What is the worst sin?
Ask people to name the worst sin and they will usually reach for the most shocking crime they can think of. Scripture measures differently: it weighs sin by who is offended and what is refused, and by that measure the darkest sin is one that leaves no fingerprints and breaks no human law.
Not All Sins Weigh the Same
The Bible does distinguish between great sin and greater sin, without ever calling any sin small.
The Bible TreasuryI suppose verse 22 would show us there are degrees of guilt, but there is no "little" sin. The Psalmist pleads, "Pardon my guilt, for it is great." Though he had so badly wronged others, he was conscious that it was against God he had sinned. "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight." Of Judas the Lord said, he who delivered Me over to you has the greater sin. Great sin and greater — so there are degrees of guilt, though all are great.
One thing that raises the weight is the standing of the person who sins. Commentators find this built into the sin offerings of Leviticus, where the sacrifice required varied with the offender's rank.
A. J. PollockThe higher the sinner was, and the greater his privileges before God, the greater his sin in the sight of God. This follows the principle that "everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required" (Luke 12:48).
The Root Under Every Other Sin
Behind the whole catalogue of wrongdoing lies a single choice, and one act of it is enough to mark a person out.
J. N. DarbyThere is one great sin which leads men to commit all the others — the desire to please themselves. Once a man has acted on this, it makes him a sinner, just as breaking one law of the land stamps a man a criminal. We do not require him to break every law in the statute book before we find him guilty; breaking one is the evidence of his guilt.
The Sin the Spirit Singles Out
When Jesus said the Spirit would convict the world of sin, He did not point to the crime pages. He pointed to Himself.
The Bible TreasuryIt is not because men are worthless, or deceitful, or immoral, not because of some especially wicked act of violence or corruption, not for one sin picked out of the dark catalogue of human misdeeds; but "concerning sin, because they do not believe in me." … Clearly, unbelief about Him, and the refusal of His claims — whether openly hostile or coolly indifferent — is the crowning sin the human heart can be guilty of.
Why Refusing the Remedy Is the Deepest Wound
Unbelief looks harmless because it does nothing. Its guilt lies in what it says about Christ.
Hamilton SmithOf all sins, beware of the rock of unbelief. "Take care… lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart" (Heb. 3:12). Men think that as long as they are not drunkards or swearers, it is no great matter to be unbelievers. This is the gospel sin. It belittles Christ's infinite merit, as if it would not save; it makes the wound of sin wider than the plaster of Christ's blood. This is deep contempt shown to Christ, and is a deeper spear than the one the Jews thrust into His side.
Rejecting Christ does not sit quietly alongside a person's other sins. It changes how they read.
Samuel RidoutThe rejection of Christ does not blot out but underlines every other sin committed. Here is a possible atonement for terrible sins: the atonement is rejected, and this makes the sins all the more terrible. In the final judgment the books are opened, in which the record of the life has been kept. The book of life is also opened, and so we see that men are judged both for what they have done and for their unbelief.
The One Sin Called Unforgivable
Scripture names a sin that has no forgiveness, and it is defined narrowly — not left as a mystery to torment sensitive people.
C. E. Stuart"Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin." And to make clear what the Lord meant by blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, Mark alone explains it: "for they were saying, 'He has an unclean spirit'" (3:28-30). Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit consists in attributing the power of the Spirit to an evil source. How many a person with a troubled conscience has been distressed, thinking he has committed that sin. A simple look at Mark 3:30 should immediately put such a person at rest.
The same point is put plainly elsewhere: the very fear of having committed it is evidence to the contrary.
F. B. HoleThis, then, was the unpardonable sin. Once we understand what it really is, we can easily see that people of tender conscience today, who are troubled by the fear that they may have committed it, are the last people who actually have.
Summary
- Root: every sin grows from one seed — the will to please yourself instead of God — and a single act of it is enough to make a person guilty.
- Grade: guilt has degrees, measured by the dignity of the One offended and the privilege of the offender; more given means more required.
- Crown: the Spirit's charge against the world is not a list of crimes but unbelief — refusing Christ, whether by hostility or by indifference.
- Weight: unbelief is the worst because it belittles the only cure, treating the wound as bigger than the blood that heals it, and it underlines every other sin at the judgment.
- Hope: only one sin is named as never forgiven — calling the Spirit's power an unclean spirit — and the anxious conscience that fears it is the surest sign of not having done it.