“She has been cheating on me these last few months. I can’t stay married to her considering all of that,” says the faithful spouse.

“Don’t be so hasty. After all, are you without sin?” says the cheater apologist.

Such a response from a “Christian” cheater apologist is far from helpful.

Not all sins have the same impact.+ Lying about one’s weight is not equal in impact to months of lying and sleeping with a third party. They do not have the same impact.

Should one lie about one’s weight? No. Lying is a sin.

Should one lie and cheat for months on one’s spouse? No. Lying and cheating are sins, too.

Would we consider God just if He punishment these sins as equal? I would think not!

They are not the same. It is too bad the Church is so poor at seeing the difference. Instead, they judge faithful spouses unjustly.

Do not forget:

Adultery is a devastating evil.

Not all sins are treated the same in Scripture. God does not permit divorce in all cases of sin but allowed for divorce explicitly in the event of sexual immorality (see Mt 19:9). Jesus did not treat all sins in marriage as the same; so, neither ought His true followers.

 

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*A version of this post ran previously.

+This is an example of “sin-leveling” where someone takes all sins and treats them the same way–i.e. on the same level. It is an error to do so. We know murder is not the same as speeding even though both are involve breaking the law.