Degrees Of Sin And Punishment

SCRIPTURE: John 19:11 "...he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin."

Luke 12:47-48 "And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.

But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more."

Matthew 23:14 "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation."

PROPOSITION: to use these texts and others to show that some sins are more heinous than others and that there will be degrees of punishment for sin in "them that perish" according to the aggravation and odiousness of their transgressions, and also to show that Christ has paid for all sins, even the most heinous of sins, and that the "chief of sinners" whoever they may be, can find that "grace abounds" at the foot of the cross.

1.) Why all transgressions of the law are not equally heinous, and odious to God?

A. Because some sins are committed with so much more light and conviction, and this makes a sin so much more presumptuous "That servant which knew his Lords will" Judas "hath the greater sin" over that of Pontius Pilate, because Judas's sin was a wilful rejection and betrayal with a kiss that burned like liquid brimstone from hell.

John 15:22 "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin."

B. Because some sins are designed to lead or persuade others to trust in a lie, and rob them of the opportunity to know Christ and obtain salvation. Jeremiah 28:15 "but thou makest this people to trust in a lie..." Matthew 12:30 "He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

C. Because some sins are inflicted upon little children, either by teaching them a lie, or in some way harming them.

Matthew 18:6 "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

D. Because some sinners sin by using God and his Word to disguise their enslavement to lawlessness, "they make clean the outside of the cup and platter but within are full of extorsion and exess" they play the part of a hypocrite, and for this they receive "the greater damnation"

E. Because some sinners sin by trampling Christ and the gospel under foot, and treat Him as an unholy thing, much like swine would trample pearls under their feet, having no understanding of their worth.

Matthew 11:23 "And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day."

F. Because sin that is continued in becomes habitual, and leads to despising God's "goodness and forbearance" and compounds God's "wrath against the day of wrath." When sinners do this they "add sin to sin"

2.) Why punishment for some sins will be greater than for other sins.

A. Punishment for sin will be proportionable to the aggravation of the transgression. All sin will be weighed in the scales of God's perfect justice and the weight of the crime and the weight of the punishment will be brought into a perfect balance suitable to the vindication of Gods glory. God's dreadful display of wrath will appear strict and proportionate to the crime, Some "shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes"

B. Punishment for sin will be to a greater degree for all those who had greater amounts of Devine light. All men have some light "Christ is that true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world" but when the "light of the glorious gospel of Christ" comes to a sinner, and they reject that Light, this aggravates sin, and causes sin to become "exceedingly sinful"

2 Peter 2:21 "For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them."

3.) How is it possible that Christ could pay for all sins however hideous and evil the transgression may have been.

A. Sin is not infinite, but Gods grace is infinite, That's why God's grace abounds over abounding sin. Romans 5:20 "...where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" even though sin is not infinite, if a sinner dies in his sin the duration of his punishment will be infinite, because sin is against Gods infinitude and because he has no virtue to offset the demerit of it, his goodness is as "filthy rags"