What is worse than the sin of homosexuality?
"Webmaster"
"Teaching people it's ok to do so.
As it is written,
But whoso shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble,
it is profitable for him that a great millstone should be hanged about his neck,
and that he should be sunk in the depth of the sea."
With all due respect, that is not true! There is nothing worse than "the sin of Homosexuality" (including blasphemy against the Holy Spirit) because all sin is equal, absolute and not categorized. See below:
The word "sin" originally comes from the early English middle ages (Robin Hood time) and was a technical term used in archery meaning "to miss the mark". It was an absolute term meaning that the degree to which you had missed the mark was irrelevant. What was important was that the mark had been missed. If you had missed the mark by 5 degrees then you had missed the mark ("sinned"); If you had missed the mark by 10 degrees then you had missed the mark ("sinned"); If you had missed the mark by 45 degrees then you had missed the mark ("sinned"); If you had missed the mark by 90 degrees then you had missed the mark ("sinned"); If you had missed the mark by 180 degrees (by shooting in totally the opposite direction?!) then you had missed the mark ("sinned"), simple as that.
In Rom.3:23 we read: "...for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God," so we see that to sin is to fall short of the glory of God. So what exactly is the glory of God from which we have all fallen short?
In Jn.1:14 we read: "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us and we have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
In Heb.1:3 we read: "The Son is the radiance of God's glory, the exact representation of His Being."
By these two verses we see that the glory of God is the perfect Nature and Character of God. Not only this but that Jesus was/is the perfect physical embodiment of that Nature/Character of God.
In 1Jn.3:4 we read "Everyone who sins breaks the law, in fact sin is lawlessness." This verse tells us that the Law of God and the glory of God are the same thing since according to Rom.3:23 to sin is to fall short of the glory of God and according to this verse "sin" is lawlessness. So we see that the Law of God is yet another revelation of the Nature and Character of God (which is why Paul says that the Law is holy, righteous and good (Rom.7:12)). Peter, quoting Isaiah, also teaches that the Word (ie the Law/God (Jn.1:1)) stands forever (Isa.40:8; 1Pet.1:25). Jesus Himself also declares that the Law will not pass away until everything is accomplished (Matt.5:17-18), ie. once the kingdom is fully consumated the revelation of the Law will become superfluous but not obsolete, since the Law is the revelation of Nature and Character of God Himself and He, by definition, can never be obsolete.
So we see that, theologically speaking, "sin" is to be less than the "glory of God", that being the perfect Nature and Character of God Himself. Again, like in mediaeval archery, the term "sin" is an absolute term. In this case "sin" is not a measure of how bad you are, rather, "sin" is a measure of how good you are not.
If you sit an exam and the pass mark is 100% and you get 99% then you have failed. If you only get 75% then you have failed. If you only get 50% you have failed. If you get 0 then you have failed. If you get 99% and everyone else gets only 75% you have still failed. The degree to which you have failed is irrelevant The pass mark is 100%.
So we see from this that "sin" is a 100% absolute term. It is exactly the same for everybody. It is not a relative term. There is absolutely no such thing as "little sins" and "big sins" ("venial sins" and "mortal sins"). If you do not conform perfectly to the perfect Nature and Character of God (as revealed in Jesus and the Law) then you have "sinned" and are a "sinner". You are less than perfect and therefore destined for h***/the Lake of Fire.
The Bible also teaches that God is immutable. This means that His nature is always exactly the same. It NEVER changes (Mal.3:6; Heb.13:8. This means that what God thinks about "sin" is always exactly the same. It NEVER changes. God's attitude toward "sin" is one of absolute implacable hostility, one of infinite (limitless) hatred. It ALWAYS has been and it ALWAYS will be. As long as God exists His attitude toward "sin" will NEVER change. He does not think differently about "different types" or "degrees" of "sin" since, as we have seen, there is no such thing as different "types" or "degrees" of "sin".
Now, this is not the case with "evil". Evil is the breaking down, the corruption, the spoiling, of that which is good. You can have good without evil (perfection - God) but you cannot have evil without first having something good to corrupt. Because of this, unlike the term "sin", "evil" is a relative term. That means that you CAN have degrees of evil. Some things are more evil, more corrupt, (not sinful) than others. Some things are less evil, less corrupt, (not sinful) than others.
In Matt.16:27 we read: "For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father's glory, with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what he has done."
In Rev.20:11-13 we read: "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from His presence and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened. Another book was opened which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done."
These two references teach about the judgement of people for how they have lived their lives. This is not the judgement for "sin" (ie "who lives and who dies?") since this has already been decided and the believers are seperate from the unbelievers.
The believers are rewarded for their faithfulness and loyalty to the kingdom during their life as believers, for their "sanctification" (again, this is not about judgement for sin, "who lives and who dies?" since this has already been decided) see also 1Cor.3:11-15.
The unbelievers on the other hand will also be judged for how they have lived as unbelievers (again this is not about judgement for sin, "who lives and who dies?" since this has already been decided) and recompensed accordingly.
In all cases each person will get their "just recompence" for how they have lived on Earth (Rom.2:1-16; Heb.9:27.
"Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is hating somebody just because they are a Christian?
Because that's the reason you hate them, you hate the Holy Spirit which is shown thru them! So the haterd in your heart and all the thoughts are againist the Holy Spirit which amounts to Blasphemy?"
With respect, that also is not quite correct (though you're on the right lines). Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is to ascribe the work of the Holy Spirit to the Evil One (Satan) Mk.3:22-30. In other words it is to reject the work of the Holy Spirit. But what exactly is the work of the Holy Spirit? (Jn.16:5-16) It is to convict the world of sin, to bring glory to Jesus by leading unbelievers to faith in Him and to animate them as believers thereby bringing further glory to Jesus.
Therefore the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is to deny this work. Effectively to spend your whole life rejecting the leading and prompting of the Holy Spirit for you to come to faith in Jesus, so much so that you are no longer able to truely distinguish right from wrong (as evidenced by some of Israel's religious leaders of the day (Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea and Gamaliel being notable exceptions) ascribing the work of the Holy Spirit to the Evil One).
I personally believe that the religious establishment of Jesus' day was thoroughly demonised and this is what motivated them to ascribe the work of the Holy Spirit to the Evil One, thereby manifesting the fact that they were spiritually blind because of their enslavement to the Evil One through extreme religious legalism.
Yours, in His service,
Simonline.