Zactly. This is no academic matter to me. I grew up in a home where the fear factor was big. It doesn’t help. It doesn’t make someone better than they would be if they just trusted Jesus enough to take Him at his word. An atmosphere of continuous worry that at the last moment a lifetime of good deeds could be overturned by a single twisted thought at the end of life is a nightmare environment to live in. Nobody can really handle it. So what happens is they back it up a little, say there is some really grand sin that could cost you your standing in grace, but the lesser ones? No big deal. See what happens there? People start building rationalizations outside of divine truth on why they will probably be OK, and it always comes down to shifting the focus of trust from Jesus to the self. It’s a heart-sickening disaster.
Peace,
SR
When I was in that other religion, I knew most of them were thinking they would probably be OK. I was not one of those. I was always scared I would get zapped by God into the lake of fire. Maybe that's why I came to Jesus, because I knew in my heart of hearts, that I wasn't going to make it.
AMEN! So succinctly stated even a Catholic should get it.
So true.
Hence, that categorization of sins into *mortal* and *venial*.
And the whole unscriptural theology built around that.