The difference is not sin or no sin, but penitence or no penitence

Henri Nouwen:

Judas betrayed Jesus. Peter denied him. Both were lost children.

Judas, no longer able to hold on to the truth that he remained God's child, hung himself. In terms of the prodigal son, he sold . . . his sonship. Peter, in the midst of his despair, claimed it and returned with many tears.

Judas chose death. Peter chose life. I realize that this choice is always before me.

--The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming (Doubleday 1994), 50