In Donna's letter on 6/17, she said,
If God doesn't rate sin, then why
did Jesus tell Pilate about "the greater sin" in John 19:11? It sounds
like one sin is greater than another and that there are different categories
of sin. In John 19:11, Jesus said to Pilate, "Thou couldest have
no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore
he that delivered me unto to thee hath the greater sin." So Pilate had
a lesser sin than the one who delivered Jesus to Pilate.
My reply: Jesus was referring
to Judas, the son of perdition. Judas was foreordained before the foundation
of the world to betray Christ. That is the only reason Jesus referred to Judas
sin being greater.
Jn. 17:12 While I was
with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me
I have kept, and none
of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that
the scripture might be fulfilled.
And then Donna, you said,
Also if
God doesn't rate sin, why did Jesus say in Matthew 23:14, Mark 12:38-40, and
Luke 20:45-47 that the scribes and Pharisees would receive "the greater damnation"?
I would think that the greater the sin is then the greater the damnation would
be if sin was rated by God. In Matthew 23:14, Jesus said, "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."
My reply: The Pharisees were unbelievers,
who had blasphemed the Holy Spirit. So in both cases that you use in your
argument, "Does God rate sin?" You used examples of unbelievers, who without
the shed Blood of Jesus Christ, like even some present day "good" people will
go to hell.
Then you said,
And if God doesn't rate sin, then why did
Jesus say in 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 more." So if God doesn't rate sin, why did the
servant who knew God's will and did it not get beaten with more stripes than
the person who was ignorant of God's will and got beaten with less stripes?
It sounds like it is a greater sin to know God's will and do it not and end
up beaten with more stripes than to be ignorant of God's will and not do God's
will due to your ignorance, and you end up with less stripes. If God
didn't rate sin, then I would think they would both end up with the same punishment
and the same amount of stripes.
If taken in context, we see that Jesus is answering Peter's
question concerning the previous Parable of
the Expectant Servant, and puts it into context with "he will return from the wedding" [i.e.
referring to Jesus' Second Coming to the Jewish Nation]. So this parable
was taken out of context to support your theory of God "rating sin" as "greater"
than other sins.
It is interesting to note that John 19:11 is written before Jesus's Words in John 19:30 when He said, "It
is finished". This further indicates
that the "way" had not yet been made to the Father, and thus, up to that point
in Jesus' ministry and Sacrificial death, they were still under the dispensation
of the Old Covenant.
1 John 1:9 says,
"IF we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness."
Is. 64:6 says,
"But we are all as an unclean thing,
and ALL our rightousnesses are
as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf ; and
our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."
And there is none
that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee:
for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities."
This teaching of Arminianism has brought a modern day
scourge of the "leper" upon certain kinds of sin. It is due to ignorance
of what the Scriptures really say.
In Romans chapter 9, Paul demonstrates God's Sovereignty
in election. Here Paul writes:
"(For the children [i.e. Jacob and Rebecca's twins] being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil,
that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works,,
but of him that calleth;)
It was said unto her, "The elder shall serve
the younger.
As it is written, "Jacob have I loved, but
Esau have I hated.
What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
For he saith to Moses, "I will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have
compassion.
So then it is not
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy."
Rom. 9:11-16
In Christ,
Mary Hansen