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Are all sins offences against God? What sins constitute worse punishment?
Answer to Question 589 We need to define what sin is. Sin is the act of breaking away from God. There are many types of sin, but in reality there is only one sin and that is that we chose not to be in communion with God. We live our lives without allowing God into our hearts. Sin is commonly thought of as murder, lying, idolatry, adultery, theft, etc… but all these actions first begin with the thought in the person’s mind. Someone does not steal unless he first has the thought of stealing. Therefore, sin is not only the actual crime, which is the end result, but also the thought, which is the root, or the acceptance of a temptation planted in the mind by the devil. All sin makes a barrier that separates us from God. We are not forced into sin, but willingly accept it; it has the tendency to be habit forming so very often we are not aware that we have sinned. Thankfully God is a loving, compassionate and forgiving, and does not hold our sins against us if we truly seek him.
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