I have often heard it said that there are no such thing as "big sins" or "small sins," since all deserve death in the eyes of God. But in Mark 3:28-29, Jesus mentioned the very serious sin of blaspheming the Spirit. Please help me understand. -- Phil Yu (Taichung)
To begin with, though it is true that sin separates us from God--an eternal consequence--various sins have different levels of impact in terms of relationships. Sin affects how we relate to others, even how we relate to ourselves (psychologically). Perhaps we cannot rank all sins by category and degree of severity, but it simply isn't true that all sins are equal. Rudeness and selfishness can damage a relationship, jealousy can destroy it, and murder can erase it completely.
As for the sin of blaspheming the Spirit (Matthew 12, Mark 3, Luke 12), in context the sin does not appear to be one discrete act. After all, Paul described himself as a blasphemer (1 Timothy 1:13), and yet he was forgiven. Rather, the blasphemy against the Spirit seems to be a condition of hard-heartedness that makes repentance impossible. The context: the outright denial of an obvious miracle, a stubborn refusal to believe. If certain of the Pharisees were unable to believe -- so far had they let the condition of their hearts deteriorate -- then there is a point of no return (Proverbs 29:1).
Short answer: Yes, all sins are serious, but no, all sins are not equally serious.
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