On Sin That Is Mortal

[Randy_Carson]

On Sin That Is Mortal

1 John 5:16-17
16If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. 17All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

Common sense tells us that there is a big difference between stealing a paperclip from a colleague’s desk and committing genocide. Yet the Protestant pretends that they are equally heinous and equally deserving of eternal damnation. This creates a false piety. Instead of making all sins more serious, it actually trivializes the most grievous sins. After all, “in for a penny, in for a pound.” If I am damned anyway for trivia, I might as well be damned for something really juicy. That’s human nature!

Protestants also do not realize how unbiblical their idea that all sin is equally heinous is. We have the quotation from St. John given above which should have been proof enough, but there is more. If all sins are equally bad then in the Old Testament the penalty for every sin would have been the same: DEATH. Instead, the Old Testament describes several ways of atoning for sins and making things right that demonstrate there are different degrees of sin. Only the most heinous sins such as murder or apostasy require the death penalty.

So once again, by using purely man-made standards, the Protestant makes void the word of God.

from Dr. Art Sippo

 

[14er]

You’re right. The plain sense of scripture here indicates that some sin is more serious that others. Add to that the protestant idea of “once saved, always saved” where there is no possibility of losing thier salvation (according to it),. Then degrees of sin are meaningless, because they can do nothing to lose thier salvation, whether that be stealing a paperclip, or commiting genocide. So you see degrees of sin MUST be meaningless in order for “once saved, always saved” to hold water.

If the holiest person alive today were to die and the only sin they commited in their life was they once stole a paperclip, but didn’t make the altar call or sinner’s prayer, or whatever is required, they are damned according to this theology. So the idea of mortal vs. venial sin must go. They must all be the same.

 

[SyCarl]

I believe it is false to say Protestants believe all sins to be equally heinous. We do recognize that just one sin is necessary for us to require salvation, since any sin separates us from God. It is equally false to say that Protestants trivialize serious sins. We are damned without Jesus in any event. That does not relieve us from the pursuit of sanctification.

It could be as easily said that Catholicism encourages serious sin by saying you will be forgiven if you go to confession. Now I would say a good Catholic would not think this way while a good Protestant would be inclined to commit worse sins because he has nothing to lose.

In any event I would tend to agree with Augustine. The determination of what sins are more serious than others is for God to decide. We should try to avoid all sin.

Chapter 78. What Sins are Trivial and What Heinous is a Matter for God’s Judgment.
Now, what sins are trivial and what heinous is not a matter to be decided by man’s judgment, but by the judgment of God.-Augustine (The Enchiridion Chapter 78)

newadvent.org/fathers/1302.htm

 

[SyCarl]

You’re right. The plain sense of scripture here indicates that some sin is more serious that others. Add to that the protestant idea of “once saved, always saved” where there is no possibility of losing thier salvation (according to it),. Then degrees of sin are meaningless, because they can do nothing to lose thier salvation, whether that be stealing a paperclip, or commiting genocide. So you see degrees of sin MUST be meaningless in order for “once saved, always saved” to hold water.

If the holiest person alive today were to die and the only sin they commited in their life was they once stole a paperclip, but didn’t make the altar call or sinner’s prayer, or whatever is required, they are damned according to this theology. So the idea of mortal vs. venial sin must go. They must all be the same.

Not all Protestants accept “once saved always saved”. Even if they do, that does not mean that they trivalize. We should try to avoid any sin, simply because God does want us to sin. No Protestant I know would promote Antinomianism.

 

[14er]

Not all Protestants accept “once saved always saved”. Even if they do, that does not mean that they trivalize. We should try to avoid any sin, simply because God does want us to sin. No Protestant I know would promote Antinomianism.

I certainly mean to imply that ALL protestants believe in that doctrine. But I was referring to the ones that do. I am sorry for the generalization. But it’s difficult to write things like “for those protestants who believe _____, this is directed towards you, for those who do not believe in ______, please disregard this message.”