Lots of basic catholic questions, if anyone would like to help me?

[anendlesswaltz]

Here is an excerpt from a site i found, i was trying to google up the verse that i have been told on here is supposed to mean ‘the possibility of being saved’.

" “Are you saved?” asks the Fundamentalist. The Catholic should reply: “As the Bible says, I am already saved (Rom. 8:24, Eph. 2:5–8), but I’m also being saved (1 Cor. 1:18, 2 Cor. 2:15, Phil. 2:12), and I have the hope that I will be saved (Rom. 5:9–10, 1 Cor. 3:12–15). Like the apostle Paul I am working out my salvation in fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12), with hopeful confidence in the promises of Christ (Rom. 5:2, 2 Tim. 2:11–13).”"

• Assurance of Salvation? | Catholic Answers

I have a lot of questions and reading that site helped a lot.

1.) What is mortal sin?

2.) If i sin, not a mortal sin whatever that is just a normal sin, is simply praying to God for forgiveness and genuinely desiring not to fall away again enough?

3.) If i were to say die in a random accident before praying for forgiveness as in #2, would i go to hell despite having accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior?

i’m just trying to piece together how Catholicism differs from the southern baptist church i attended growing up.

 

[StJosephPrayForUs]

First question: a mortal sin is defined as a grave action that is committed in full knowledge of its gravity and with the full consent of the sinner’s will 2) called a venial sin, and yes 3) no, but you will pay for it in purgatory before being freed.

 

[anendlesswaltz]

First question: a mortal sin is defined as a grave action that is committed in full knowledge of its gravity and with the full consent of the sinner’s will 2) called a venial sin, and yes 3) no, but you will pay for it in purgatory before being freed.

Thank you so much! What’re some examples of mortal sins and venial sins? I’m sorry i still don’t understand the difference, if its simply about how intentional you were?

 

[MeganCecilia]

You can look up examination of consciousness to help you. And the catechism can give you some examples of mortal vs venial. Some common venial sins: white lies, bad language (if not a grave matter), losing your temper (if not grave. Like you say some bad words when someone cuts you off on the road). Then mortal is the more serious stuff. Common: all the sexual stuff, getting drunk, etc.

 

[MeganCecilia]

Also for number 3, for Catholics we believe that you have to go to confession to be forgiven for mortal sin. OR perfection contrition would also do this Incase you could not go to confession. This is out of perfect love for God. So directly after you sin, pray to God for forgiveness. Then plan to go to confession as early as possible. I would say if you have the INTENT of going then you will just be spending time in purgatory if you die in an accident. God knows your heart

 

[AL_1323]

Fr Casey Cole explains What is mortal sin beautifully in this video.

 

[StJosephPrayForUs]

Thou shalt not murder is the fifth commandment: a mortal sin under it might be planning and carrying out an assassination, a venial sin might be feeling a moment of intense anger at someone and then repenting of it. (All commandments are categories, even eating unhealthy food and gluttony and intent to harm and so on falls under this command.) Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wife is the ninth: a mortal sin might be deliberately planning to and actually going out to stare at people and lust after them, a venial might be accidentally finding your mind wandering too much on someone’s appearance. Intent and the act has a lot to do with what is venial. Venial sins can not entirely be avoided in life except by a special grade from God

 

[anendlesswaltz]

Thank you so much, that helped a lot! I’ve been reading about the scriptural basis for confession a lot, too. Its helped me understand a lot.

 

[AL_1323]

God bless you.

 

[mdgspencer]

.
The Bible tells of mortal sin. I presume the term mortal sin comes from this passage in the Bible.
1 John 5
16 If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God, and God will give life to such a one—to those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that is mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal.

 

[mdgspencer]

.
I presume that if you repent, this would be well enough, if the person dies without having time to go to confession.
Indeed, this would be the case with people with another religion. Confession is another world to them, a world in which they don’t live… In fact, the Old Testament shows people being forgiven for their sin, when there was no sacrament of confession. --But Catholics have the obligation of going to confession if they committed a mortal sin, and in fact going to confession can be better. For one thing, in confession a person gets special graces, the grace of the sacrament

 

[annad347]

3.) If i were to say die in a random accident before praying for forgiveness as in #2, would i go to hell despite having accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior?

I don’t believe anyone can honestly answer this one for you, only God knows what is in your heart and mind, so only God knows what happens to you when you die.

Catholic will say that you’ll go to Purgatory for a significant amount of time to cleans yourself of your sins, so you can pure enough to enter heaven, because you didn’t get a change to repent your sins while you were alive… if you did accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

 

[annad347]

i’m just trying to piece together how Catholicism differs from the southern baptist church i attended growing up.

regards to the 3 questions you asked… what do Southern Baptist believe?

1. do they believe in mortal and venial sin?
2. do they confess to a priest their sins?
3. do they believe you would go to hell if you died and were not able to ask for forgiveness of your sins despite having accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

 

[stoplooklisten]

" “Are you saved?” asks the Fundamentalist. The Catholic should reply: “As the Bible says, I am already saved (Rom. 8:24, Eph. 2:5–8), but I’m also being saved (1 Cor. 1:18, 2 Cor. 2:15, Phil. 2:12), and I have the hope that I will be saved (Rom. 5:9–10, 1 Cor. 3:12–15). Like the apostle Paul I am working out my salvation in fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12), with hopeful confidence in the promises of Christ (Rom. 5:2, 2 Tim. 2:11–13).”"

“Are you saved?” seems to imply a concern with whether someone has met the minimum requirements for heaven.

Jesus also spoke to the issue of who will be greatest and least in the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus said to “lay up treasures in heaven.” (Matthew 6:20)

“The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:11-12)

As I see it, Protestants show primary concern with salvation and justification. Protestant also generally believe in “once saved always saved.”

Catholics show much more interest in sanctification, growing in grace and holiness. Catholics are generally much more aware that they remain capable of committing mortal sin and of separating themselves from God and becoming lost forever.

 

[anendlesswaltz]

regards to the 3 questions you asked… what do Southern Baptist believe?

1. do they believe in mortal and venial sin?

What i was taught is that sin is sin. Once saved, you’re always saved, and nothing short of denying God and saying you don’t want him anymore can change that. I was given the strong impression that to suggest otherwise would be to limit God’s power.

1. do they confess to a priest their sins?

No. Your supposed to pray to God and be forgiven directly. The pastor can give you advice, certainly, and he can pray for you, but he isn’t meant to forgive sins.

1. do they believe you would go to hell if you died and were not able to ask for forgiveness of your sins despite having accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

No, they don’t. Again, once saved always saved, nothing can separate you from God, etc.

Its a very foreign concept to me, everything Catholicism has built around sins and forgiveness. But today I learned about Mary and her role in Catholicism and why she’s so important and i believe that. So i wanted to learn about sin and forgiveness in the Catholic church, too.

I admit, pardon me and i do not mean any offense to you or anyone else…but to me it still feels it limits God’s power, putting forgiveness in the hands of a priest. I understand praying for one another, and being there for advice and to talk about struggles with sin, and such.

 

[anendlesswaltz]

Catholics show much more interest in sanctification, growing in grace and holiness. Catholics are generally much more aware that they remain capable of committing mortal sin and of separating themselves from God and becoming lost forever.

Yes, this is something i’m just realizing tonight, myself. The baptist church i grew up in, and even when we were church hopping, it was always very laid back. Once you prayed ‘The Prayer’ you were good with God and any sin afterwards was like a child being disobedient - it wasn’t good, but your salvation wasn’t in danger.

I did a lot of bible reading, with suggested verses, and i think in general there’s a lot to be learned from the catholic approach even if you’re not catholic. I’m not i still consider myself non-denominational. I’d rather tie myself to my Lord, not a denomination. I wish we were all one church anyways.

Back to the point i had, I think there’s a sense of urgency and obedience and a better perspective of God as the Lord, as the ultimate authority figure to be obeyed, with the catholic perspective because there’s consequences. And whether you believe in purgatory or mortal/venial sins…to me, its all just sin that’s what i learned…i was taught that humans grade sins but God doesn’t…the simple consequence of being spiritually apart from God and not abiding in him because you sinned and turned your eyes from him is consequence enough, for me. Its somethign i’m working on learning.

Sorry for the novel length reply.

 

[hope]

I am curious. What do you believe about the scripture where Jesus breathes on the Apostles and tells them what sins they forgive are forgiven and what sins they retain they are retained.
What do you believe Jesus meant when he said you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
Also consider John 5:
If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray.
Here it is presented that there is both deadly sin(Mortal) and not deadly (venial sin)
If you might comment on these scriptures?

 

[stoplooklisten]

Yes, this is something i’m just realizing tonight, myself. The baptist church i grew up in, and even when we were church hopping, it was always very laid back. Once you prayed ‘The Prayer’ you were good with God and any sin afterwards was like a child being disobedient - it wasn’t good, but your salvation wasn’t in danger.

I did a lot of bible reading, with suggested verses, and i think in general there’s a lot to be learned from the catholic approach even if you’re not catholic. I’m not i still consider myself non-denominational. I’d rather tie myself to my Lord, not a denomination. I wish we were all one church anyways.

Hi, anendlesswaltz. Thank you for your OP. Thank you for this reply.

 

[anendlesswaltz]

Thank you so much for your comment. I would like to study the scriptures (and their passages) in depth on my weekend, when i have the time. I work all weekend and will not have the time yet. Do you have any other verses on the subject that i should look into? Like i think Paul or one of the apostles said something related to the subject that i’ve seen quoted on here before.

Thank you so much! I feel as if for such a long time i’ve been content to simply be told what the bible says and how to interpret it. I think this time, its important for me to read the verses i’m suggested myself and pray over it and see where that leads.

 

[annad347]

What i was taught is that sin is sin. Once saved, you’re always saved, and nothing short of denying God and saying you don’t want him anymore can change that.

I dont believe Catholic’s believe in once saved always saved. They believe you can separate yourself from God by the choosing to sin and not repenting them… also even after you repent you need to cleanse yourself from the damage you did by sinning with performing a type of penance. Fasting, praying, giving alms. Or by spending time in Purgatory after you die.

Purgatory and doing Penance will be something new to you.

I think doing a penance is a good way to humble yourself to God and is pleasing to the Lord especially if you give alms.

I admit, pardon me and i do not mean any offense to you or anyone else…but to me it still feels it limits God’s power, putting forgiveness in the hands of a priest

Catholic’s believe it’s not the priest who’s forgiving you but God speaking to you through the priest.

God’s powers wouldn’t be limited by that because of His ability to allow you to hear what you need through another person… sometimes He knows His children need that… I think. It’s not a sin to confess your sin to a priest… God wants us to confess our sins to one another. James 5:16

What do you do after you speak directly to God for forgivness… and if you sin against someone do you go to them to ask for forgiveness?