Interesting question(s) -- I've been thinking for a while about how best to approach this, because it has many angles and I'm not sure I can cover them all adequately in a small space...
I think what I'd say first of all is that the problem in humanity's relationship with God is not so much our sins -- the number of bad deeds we do -- but rather the fact that we are sinners. In other words, the root of the difficulty is in us, in the very attitude of our hearts to God. Even if we could perfectly control our outward behaviour, we would still not be free of the problem, because sin is in our thoughts and attitudes and motives as well. The Lord made this plain in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5), but it's also in the words God spoke to Samuel in the Old Testament -- "Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart."
Furthermore, God is completely holy, righteous and perfect; He cannot look on sin with favour, or fail to judge it -- much less allow anything tainted with sin to dwell eternally in His presence. So even if there were a person who had only ever committed one sin in their lifetime, they would still "fall short of the glory of God" as Romans describes. They would be very impressive and admirable to their fellow human beings, but they would still be unable to stand in the presence of God's utter and complete holiness.
In that sense, there is no such thing as "small sins". Some sins are more obviously destructive and hurtful than others, some are more flagrant and grotesque than others, some are more obvious to the outside world than others, but in fact the sin the Bible condemns most strongly is one which is almost entirely private and personal -- pride.
Sinners of every other kind may repent and be forgiven, but pride inevitably drives a person away from God. Pride is what causes us to say to ourselves, "I don't need God, I don't believe in God, I can do great things and show myself to be a good person without God." Or the pride may take a subtler, theistic form, leading us to believe that by doing (or not doing) certain things or observing certain rituals or being a member of a certain religious group, we can make God our debtor and obligate Him to let us into heaven. Pride makes us think that God ought to play by our rules, and judge us no more strictly than we would judge ourselves. And as long as we have that mindset, there is no way we will accept God's offer of free salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. Why should we, when we're so sure we can save ourselves?
So, to directly answer your question, the morally upright atheist or the devout Buddhist or the idealistic pagan is in precisely the same position as everyone else. Regardless of how many sins they have (or haven't committed) or the philosophy to which they subscribe, they are still responsible to respond to the glimmer of spiritual truth God has given to them in nature and in their conscience. That glimmer of truth is enough to make them seekers of God's truth and eventually lead them to Christ, if they are willing -- but if they willfully choose to suppress that knowledge and remain in a state of self-reliance, they will have to suffer the judgment of a righteous God against their sins.
Sin must be judged, punished, and paid for. The question is, who's going to take the judgment, receive the punishment, and do the paying? If we don't accept Christ as our Substitute, then we must take the punishment ourselves. No religion, no philosophy, no code of good behaviour can address the problem of sin in our lives and hearts, much less cancel it out. But as Paul said to the Corinthians, "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation".
Sorry for the verbose answer. But I hope it addresses your question(s)!
no subject
I think what I'd say first of all is that the problem in humanity's relationship with God is not so much our sins -- the number of bad deeds we do -- but rather the fact that we are sinners. In other words, the root of the difficulty is in us, in the very attitude of our hearts to God. Even if we could perfectly control our outward behaviour, we would still not be free of the problem, because sin is in our thoughts and attitudes and motives as well. The Lord made this plain in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5), but it's also in the words God spoke to Samuel in the Old Testament -- "Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart."
Furthermore, God is completely holy, righteous and perfect; He cannot look on sin with favour, or fail to judge it -- much less allow anything tainted with sin to dwell eternally in His presence. So even if there were a person who had only ever committed one sin in their lifetime, they would still "fall short of the glory of God" as Romans describes. They would be very impressive and admirable to their fellow human beings, but they would still be unable to stand in the presence of God's utter and complete holiness.
In that sense, there is no such thing as "small sins". Some sins are more obviously destructive and hurtful than others, some are more flagrant and grotesque than others, some are more obvious to the outside world than others, but in fact the sin the Bible condemns most strongly is one which is almost entirely private and personal -- pride.
Sinners of every other kind may repent and be forgiven, but pride inevitably drives a person away from God. Pride is what causes us to say to ourselves, "I don't need God, I don't believe in God, I can do great things and show myself to be a good person without God." Or the pride may take a subtler, theistic form, leading us to believe that by doing (or not doing) certain things or observing certain rituals or being a member of a certain religious group, we can make God our debtor and obligate Him to let us into heaven. Pride makes us think that God ought to play by our rules, and judge us no more strictly than we would judge ourselves. And as long as we have that mindset, there is no way we will accept God's offer of free salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. Why should we, when we're so sure we can save ourselves?
So, to directly answer your question, the morally upright atheist or the devout Buddhist or the idealistic pagan is in precisely the same position as everyone else. Regardless of how many sins they have (or haven't committed) or the philosophy to which they subscribe, they are still responsible to respond to the glimmer of spiritual truth God has given to them in nature and in their conscience. That glimmer of truth is enough to make them seekers of God's truth and eventually lead them to Christ, if they are willing -- but if they willfully choose to suppress that knowledge and remain in a state of self-reliance, they will have to suffer the judgment of a righteous God against their sins.
Sin must be judged, punished, and paid for. The question is, who's going to take the judgment, receive the punishment, and do the paying? If we don't accept Christ as our Substitute, then we must take the punishment ourselves. No religion, no philosophy, no code of good behaviour can address the problem of sin in our lives and hearts, much less cancel it out. But as Paul said to the Corinthians, "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation".
Sorry for the verbose answer. But I hope it addresses your question(s)!