All sin is equal before God's eyes. There are no little sins. He will forgive those sins as quickly as you ask them.

According to Catholicism, though, there are two types of sin: Mortal and Venial. Citing John 5:17. As well as:

"Unrighteous," immoral, idolaters, adulterers, sexual perverts, thieves, greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers "will not inherit the kingdom of God." -1 Corinthians 6:9-10

"fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like . . . "those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." -Galatians 5:19-21

"...no fornicator or impure man, or one who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." -Ephesians 5:5

But let me ask you all something then, can you be a fornicator and be a true follower of Christ? Can you be a drunkard and be a true follower of Christ?? How about an adulterer? Or someone who is greedy? If you are these things, they are not only sins but they also keep you from being saved. These are things that are supposed to put aside and repented of when you come to Jesus.

-- Jerry (jjorges@hotmail.com), August 14, 2004

Answers

bump for reply.

-- Jerry (jjorges@hotmail.com), August 14, 2004.

Here's a good read:

I. Nature of sin II. Division III. Mortal Sin IV. Venial Sin V. Permission and Remedies VI. The Sense of Sin

-- Faith (fgcc4@yahoo.com), August 14, 2004.

Jerry,

The sins mentioned in the verses above would be considered "grave matter" that could constitute a mortal sin for the one who commits them. I agree with you that at the time a person commits these sins, they are not being "a true follower of Christ." However, that does not mean that before this point the person was not a true follower of Christ. Likewise, after such a sin is committed, the person may come back to God in repentance, turning away from sin and toward God once again.

If it is not possible for someone who is "saved" to commit the sins you listed, why did Paul write this?

1 Corinthians 10 (KJV)
12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

Now, can you honestly tell me that as a Christian, you have never been greedy, in strife, jealous, angry, selfish, in dissention, or envious?

If you can, Praise God! But I doubt that anyone, even Christians could say that. I know that I cannot, as I have been guilty of these things. I am converting to Catholic from Protestant, and both while a Catholic and a Protestant, I have been guilty of these sins. Does that mean I was never saved? Of course not. I simply means that I need to turn back to God in repentance.

We are not perfect. And perhaps you have avoided some of the sins above outwardly, but Jesus Himself told us that we are just as guilty when we do these things in our hearts.

Matthew 5 (KJV)
21 Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Now, if you agree with Jesus that you can be guilty of murder or adultery by doing these things even in your heart, then you will see that aside from God's grace and forgiveness, the above verses you quoted are not possible for even Christians to fulfill.

As for all sin being equal, what then do you make of the following verses:

1 John 5 (KJV)
16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.
17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

Matthew 12 (KJV) 31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. 32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

Here we see that some sins lead to death and some do not. And some sins are forgiven and some are not. What does this mean? The Catholic teaching is that the "unforgiveable sin" is that which constitutes final rejection of God upon death. It is not that God is powerless to forgive sins, but that the person chose to remain unrepentant, and thus unforgiven.

While all sins lead to spiritual death in the sense that they separate us from God, mortal sins are more serious because in committing them, we are completely cutting ourselves off from God's saving grace. However, venial sin does not immediately result in spiritual death, since there is less grave matter involved, or less consent involved. Nonetheless, venial sin may lead to mortal sin, which does lead to spiritual death.

All sins are evil. This is why God calls us to repentance, and why I am so grateful for His grace and forgiveness. Even when I fail Him, He never fails to reach out to me in love, drawing me back home again.

-- Emily ("jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), August 14, 2004.

Jerry,

I forgot to mention this. Click here to read more warnings in Scripture about continuing to follow Christ. We cannot assume that as Christians, we will never sin. We simply benefit from God's grace that helps us resist temptation, and forgives us when we fall.

-- Emily ("jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), August 14, 2004.

-- (bold@off.com), August 14, 2004.

Well one can be a n alcahlic and follower of Christ, since htats na addiction, an often falls out of the persons controle...

-- ZAROVE (ZAROFF3@JUNO.COM), August 14, 2004.

Taking a closer look at the verse quoted above by Emily (1 John 5:16-17) ...

"If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death."

The most obvious teaching contained in this passage is that all sins are clearly not alike. Some are deadly. Others are not. That is plainly stated. Another fact this passage reveals is that sins which are not deadly are easily forgiven. It says that just a simple prayer is all it takes to bring about forgiveness of non-deadly sins. But it says that deadly sins cannot be forgiven so easily, indicating then that something more is required to forgive deadly sins.

If you look up the word "mortal" in your dictionary, one of the definitions is "causing death", or in older english, "leading unto death". If we read that a soldier received a "mortal" wound in battle, we know that he died. Therefore "mortal" is synonymous with "unto death". Therefore it can be substitured in the above passage ...

"If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not mortal, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin which is not mortal. There is a sin that is mortal: I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin which is not mortal."

So you see, the Catholic teaching on mortal sin is clearly spelled out in Scripture. The "something more" that is required to forgive mortal sin is of course sacramental Confession. And finally, if you look up the word "venial" in your dictionary you find that it means "easily forgiven". Once again the Word of God agrees fully with the teaching of the Church to which it was given, the Church which defined and compiled the Bible.

One final thought - If all sins are equal, Jesus apparently didn't realize this, since He told Pilate ... "Thou couldest have no power against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath THE GREATER SIN." (John 19:11)

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), August 14, 2004.

Paul M rightly wrote: "So you see, the Catholic teaching on mortal sin is clearly spelled out in Scripture. The "something more" that is required to forgive mortal sin is of course sacramental Confession"

That sin can be forgiven before Sacramental Confession. It requires a perfect act of contrition. This also requires the firm intention of going to Confession as soon as possible.

I'm thinking of people living in the different sierras that criscross Mexico. Some of these people have to walk (there are no roads) for seven or eight hours to the nearest church and priest.

Enrique

-- Enrique Ortiz (eaortiz@yahoo.com), August 17, 2004.

Someone wrote: "We simply benefit from God's grace that helps us resist temptation"

But isn't it true, that god gave us a free will ? So how can it be then, that his grace influences our actions ?

-- Awakening (nospam@please.com), August 17, 2004.

His grace is an AVAILABLE help to us, if we choose to accept it. It does not help us against our will. We are perfectly free to reject grace, and to suffer the consequences, if that is our choice.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), August 17, 2004.