202. Sins vs. Merits

Teshuvah 3:1

Every person has both merits and sins. If a person’s merits exceed his sins, he is judged to be righteous. One whose sins exceed his merits is judged to be wicked. If a person’s sins and merits are equal, he is judged to be in the middle. The same applies to nations; if the merits of the people collectively exceed their sins, it is judged to be righteous. If their sins exceed their merits, it is judged to be wicked. The same principle applies to the entire world.

Teshuvah 3:2

If one’s sins exceed his merits, he will die because of his evil. Regarding this, Jeremiah 30:14 says, “I have struck you...because of your many sins.” Similarly, a nation whose sins are great will be obliterated as we see from Genesis 18:20, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great....” Regarding the entire world, if mankind’s sins exceeded their merits, it would likewise be destroyed as we see in Genesis 6:5, “God saw that the evil of man was great... and God said, ‘I will destroy man....’” This equation takes into account not just the number of merits and sins, but also their severity. Some merits can outweigh many sins as we see in I Kings 14:13, “Because a good quality was found in him.” Similarly, one sin can outweigh many merits as Koheles 9:18 says, “One sin can obscure much good.” The relative value of merits and sins is calculated according to God’s wisdom; He knows how many merits counter how many sins.