Someone help me understand…
Is it true that Catholics believe a person’s salvation comes down to the state of their soul at death? That a person can be fantabulous all their life, and die with some unrepented sin and go to hell? Really? Their life counts for nothing then? Am I wrong on this?
Well of course. Matthew 10:22 says he who endures to the end shall be saved. So, logically if one doesn’t endure to the end [of their life] in faith and obedience and turns their back on God, then how can God save them if they don’t want to be with Him in heaven?
Romans 3:23 says we all sin, in fact we are born with original sin and the propensity toward sinning (what Catholicism calls concupiscience)
Matthew 25:41-46
“Then He [Jesus] will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do
it to one of the least of these, you did not do
it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
These people in Mt 25 are those who will not enter heaven. Indeed, according to human standards they may have appeared to be “good” people, perhaps they were members of a charitable group or did nice things for the community or were “nice” people, however, to a Holy God who requires faith and obedience, they are wretched sinners.
And in the Bible there are differing degrees of sin, mortal sins and venial sins (1 John 5:16-17). Venial sins wound our relationship with God but don’t do so in a way that breaks the relationship we have with Him. Motal sins more serious sins that break our relationship with Him, e.g., adultery, fornication, murder and a number of others. 1 Cor 6:9-11 mention those who are guilty of commiting mortal sins; hence they will NOT enter the kingdom of heaven. An example of someone being in mortal sin would be if a Christian who is faithful to Christ and to his wife, yet over time gets the idea in his heart that he wants to pursue another woman and decides with his full knowledge that what he is doing is a grave sin against God. He knows its wrong and yet freely has the affair with a woman who is not his wife and this goes on for some time. One night after again commiting adultery with her at her place and with no intention of breaking the affair, he drives back home to be with his wife, yet on his way back he wrecks his car and dies. That man would have died in mortal sin since he would have chosen freely to commit a serious sin, with the knowledge of the gravity of his sin, and with the deliberate consent of his will. Again, God will not save someone who doesn’t want to be with Him. And if we are in serious sin when we die we have by our actions shown God we don’t want to be with Him forever, He simply lets us have what we want, unfortunate as it is.
"So what kind of Sins are Mortal?
In order for a sin to be mortal, it must meet three conditions:
- Mortal sin is a sin of grave matter
- Mortal sin is committed with full knowledge of the sinner
- Mortal sin is committed with deliberate consent of the sinner
This means that mortal sins cannot be done “accidentally.” A person who commits a mortal sin is one who knows that their sin is wrong, but still deliberately commits the sin anyway. This means that mortal sins are “premeditated” by the sinner and thus are truly a rejection of God’s law and love.
The first condition, that a mortal sin is of grave matter, means that certain premeditated offenses against God are more severe than others. We know that some sins are graver than others (e.g. it is a graver sin to murder someone than to lie to someone). St. John tells us, “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. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.” (1 John 5:16-17). Thus St. John distinguishes between mortal and venial sin. Jesus also warns us that “Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned” (John 15:6)."
saintaquinas.com/mortal_sin.html
He alone knows our the truest disposition of our hearts in the light of his grace and He will allow that disposition to translate to our eternal lives.
(& one-sided) - someone else will no doubt fill in the less sombre side of the picture. See the previous posts
