From the dawn of time, man stole, lied, fornicated, committed adultery and indulged in all the sins that gave so much pain, profit and pleasure.
But with this pleasure came accountability, consequences, payment. The wages of sin is death.
Death? Isn’t that kind of harsh? After all, sins aren’t equal. There are small sins and great big whoppers. Isn’t a fib a little white lie, as opposed to the serious sin of blackmail? And if there are different degrees of sin, shouldn’t there be a grading system? Let the punishment be commensurate with the sin.
What is sin anyway? To offend against God, commit an offense, transgress, do wrong, commit a crime, misbehave, stray from the straight and narrow, fall from grace.
The Bible says that we were all born in a world of sin, and even a newborn is born a sinner. Then there’s the equality of sin as put forth in the Bible, purporting that all sins are equal and therefore so is the punishment.
How can all sins be equal and with them the punishment administered? If a man takes a pencil from his office, that’s stealing, and stealing is a sin. And if another man embezzles $20 million, that’s also stealing. Both are crimes, both are sins. Should the punishment be the same?
Now let’s examine the sin of murder. Is there leeway for extenuating circumstances? Let’s say a man is provoked and gets into a fight and punches another man, killing him. Clearly it’s murder and deserves punishment.
Let’s take another scenario, where a man plots, schemes, plans the mass murder of innocent infants. Will his punishment be the same as that guy who lashed out in anger and killed his friend? I read where a nurse in Germany killed over 100 patients in a hospital. What divine punishment is in store for that nurse?
Some sins bring so much pleasure that at times people weigh them in the balance and commit them anyway. One such sin is gluttony, excessive eating. How will that sin be punished, and does it draw the same punishment as the sins of greed, covetousness, fornication?
Sins of a sexual nature should be placed in a special category. Clearly they are sins that provide much pleasure and therefore the ones easiest to commit. The temptation is so great.
Some religions, like the Catholics, have a system of confession, where you can sin as much as you want, then sit in a booth across from a priest and confess those sins. That’s why I believe in the grading system for sin.
