This question is raised by those who want to believe pseudo-saints sins are just as bad as rapists, murderers, or thieves. They may have a pride problem and self-righteous attitude and God hates pride, but the point is that there is a gradation of sin, though one can drown in 6 feet of water as well as 60 feet. Remember the words of our Lord who told Pilate that the one who delivered him over had the "greater sin."
Are all sins equal in severity in God's eyes? Do all sins deserve the same punishment? Obviously, if there is justice in the afterlife, Hitler will get a severer sentence than your typical run-of-the-mill sinner. It was said of Judas that it would've been better had he never been born--and so there you are. Jesus did say that some sins deserve fewer whips than others. God is a God of justice as well as mercy and there will be no cruelty in hell, only what justice demands.
If all sins were equal, that would encourage the slanderer to go all the way from character assassination to murder, since they are the same. Jesus did say that lusting was committing adultery, but he didn't say they were the same. Rome has divided sin into mortal and venial. Those which destroy the grace of salvation are more serious and require penance and are called mortal. All sins are mortal in the sense that they deserve eternal hell, but no sin is mortal in the sense that it cancels the state of grace. All sins are venial to the Christian, in that he only needs to confess them and repent to regain fellowship, not a state of grace or salvation.
The closer you get to God the more you see your shortcomings and sins; you don't begin to see yourself as perfect or having "arrived." There are certain sins that are an abomination to the Lord: homosexuality, bestiality, incest, to name a few. Remember, how Lot said to the men in Sodom not to "do such a disgusting sin." We live in an age of sexual predators and perverts and this is becoming more rampant every day, but we must not go along with a society that we are just progressing in leniency and toleration; it is alright to be shocked and abhorred at our society. We are often shocked at others' sins when we should be shocked at ours. NB: The Pharisees considered all commandments of equal weight, but Jesus changed that and called some more serious (cf. Matt. 23:23). Soli Deo Gloria!
If all sins were equal, that would encourage the slanderer to go all the way from character assassination to murder, since they are the same. Jesus did say that lusting was committing adultery, but he didn't say they were the same. Rome has divided sin into mortal and venial. Those which destroy the grace of salvation are more serious and require penance and are called mortal. All sins are mortal in the sense that they deserve eternal hell, but no sin is mortal in the sense that it cancels the state of grace. All sins are venial to the Christian, in that he only needs to confess them and repent to regain fellowship, not a state of grace or salvation.
The closer you get to God the more you see your shortcomings and sins; you don't begin to see yourself as perfect or having "arrived." There are certain sins that are an abomination to the Lord: homosexuality, bestiality, incest, to name a few. Remember, how Lot said to the men in Sodom not to "do such a disgusting sin." We live in an age of sexual predators and perverts and this is becoming more rampant every day, but we must not go along with a society that we are just progressing in leniency and toleration; it is alright to be shocked and abhorred at our society. We are often shocked at others' sins when we should be shocked at ours. NB: The Pharisees considered all commandments of equal weight, but Jesus changed that and called some more serious (cf. Matt. 23:23). Soli Deo Gloria!
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