 7:24
Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

And Jesus knew the people he was speaking to were sinners.

 

[Mike S]

Why do we as Christian think one sin is worse than others? Doesn't the bible say:

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, "You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. (James 2:10, 11 NIV)

We also have no room to judge, for the true person to judge us should be the Lord our God. We all sin, which makes us equally hypocrites.

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:1-5 NIV)

So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? (Romans 2:3 NIV)

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor? (James 4:12 NIV)

This one sticks out but is a but off topic:

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. (Galatians 6:1 NIV)


I see a lot of times we are caught up in the moment saying wow you are bad if you do this, yet we go off and do another sin that in our eyes is nothing. Yet to God all sin is equal. I think that we should more try to live a life where we know of our wrong doings and repent, while helping others in a way other than pointing fingers. We can be accountable for our friends, I can see us being much more successful if we go to our friends and say can you help me stay away from this sin and hold me accountable? So I now am going to try to go and be careful, so I can be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.(James 1:19 NIV) In My Opinion: We have no right to put others down for there sin when we struggle with something else. It just is unfair. We are not perfect...


Sorry if you are offended by this or whatever but I needed room to speak so I started this thread. I am not looking for a debate and if it becomes that I will request an admin locks up this thread...so if you have any additional things to say please ...be my guest.

I'm not offended. You've spoken the truth.

 

[reba]

Every thing you said is good, right, correct, etc but is is complete?

Everything we do or don't is decided by judgment. Is judgement always a negative?

How about judging which is the best rose.... as in the very simple act of picking the one in your eyes which is the prettiest .:yes

So we need close look at the depth of scripture. Some times common sense is a good judge. Is there a part of town you stay away from? Do you judge that part of town to be unsafe? that would be a good judgment. Checking the background of a person you wish to hire would be a smart move.

I dont always equate the word judging with condemning. I can not condemn any to hell nor can you we dont have the power to do so. I would not want to do so.

It is not judging to say to the guy who stole your wallet ..Your a thief give me back my wallet.... This is not to say you can not forgive the guy.

The wages of sin are death...... Bible tells us so.... Forgiveness Grace mercy.. we are to forgive as we wish to be forgiven....

degrees of sin

The sin of gluttony.... Eat and eat for ten years ask for forgiveness you' ll be forgiven.. but the fat hangs around

When we look at the OT we see different punishment for different crimes. It is a sin to steal the dime from your mom. It is a sin for a child to beat his/her mom is one worse then the other yes....

I do not have the biblical right to claim your sin is worse then mine. We are all sinners Rom 3 tells us we are all very rotten. As Christians we are all washed in the Blood of the Lamb! we are all clean , some of us end up in the laundry more often...

OT and NT gives us the idea sex sins are an edge above... I dont read those verses to say sex sin is worse but the consequences are there... Like gluttony they can hang around....STDs AIDS little sweet babies not wanted or worse aborted. You steal the dime from mom she scolds ya' makes you give it back.... You get AIDS it for life, or better said for death.

Can the hooker, adulterer, liar, murder, thief, homosexual, glutton, rapist, drunkard, gossiper,, etc be forgiven for sure.... does it take more prayer from this sinner or that one for forgiveness nope.

 

[Christ_empowered]

I believe in degrees of sin. Romans 1 lists lots of serious sins that indicate a state of moral decay. 1 Corinthians 6:9 has a shorter list of sins that will keep one out of the Kingdom of Heaven.

I also think you can look to your own life and those of people around you and see that certain sins are more damaging than others. Tell a white lie? Bad. Sinful. Truth might be painful, but if we are to love others then we must be honest with them. Consequences? Guilt. Keeping a relationship at a shallow level when it could be more open and honest.

Sexual sins? We are told these are quite serious in 1 Corinthianss 6:18. Like Reba pointed out--unwanted pregnancies, abortions, kids, AIDS, etc. Connections are made that shouldn't have been made. People are hurt, some are driven to despair. People, who are to be treated with the dignity due someone created in God's image, are treated as a means to an end. Human dignity is lost somewhere in the mix.

And look at what it takes to recover from sins. If you tell a minor lie, you can cover it up and pray, or own up to it and still pray. Done, usually. Drug abuse? Rehab, "treatment," years of wasted life, and the process of repentance is longer, more intense, and more involved because you've so damaged your coscience and burdened your soul with darkness that it takes more to make you fully human again.

So, yes--based on my own understanding of Scripture and my own life experiences, I do think some sins are more serious than others, both in God's eyes and in terms of real-life consequences.

 

[Hitch]

Every thing you said is good, right, correct, etc but is is complete?

Everything we do or don't is decided by judgment. Is judgement always a negative?

How about judging which is the best rose.... as in the very simple act of picking the one in your eyes which is the prettiest .:yes

So we need close look at the depth of scripture. Some times common sense is a good judge. Is there a part of town you stay away from? Do you judge that part of town to be unsafe? that would be a good judgment. Checking the background of a person you wish to hire would be a smart move.

I dont always equate the word judging with condemning. I can not condemn any to hell nor can you we dont have the power to do so. I would not want to do so.

It is not judging to say to the guy who stole your wallet ..Your a thief give me back my wallet.... This is not to say you can not forgive the guy.

The wages of sin are death...... Bible tells us so.... Forgiveness Grace mercy.. we are to forgive as we wish to be forgiven....

degrees of sin

The sin of gluttony.... Eat and eat for ten years ask for forgiveness you' ll be forgiven.. but the fat hangs around

When we look at the OT we see different punishment for different crimes. It is a sin to steal the dime from your mom. It is a sin for a child to beat his/her mom is one worse then the other yes....

I do not have the biblical right to claim your sin is worse then mine. We are all sinners Rom 3 tells us we are all very rotten. As Christians we are all washed in the Blood of the Lamb! we are all clean , some of us end up in the laundry more often...

OT and NT gives us the idea sex sins are an edge above... I dont read those verses to say sex sin is worse but the consequences are there... Like gluttony they can hang around....STDs AIDS little sweet babies not wanted or worse aborted. You steal the dime from mom she scolds ya' makes you give it back.... You get AIDS it for life, or better said for death.

Can the hooker, adulterer, liar, murder, thief, homosexual, glutton, rapist, drunkard, gossiper,, etc be forgiven for sure.... does it take more prayer from this sinner or that one for forgiveness nope.

PERF!

 

[Jman96]

Thanks for all the replies, I did not expect so many. I see everyones points and understand more now

 

[Mike S]

The games "Christians" play.

Christ's message is one of love for God and ourselves and our neighbors, but is also one of recognizing that man is a flawed, fallen, sinful creature. All of us, each and every one, is irretrievably sinful without God's grace. Even with that grace, we're all vulnerable to backsliding, being drawn back into the sins of our natural human condition.

But there is a hook in Christian belief that can seduce some of us into a sense of moral superiority, drawing us into the fools game of ranking sins into priorities where the sins of others are always worse than our own, and especially worse than the sin we just repented of. The seduction is there for us to be the experts, to be the instructors for the weaker, imperfect ones. To always be the Eliphaz, or Bildad, or Zophar, sure of ourselves in our smug, self-satisfying, self righteous way, always prepared to lecture whomever is our"Job" of the moment.

Just as with Job's pompous, self-important, friends, those who presume to judge and lecture the rest of us for sins they've ranked high on their scale of seriousness, are most frequently those with the least wisdom, and the poorest understanding of God's will.

Look to yourselves to see how completely you've fallen short of God's will, and leave to God the task of judging the rest. Do not be the modern day fools who've taken upon yourselves the foolishness of Elipnaz, Bildad, and Zophar, as satisfying as that may to your egos.

 

[Danus]

The games "Christians" play.

Christ's message is one of love for God and ourselves and our neighbors, but is also one of recognizing that man is a flawed, fallen, sinful creature. All of us, each and every one, is irretrievably sinful without God's grace. Even with that grace, we're all vulnerable to backsliding, being drawn back into the sins of our natural human condition.

But there is a hook in Christian belief that can seduce some of us into a sense of moral superiority, drawing us into the fools game of ranking sins into priorities where the sins of others are always worse than our own, or the sin we just repented of. The seduction is there for us to be the experts, to be the instructors for the weaker, imperfect ones. To always be the Eliphaz, or Bildad, or Zophar, sure of ourselves in our smug, self-satisfying, self righteous way, always prepared to lecture whomever is our"Job" of the moment.

Just as with Job's pompous, self-important, friends, those who presume to judge and lecture the rest of us for sins they've ranked high on their scale of seriousness, are most frequently those with the least wisdom, and the poorest understanding of God's will.

Look to yourselves to see how completely you've fallen short of God's will, and leave to God the task of judging the rest. Do not be the modern day fools who've taken upon yourselves the foolishness of Elipnaz, Bildad, and Zophar, as satisfying as that may to your egos.

I see three players in this game.

1. The unsaved who say they are not sinners because they don't even believe in Christ.

2. The unsaved who say they are not sinners because they have placed great effort in being good Christians.

3 The sinner who is saved because he knows he is a sinner, and believes in and follows the righteousness of Christ.

 

[Mike S]

I see three players in this game.

1. The unsaved who say they are not sinners because they don't even believe in Christ.

2. The unsaved who say they are not sinners because they have placed great effort in being good Christians.

3 The sinner who is saved because he knows he is a sinner, and believes in and follows the righteousness of Christ.

Nothing here for me to disagree with. There is a theme extending throughout the Bible. the danger of hubris, the foolishness of being certain we can speak for God.

 

[Mike]

Inasmuch as all sins are forgivable with the exception of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and there is no more that we need to do than believe, confess and repent, in order to be forgiven, all sins are equal. There are certain sins cited in scripture that the Lord hates, but He hates all sin, doesn't He?

Rev 22:12 suggests that there will be certain rewards in Heaven when we arrive for things done here on earth, but sins which are confessed and repented of will not stand in the way of salvation.

 

[felix]

Not all sins are equal. There are even sins that does not lead to death:
(1John 5:17) All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not [leading] to death.

(Luke 6:37) " Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

While English says "Judge not", it is not what my native language Tamil Bible says. If I do a literal translation:

Don't give judgement as a criminal for you will be judged as a criminal. Don't condemn anyone in your judgement for you will be condemned. But release them and you will be released.

It never says not to judge, but rather, not to give judgement as a criminal and condemn him but give judgement to release him.