WLC 132

Q132. What are the sins of equals?

The sins of equals are, besides the neglect of the duties required, the undervaluing of the worth, envying the gifts, grieving at the advancement of prosperity one of another; and usurping preeminence one over another.

Proof texts

• Rom. 13:8 — [8] Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
• 2 Tim. 3:3 — [3] heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,
• Acts 7:9 — [9] “And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him
• Gal. 5:26 — [26] Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
• Num. 12:2 — [2] And they said, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the LORD heard it.
• Esth. 6:12-13 — [12] Then Mordecai returned to the king's gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered. [13] And Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him but will surely fall before him.”
• 3 John 1:9 — [9] I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.
• Luke 22:24 — [24] A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.

For discussion

1. The Assembly cited Rom. 13:8 in support of this answer. Read it in context — how does it bear on what is claimed here?
2. 8 passages are cited here. Which does the most work, and is anything claimed that the proofs do not obviously carry?
3. WSC Q45 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?
4. HC Q92 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?

Read alongside

WSC Q45 · HC Q92