The Differences of Sin
Excerpt from the book Mediations on Christian Dogma, Volume II
There are a multitude and variety of sins, some lesser, some greater. Still all sin is an offense against God. It is a sign of a lack of love toward our Creator, our Savior, and our Lord. Sin not only affects the individual but everyone around them. We are told that even one sin is a rejection of all of God’s laws. We should learn to lose our attraction to sin and avoid those occasions that weaken our good intentions, doing all for our love of God.
Yours in Jesus and Mary.
From the book Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume II by Reverend James Bellord (Catholic Truth Society, 1898, pages 52-53).
The Differences of Sin
I. Consider the great multitude of evil actions which cast the soul into the state of sin. The most universal, as affecting all mankind, was the sin of our first father, who forfeited the state of grace and the power of transmitting it, by choosing the natural plane of existence instead of the supernatural. Our sinful deeds are like physical diseases. Every sense and faculty and operation of mind and body is liable to its own irregular action or excess, which casts the whole organism out of order. Every duty we have to perform, every grace we receive, may be an occasion for the exhibition of human perversity.
Some of our sins are directly opposed to God, like blasphemy or incredulity; others are an inordinate seeking after temporal goods or a misuse of them — of wealth, food, position, for example — in opposition to the Spirit of God. Certain things are sins because God has forbidden them, such as the violation of the Sabbath or of the laws of fasting on a fixed day; others are forbidden because they are evil in themselves, as being opposed to the eternal fitness of things which depends on God’s own nature; such are falsehood, intemperance, lust.
We are further liable for sins not our own, for sins that others have committed through our negligence or bad example. How numerous are the perils that beset our path on the right hand and on the left! Who can be on the watch against all, who can know the sum of his daily, or his yearly, or his total responsibilities! “Who can understand sins? From my secret ones cleanse me, O Lord; and from those of others spare Thy servant.” (Psalm 18:13)
II. The degrees of guilt vary as do the kinds of different sins. St. John speaks about sins some of which are unto death and some not (1 John 5:16). Different sins offend more or less directly against God Himself; they violate more or less important harmonies of man with God; they destroy the resemblance to God’s perfections in more or less important points; they do more or less injury to our neighbor; they offend against more or less essential virtues.
Further, sins involve on the part of men more or less obstinacy or perversion of the will, more or less resistance to grace or misuse of knowledge, a greater or less stress of temptation. Greater proclivity to a sin from natural temperament or early education, or a diminished power of resisting temptation, may reduce the amount of responsibility by making the sin more excusable. Besides the graver sins, there are others, which, like some diseases, are local and temporary in their effects, which do not disorganize the whole system, and are easily cast off. Such are venial sins and imperfections, to which even saints are liable.
“There is no just man upon earth that doth good and sinneth not.” (Ecclesiastes 7:21) The various degrees varying with so many circumstances are another element of uncertainty. Never presume to judge harshly of others or leniently of yourself.
III. With all these differences there is a certain identity in all mortal sins.
Every one of them is an outrage upon God, whether it be directed against the natural law, or the spiritual, or the laws of our rightful rulers, or whether it be against the good of a fellow-man. This thought should be our restraint from wrong-doing, and not the thought of civil punishment, or of public opinion or the convenience of life.
All mortal sins are identical in the general effect of casting forth God and destroying the life of the soul. One sin inflicts this privation, and incurs therefore the punishment of hell as thoroughly as a thousand. So it is said: “Whosoever shall keep the whole law but offend in one point is guilty of all.” (James 2:10)
Do not trust to what you are pleased to call your “redeeming qualities.” Do not think that wickedness in one respect can be outweighed by goodness in another. Still less will one virtue compensate for a multitude of vices. Neither can any sin be forgiven as long as you retain an affection for a single other one.