This is a topic I have hit on before, primarily in Categorizing the Laws of Yahweh, but also in a few other posts in lesser ways. Today I wish to expand upon the idea that not all sin is equal, we have at least two 'levels' to sin, the sins which lead to death and those which do not. Many have been brought up with this idea that all sin is equal in the eyes of Yah, but sadly this modern concept does not align to scripture as much as they think it does.
The ides of equality in sin comes from passages like Romans 3:10-11, As the Tanakh puts it, “There is no one righteous, not even one! No one understands, no one seeks God, and absolutely none of us are righteous. James 2:10-11 says, For a person who keeps the whole Torah, yet stumbles at one point, has become guilty of breaking them all. 11 For the One who said, “Don’t commit adultery,”[b] also said, “Don’t murder.”[c] Now, if you don’t commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the Torah. Making it clear that any sin a violation of the entirety of law, what people can consider smaller sins, like speeding for example which would violate obeying our governing officials, Romans 13:1. This would certainly place all sins in a closer to level to playing field, showing that the idea people naturally have of 'this sin is okay but this one isn't is wrong, all sins have consequence, all sin is to disobey our Elohim.
Romans 6:23 says, For what one earns from sin is death; but eternal life is what one receives as a free gift from God, in union with the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord. Showing us clearly that sin separates us from Adonai, that even the smallest sin pays such a consequence. Isaiah 59:2 says, Rather, it is your own crimes that separate you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he doesn’t hear. All sins pay a similar consequence in at least this aspect, that without salvation we are to be sent to the second death after judgement, and that until our first death or our salvation Yah has turned away from us, refusing to hear us. This makes even the 'small' sins a very serious matter!
But does this mean that all sin is equal jut because it all has a similar end? To draw that conclusion would be to ignore the words of the Messiah himself in John 19:11, Yeshua answered, “You would have no power over me if it hadn’t been given to you from above; this is why the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” Indeed all through the Old Testament we see sins that are worth stoning over, death before the atonement of Yeshua, and sins that have other punishments. They have a similar start point issue that is huge, separation from our creator, but they are not all treated equally. 1 John 5:16-17 says, If anyone sees his brother committing a sin that does not lead to death, he will ask; and God will give him life for those whose sinning does not lead to death. There is sin that does lead to death; I am not saying he should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. So we can clearly see that some sins now lead to spiritual death here.
But if one is saved are not all their sins forgiven, past, present, and future? Acts 3:19 says, Therefore, repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be erased. So the short answer is Yes, but it isn't so simple. Matthew 6:14-15 says, For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will not forgive yours. Showing that there is, at times, 'conditions'. After all, if we are not repentant of the action we can not be forgiven of it. We still stand before Abba at Judgement Day, whether we are saved by the blood of Yeshua or not. So that is where we see a difference, are we saved by that blood on judgement for certain sins we are unrepentant of and continue to do? Hebrews 10:26 answers this, For if we deliberately continue to sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. So in applying this to the already shown 1 John 5:16-17 we see that some sins will not be forgiven on judgement if they are continued as a believer and the believer is unrepentant of them. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a matter of losing your salvation, you will see as we continue that the sins which lead to death, the ones spoken of which are 'greater sins' are all sins no believer following the Ruach Hakodesh, observant of Torah or not, would Wish to commit. So anyone truly following Yahweh would avoid these sins to begin with.
So how then do we know what sins are the sins which lead to death? We have two places to look for that answer, first is to Revelations 21:8, But as for the cowardly, the untrustworthy, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those involved with the occult and with drugs, idol-worshippers, and all liars — their destiny is the lake burning with fire and sulfur, the second death. That hits pretty hard for some people. Who among us hasn't ever made an idol of something or someone? Who among us hasn't told a lie? In my case, I've struggled with sexual sin my whole life. All those are compared as equal to the Murderers, and all sexual sins counted equal; incest and beastiality with the common fornicator! 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 says, Don’t you know that unrighteous people will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don’t delude yourselves — people who engage in sex before marriage, who worship idols, who engage in sex after marriage with someone other than their spouse, who engage in active or passive homosexuality, 10 who steal, who are greedy, who get drunk, who assail people with contemptuous language, who rob — none of them will share in the Kingdom of God. 11 Some of you used to do these things. But you have cleansed yourselves, you have been set apart for God, you have come to be counted righteous through the power of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and the Spirit of our God. This repeats some of it, adding thievery, greed, drunkenness, and even foul speech. That such behaviors as those listed are not only inappropriate among believers but outright unacceptable to Yahweh. We must turn away from these things, to do as 1 Peter 1:16 says, since the Tanakh says, “You are to be holy because I am holy.” James 2:14-25 drives this home, emphasising that Faith creates works or it is not really faith at all. That someone may claim to be following Yeshua but without the works that follow they are not truly following Yeshua and thus his blood will not pay for their atonement. What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith but has no actions to prove it? Is such “faith” able to save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food, 16 and someone says to him, “Shalom! Keep warm and eat hearty!” without giving him what he needs, what good does it do? 17 Thus, faith by itself, unaccompanied by actions, is dead. But someone will say that you have faith and I have actions. Show me this faith of yours without the actions, and I will show you my faith by my actions! 19 You believe that “God is one”?[d] Good for you! The demons believe it too — the thought makes them shudder with fear! But, foolish fellow, do you want to be shown that such “faith” apart from actions is barren? 21 Wasn’t Avraham avinu declared righteous because of actions when he offered up his son Yitz’chak on the altar?22 You see that his faith worked with his actions; by the actions the faith was made complete; 23 and the passage of the Tanakh was fulfilled which says, “Avraham had faith in God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness.”[e] He was even called God’s friend.[f]24 You see that a person is declared righteous because of actions and not because of faith alone. Likewise, wasn’t Rachav the prostitute also declared righteous because of actions when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another route? 26 Indeed, just as the body without a spirit is dead, so too faith without actions is dead.
All that shows us that there are very much sins which Yahweh does not forgive no matter how much we claim to love and follow Yeshua, if we are not repentant of them and moving away from them we simply aren't saved. But what of those 'lesser sins'. Notice what's among them? Things like obedience to the government, celebrating the Holy Days, our Diet, abuse, and more; all very serious matters, this doesn't lessen them, but they can be done and still have someone be saved. So to understand this we must look to Matthew 5:19, So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. Showing us that people who disobey some of these things can still be entered into the Kingdom of Heaven but that they hold a lesser place. As Matthew 6:19-21 says, Do not store up for yourselves wealth here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and burglars break in and steal. 20 Instead, store up for yourselves wealth in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and burglars do not break in or steal. 21 For where your wealth is, there your heart will be also. We are to focus on storing treasure in heaven, and clearly our obedience to Yah is a large part of this to be greater in the Kingdom of Heaven - but be careful! If this is your sole purpose to act as Yah calls us to you will be condemned just as the pharisees, for Love of our Elohim should always be the fuel for obedience according to 2 John 1:6 and many others, Moreover, love is this: that we should live according to his commands. This is the command, as you people have heard from the beginning; live by it! There is also some lenience in our understanding of the Law of Elohim, Romans 5:13 says, Sin was indeed present in the world before Torah was given, but sin is not counted as such when there is no Torah. Without the understanding of the Law we can not be condemned for those sins. Now, all mentally and emotionally healthy adults are gifted with an innate sense of wrong and right, one that leads us away from the sins that lead to death, so there is then no excuse given for those. But in these 'lesser sins' such as dietary laws for example, there is grace given if the believer is simply not understanding that they remain today, but no grace given if the believer simply rejects them based on a comment like 'But I like bacon' (which delves also into idolatry). We also see this in Luke 12:47-18, Now the servant who knew what his master wanted but didn’t prepare or act according to his will, will be whipped with many lashes;48 however, the one who did what deserves a beating, but didn’t know, will receive few lashes. From him who has been given much, much will be demanded — from someone to whom people entrust much, they ask still more. So we can see that as we learn more of the Law of Elohim we are indeed held to a higher standard to uphold those laws, but that we do still have grace in our failings - of which we all have many.
So this gives us at least two 'levels' to sin. But there is one more that is heavily disputed as to what Exactly it means, and not a topic I am even willing to attempt to tackle right now as I can't pretend to understand it myself! Matthew 12:31 says, Because of this, I tell you that people will be forgiven any sin and blasphemy, but blaspheming the Ruach HaKodesh will not be forgiven. This shows us that not only is there sins that lead to the second death, but one ultimate sin that is unforgiveable.
I know for many this post may be hard to take, it goes against much of what is being taught in modern churches today. While I am aware I may have stepped on toes and broken a few sacred cows it was in the name of correction and I do hope that you are able to take it as such, and learn and grow in our understanding of following Yeshua, Abba, and the Ruach Hakodesh. May Elohim bless you.
