VENIAL AND MORTAL SIN

 

In Catholic theology, there are two categories of sin: “venial” and “mortal.”  According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

“Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God's law; it turns man away from God, who is his ultimate end and his beatitude, by preferring an inferior good to him.” (CCC #1855)

“For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: ‘Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.’" (CCC #1857 – emphasis in original)

On the other hand, they believe that venial sin is not as serious:

“One commits venial sin when, in a less serious matter, he does not observe the standard prescribed by the moral law, or when he disobeys the moral law in a grave matter, but without full knowledge or without complete consent.” (CCC #1862 – emphasis in original)

“Venial sin weakens charity; it manifests a disordered affection for created goods; it impedes the soul's progress in the exercise of the virtues and the practice of the moral good; it merits temporal punishment. Deliberate and unrepented venial sin disposes us little by little to commit mortal sin. However venial sin does not break the covenant with God. With God's grace it is humanly reparable. ‘Venial sin does not deprive the sinner of sanctifying grace, friendship with God, charity, and consequently eternal happiness.’” (CCC #1863)

Notice the term “humanly reparable.”  I’ll come back to that later.

Is All Sin the Same?

Since Protestants don’t generally believe in the categories of “mortal” and “venial” sins, many Catholics will therefore say that Protestants believe “all sin is the same.”

But to clear the air, let me assure you that all sin is not equal.  God is just and His punishment for stealing a candy bar is not the same as it is for randomly killing someone.  Yet, the person stealing the candy bar (if unrepentant) will be in the same Lake of Fire as the person who murders (if unrepentant).  God sends them both to Hell.  They’ll just be eternally suffering on different levels.

All sin is indeed equal in terms of your final destination, but not in terms of intensity of punishment.  So, your “little” (venial) sins are still incredibly serious and must be dealt with.  People are often taught that a “little white lie” is no big deal, but again, we should treat all sin with the same sense of urgency.

The “seven deadly sins” that the Bible speaks of (Proverbs 6:16-19) are not the only ones that are deadly!  All sin, if not repented of, is mortal.

From Whence Cometh This Doctrine?

So, where does the Catholic Church get this idea of two categories of sin?  Well, there is a footnote in CCC #1854 that points to a Scripture passage that seems to be the pivotal reason that they believe in venial and mortal sin:

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. (1 John 5:16-17)

Catholics claim that the apostle John is saying here that some sins are not deadly.  But Scripture is clear that ALL sin kills – EVERY sin makes you eligible for Hell:

For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. (James 2:10)

For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. (Galatians 3:10 – Emphasis added)

These two verses just above are saying that the law is a package deal.  If you break only one of His commandments, you are guilty of breaking God’s law as a whole.  If you are in court for breaking a law, the judge will not let you go simply because you got most of them right.  You are still guilty of breaking the law of the land.  We must realize that God’s law is not just a random assortment of loose principles and ideas, it should be taken very seriously because it is the essence of His character and desire.

I believe that 1 John 5:16-17 above is actually talking about the unpardonable sin that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 12:31-32.  The unpardonable sin is not just one particular sin – it is the end result of a continual hardening process of a person’s unrepentant heart over time.  Every individual sin can be forgiven, but Jesus is alluding to the fact that a person’s heart has reached a certain level of coldness and hostility where there is no turning back.  He is sinning against the Holy Spirit, the member of the Trinity whose work it is to convict us of sin and to lead us to repentance (John 16:8; Romans 2:4) – and this sin is a complete rejection, a despising of that work of the Spirit. 

Concerning blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, if someone fears that he has crossed the line and is worried that he may have committed this sin, the chances are very good that he hasn’t, because the person who is guilty of this sin is not concerned about it and will not want anything to do with God.  He is beyond help.  It is the point of no return, where grace is no longer available.  That is a terrifying place to be!  I think that this is the point in 1 John 5:16-17, it is not describing “mortal” versus “venial” sins.  All sins are mortal (deadly) – until you repent of them!  None are mortal if they are confessed and forgiven.

Error in the Catechism

I want to point out a couple of things from the Catechism quote that that I mentioned at the beginning of this article (CCC #1863).  First, it says:

“Deliberate and unrepented venial sin disposes us little by little to commit mortal sin…” 

I pretty much agree with this statement in the sense that your “little” sins, if unconfessed and the person remains unrepentant, can lead to a hardening of the heart, and ultimately destroy you.  So, this just proves our point that “venial” sins are also dangerous and can lead to eternal damnation.  So, there is no separate category.  Every sin is a “grave matter.”

The second point of the Catechism quote that I want to address is this:

“With God's grace it [venial sin] is humanly reparable.”

This suggests some sort of “restitution” that the sinner is able to pay.  In the Catholic scheme of things, forgiveness can be applied to the sinner only after some sort of work is done (penance).  But there is absolutely no sin that is reparable by any mere human in Christianity.  The only “repairing” needed has already been done by Jesus Christ on His cross.  This is the absolute cure for the effects of sin.  John the baptist so eloquently said about Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God who TAKES AWAY the sin of the world” (John 1:29).  Jesus didn’t just cover our sins, as was done in the Old Testament. He takes them away, past, present and even future sins (if we repent and confess them).

To gain salvation, all we can do is surrender to Him and believe/trust in His suffering and work on that cruel cross.  That is the gospel – that is the good news.  We don’t have to constantly worry if we have done enough.  There are no rituals or works of charity that can repair, improve, or restore our broken relationship with God.  Only the cross and only through Jesus.

Martin Luther

There is a story about Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformer and former Catholic priest.  As a Catholic, he became extremely aware of his sin and was so tormented by it that as soon as he finished his confession and came out of the Catholic confessional, he would remember another sin and immediately rush back into the confessional to confess it.  Sometimes he would spend hours in the confessional.  This was torture for both Luther and the priest!  The priest, wearied by Luther’s obsession, reportedly told him that if he wanted to confess a sin, go out and commit something worthy of confession.

The Catholic Church had Luther (and all its members) thinking that he must merit his salvation through works of some kind or another.  But this was sheer torture for him.  He seemed to never be able to do enough.  He rightly understood God’s hatred of sin (while most people don’t), but he was utterly helpless.  His sins terrorized him daily, but in the Catholic system there was no relief. 

But one day he finally came to fully understand the phrase, “… the just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17), whereupon he finally achieved the peace of God – and it revolutionized the history of the medieval church.

We have to commend Luther for his zeal and his fear of God.  This is good.  But there is a balance – we also need God’s peace to be able to live the Christian life.  The problem is that he was desperately trying to rid himself of sin through a works-based salvation.  Luther misunderstood the power of God’s grace and the sufficiency of the work that Jesus did on the cross.  We must remember Jesus’ last words, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). 

See these articles on Luther and his battle with sin:

https://www.placefortruth.org/blog/justification-and-martin-luther

https://www.pbs.org/empires/martinluther/monk_penance.html#:~:text=Priests%20took%20confession%20from%20their,in%20to%20repent%20further%20sins.

https://worldlysaints.wordpress.com/2017/01/04/martin-luther-his-confessions-and-battle-against-sin/

Also, the practice of confession to a priest is not a biblical one.  See these articles:

https://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-sacraments-of-catholic-church-part.html

https://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2011/08/hi-jacking-of-john-2023.html

Conclusion

The question to ask is, “WHY is the sin in 1 John 5 a “sin not unto death,” and the other a “sin unto death”?  The answer is simply because the first one is FORGIVEN/FORGIVABLE and the second is NOT!  This erroneous Catholic concept of venial and mortal sins goes against clear biblical teaching elsewhere that says, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), or “The soul that sins, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4), or “He which converteth the sinner… shall save a soul from death” (James 5:20), or “And you… who were dead in trespasses and sin…” (Ephesians 2:1).  Therefore, any and all sin (apart from a repentant heart) brings spiritual death.

Now, this doesn’t mean that a Christian loses and gains his salvation every time he sins and repents, over and over.  No, as long as he maintains his trust in Christ and his attitude is one of continual repentance, his sin is washed away.  This applies to even those secret sins of which he may be unaware (Psalm 90:8). 

Biblical confession is not a ritualistic or robotic procedure in which every single personal thought has to be remembered and painstakingly processed into a system where we can infallibly identify every single sin in our lives – and then “formally” confess them to a priest.  No, remember the thief on the cross?  He simply said from the heart, “…Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom” (Luke 23:42).  Jesus knew his heart and immediately forgave him.

We must be careful when attempting to categorize sins as venial or mortal, as people might tend to view some of their sins as “minor” and be casual about them.  These two distinctions have certainly caused confusion in the body of Christ.

So let us take care to be biblical with our view of sin.  In the end, we must have balance – a healthy fear of God, yet a firm peace in our hearts, knowing the sufficiency of Jesus’ work. 

 

THE FALSE DOCTRINE OF PURGATORY (Part 2)

In Part 1 of this series we looked at the doctrine of Purgatory, and saw that, at its core, it is a corrupt teaching because it is based on the false notions that 1) Jesus’ work on the cross is not enough to forgive all our sins, and 2) mere humans can atone for sin.  See here:

http://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-false-doctrine-of-purgatory-part-1.html

This month we will look at the Scripture verses that Catholics and others will use to try to prove the teaching.  The concept of Purgatory is not consistent with the principles of Scripture, and our intent here is to show the weakness of these Catholic arguments.

What Does the Catholic Church Say?

 

The Council of Trent assures us that Purgatory is a biblical doctrine when it says that this teaching has come both “…from the Sacred Scriptures and the ancient tradition of the Fathers…” (Session XXV, “Decree Concerning Purgatory”)

The online New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia agrees with Trent and speaks of the “proofs” of the Catholic position “both in Scripture and in Tradition.” (Purgatory, under subheading “Proofs”)

But on the other hand, the New Catholic Encyclopedia implies that the doctrine has some support from Scripture, but admits:

"In the final analysis, the Catholic doctrine on purgatory is based on tradition, not Sacred Scripture." (Vol. XI, pg. 1034, Copyright 1967, Catholic University of America)

So, which is it?  Why is there a contradiction in these official Catholic sources?  Interestingly, both these Catholic encyclopedias have the same official Catholic seals of approval, i.e., the “nihil obstat” and the “imprimatur,” yet they don’t agree on whether Purgatory is actually biblical or not.

So, Is Purgatory Really in the Bible?

Here are some common Scripture passages (in no particular order) that Catholics will use to try and support the doctrine of Purgatory:

1 Corinthians 3: (NASV used throughout, unless otherwise noted)

10) According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it.  But let each man be careful how he builds upon it. 

11) For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

 

12) Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,

13) each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 

 

14) If any man’s work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward.

 

15) If any man’s work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.

  

And Catholics will say, “See, this is Purgatory!”  But this passage is not talking about purging sin from (or purifying) the believer himself; it is about revealing the quality of the believer’s WORK which will determine his rewards.  In fact, it says nothing about “temporal punishments” or sins.  It is not about any kind of punishment, but rather, eternal rewards (or lack thereof).  Catholics read the concept of Purgatory back into this text, although it is just not there.  Just because we see the word “fire,” does not mean that this is Purgatory.

 

In this passage, Paul uses the phrase “suffer loss” in verse 15, and it is a specific Greek term, “zemioo,” meaning “to sustain damage, to receive injury, suffer loss.”  The same term is used by Paul in Philippians 3:8, where he had “…suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ.”

Matthew 16:26 also uses the same Greek term where Jesus said: 

 

For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits [suffers the loss of] his soul…

So, 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 is about suffering the loss of certain eternal rewards, not suffering for sins in Purgatory.

Furthermore, the Catholic New American Bible has the following footnote on this passage:

“The text of v. 15 has sometimes been used to support the notion of purgatory, though it does not envisage this.” (World Publishing, Copyright 1987, Page 1233)

By their own admission, there is no support for the doctrine of Purgatory from this passage.

Another passage Catholics use is Matthew 12:

31) Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.

32) And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come.

  

Catholics will say that this passage is telling us that some sins can be forgiven in “the age to come.” But we know that there is no forgiveness in Hell, therefore, this must mean they are forgiven in Purgatory, right?

No, this simply means that this specific sin (blasphemy of the Holy Spirit) is a sin that will never be forgiven.  The parallel passage in Mark makes this clear:

 

But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin. (Mark 3:29)

That’s all it’s saying.  It is not suggesting that any sin can be forgiven in the afterlife.  Besides, Purgatory is NOT depicted by the Catholic Church as a place or state of forgiveness, anyway, but of punishment.  So neither does this passage support the concept of Purgatory.

Matthew 5:

25) Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, in order that your opponent may not deliver you to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

 

26) Truly I say to you, you shall not come out of there, until you have paid up the last cent.

  

Catholics will say that this must be speaking of Purgatory.  Jesus appears to be saying that there is a possibility of getting out of this particular place.  And since no one gets out of Hell, this must be Purgatory.

First of all, no one can say that it is NOT speaking of Hell, since Hell is mentioned in this very same context (verse 22).  And the person in Hell would indeed be there “until he had paid up the last cent,” meaning that his stay there would be forever, since he could never pay for it.  For the person in Hell, there is no end to his payment for his sins.

In the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:23-27), Jesus tells us of the man who was forgiven of a very great (actually, an impossible) debt.  But he was forgiven of his debt simply because he humbled himself and begged for mercy from the king.  The king felt compassion for him and released him of his obligation.  This is clearly a picture of God dealing with us in salvation.  Notice here that the servant was not given the means to repay the debt, but he was altogether forgiven.  That is, he had to pay nothing because of his master’s great mercy.  In the same way, we Christians do not have to atone for our sins.  Jesus Christ did all the necessary atoning.  This clearly demonstrates the error in the concept of Purgatory.  So, once again, the Catholic attempt to use Matthew 5:25-26 also fails the test.

Job 1:5:

And it came about, when the days of feasting had completed their cycle, that Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.”  Thus Job did continually.

  

The Catechism of the Catholic Church mentions Job offering sacrifices for his sons (CCC #1032), as though this somehow supports the idea of Purgatory.  First of all, his sons were living at the time, so this has nothing whatsoever to do with praying for souls in Purgatory.

Secondly, ALL biblical sacrifices (in the 66-book Protestant Bible) were offered for the living, without a single mention of Purgatory.  So, Job 1:5 does not point to Purgatory, either.

2 Maccabees 12:39-46

39) On the following day, since the task had now become urgent, Judas and his companions went to gather up the bodies of the fallen and bury them with their kindred in their ancestral tombs.

40) But under the tunic of each of the dead they found amulets sacred to the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. So it was clear to all that this was why these men had fallen.

41) They all therefore praised the ways of the Lord, the just judge who brings to light the things that are hidden.

42) Turning to supplication, they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out. The noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sin of those who had fallen.

43) He then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection in mind;

44) for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead.

45) But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought.

  

46) Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be absolved from their sin. (Catholic New American Bible, Revised Edition, online)

Catholics will say that because of this need to pray for the dead, there MUST be an intermediate state like Purgatory.

No, these dead soldiers, according to the text, were very plainly struck down by God for their idolatry.  And according to Catholic teaching, idolatry is a “mortal” sin (CCC 1857; 1858), and mortal sin sends one to Hell, not Purgatory.  Purgatory is supposedly for “venial” (lesser) sins.  So, the concept of Purgatory does not follow here.

 

Since the teaching of Purgatory contradicts this passage, then either:

1) This book of 2 Maccabees is wrong (and therefore uninspired) or 

2) Catholic teaching about venial and mortal sin is wrong, or

3) both of the above. 

 

The evidence points to number 3.

Conclusion

There IS no Purgatory.  Like the children’s story of the “Emperor’s New Clothes,” Catholic apologists are seeing something in Scripture that’s simply not there.  But this story (Purgatory) won’t just end in embarrassment like the children’s story does.  Rather, it will end in eternal souls being lost, because of their warped view of an “insufficient” Savior.

It is absolutely critical to remember that Jesus Christ CANCELED our record of sin debt:

Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (Colossians 2:13-14)

 … When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of Majesty on high. (Hebrews 1:3)

Once again, there is no punishment or suffering in the afterlife for the Christian.  Sin has been completely atoned for.  Jesus Christ does the purifying and the atoning… not us.   That’s what Jesus meant when He said, “It is finished!” (John 19:30)