Yes, there are different degrees of sin. Jesus said to Pilate in John 19:11, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” The context is that Judas had betrayed Jesus, and so our Lord was before Pilate, who had said that he had the authority to crucify Him. Jesus said that the one who had delivered him unto Pilate’s hands had the greater sin. So He by so stating has brought into play levels or degrees of sin.  

Interestingly Pilate believed Jesus.  His wife had warned him to have nothing to do with this man.  He obviously believed Jesus and his wife, and so he put the decision to the crowd.  He did not exercise his power to crucify Jesus, but instead washed his hands of the decision of the crowd. 

There are Sins under the law — e.g.  Adultery, murder — if caught in them you died

            There were 

            Sacrifices for 

            The little sins, but the death penalty for the deliberate ones

             Listen —

Hebrews 9:7 but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. 

We all have committed sins in ignorance.  What then is deliberate sin? 

Romans 14:23 But he who doubted is  condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin. 

      A Daunting statement|||

1 Corinthians 8:10, And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 

THIS IS SPEAKING OF OUR EXAMPLE BEFORE A WEAKER BROTHER. 

12 For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? 

Here it was not sin for you to dine at the idol’s table, but because you led a weaker brother who thought it to be sin to sin then you sinned.  You see if you think something to be sin it is sin. 

1 John 5:17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death. 

So, what is the sin not leading to death if all unrighteousness is sin? It is the confessed sin of a contrite sinner, which is already forgiven if Jesus is taken as your redeemer.  I am convinced that there is no sin that cannot be forgiven except that of rejecting or denying Christ. 

James 4:17 Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin. 

So sin is somewhat elusive.  

1. It’s anything that breaks God’s law.  

2. It’s missing the mark. 3. It’s not achieving perfection. 

  1. It’s leading a brother astray. 

So we live in sin among sinners

So, are the sins of the world greater than our sins as Christians?  Although the sin itself is no greater; yet it has greater consequences because the man who is in Christ and no longer is in the world has all of his sins forgiven. Jesus came to deliver us from sin.  He also told us what we can do to fulfill the law. 

Galatians 5:14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  

Love here IS Agape 

Agape requires that we show our love by our actions. Jesus died to show his love for us. 

What have we done to show our love. What would perfection look like in this practice of this on law?  

Can you live up to this standard?  — I can’t, but I can trust Jesus to cast my sin far away. 

Jesus has in this description of fulfilling the law set each of us up for failure unless:  Our only hope is our faith and trust in what He did in paying for all our sin.  His finished work on the cross is our only hope.  

We are not perfect — should we strive to be? — yes, 

The question then is this: if we sin deliberately as the writer of Hebrews says, and for that sin have no forgiveness because it is deliberate; then will that one sin take us out of the body of Christ?  The answer must be how can it; if our trust in Him is unaffected. This is why I state that the only sin for which we can be removed from the body of Christ is the sin of denying Him.  In which case there is no longer a trusting relationship, and therefore no salvation.