It is correct to say that not all sins are equally heinous; however, it is also appropriate to state that when a person clings to any sin, this person is making an exchange. In clinging to a “little sin”, a person is making a subtle statement that this sin is greater to him than all the world to come. In other words, clinging to “small sins” means that we are choosing sin over Christ himself. This is why there are no small sins.

After reading Nick’s article on whether some sins are worse than other sins, a related conversation came to mind. Some time ago, I was talking with a man who did not believe in the scriptural truth regarding eternal judgment. He certainly believed that some sins are worse than others; however, his conclusion from that statement was that God will not hold “little sins” to his account. In thinking about this conversation, two examples come to my mind.

The Sleeper’s Dream

One of my favorite books of all time is The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan–a book that I read almost once a year. In the third scene of the book, Christian reaches the house of the Porter. In this house, Christian meets three young women named Piety, Prudence, and Charity. As Christian takes a temporary rest from his journey, he converses with these three young women about his journey thus far. In recounting the events, Christian recalls his account of hearing the Sleeper’s Dream where a man named Sleeper is warned of his judgment through a dream. Even though the Sleeper is temporarily frightened, he does not earnestly repent of his sin because he viewed his sin as a “tiny sin”.

Piety had known Sleeper and thus, when Christian tells this story to Piety, she informs Christian that Sleeper had been intending to repent of this “tiny sin” since her grandfather was a small child. Christian pitied Sleeper because in Christian’s eyes, Sleeper suffered in his condition because of “one small sin.” However, Piety does not interpret Sleeper’s predicament in the same way. Piety makes the following statement:

“It was not tiny at all…if it was so tiny, then why would he not trade it for all the riches of eternity?”

In asking this question, Piety gets to the heart of the matter. It is correct to say that not all sins are equally heinous; however, it is also appropriate to state that when a person clings to any sin, this person is making an exchange. In clinging to a “little sin”, a person is making a subtle statement that this sin is greater to him than all the world to come. In other words, clinging to “small sins” means that we are choosing sin over Christ himself. This is why there are no small sins. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, their sin was a “small sin” when viewed from a humanistic lens. However, in choosing this fruit, Adam preferred the words of the serpent over the command of God.

The Death of Moses 

Another example from Scripture that illustrates this point is the death of Moses foretold in Deuteronomy 32:48-52:

“That very day the LORD spoke to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to His people because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.”

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