Different Degrees of Sin?

[teagranny]

Ittarter
Could you explain what you mean by apostasy? I guess I am a protestant since I am not a Catholic but have never heard of two unforgivable sins.

 

[SQLservant]

Apostasy is leaving or rejecting a given religion. Renouncing Christianity (for another religion or no religion) is apostasy from Christianity.

In a way, you could say it is a form of blaspheming the Holy Spirit in that it is denying Him.

 

[jackmt]

What do protestants make of this from 1 John 5?

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.

I see that you are RCC and I think this probably has to do with mortal and venial sins. If I recall correctly, RC teaching when I was young held that murder, adultery, rape and other heinous sins were mortal and if you died without confessing them and getting forgiveness, you went to hell. Petty theft, "white lies," and the like were venial sins and if you died with only them unforgiven, you went to Purgatory, until your sins were purged by fire, and then you could enter heaven.

I reject that dichotomy as anti-biblical.

A couple years after I was saved, my mother asked me to pray for one of their friends who was taken seriously ill. As I started to pray, the Holy Spirit said strongly in me and in no uncertain terms, "Do not pray to me for that man!" I was stunned, but immediately remembered the verse you cited in I John. I asked a friend whose spiritual understanding far exceeded my own. He agreed with my understanding after I told him what sort of man he was.

A popular understanding of the unforgivable sin as blasphemy of the Holy Spirit says that if you die unrepentant, you have rejected the grace of God for your entire lifetime. Those who hold this view tend to be free-willers. I am not one. It is clear to me that this man blasphemed the Holy Spirit earlier in his life and he lived for many years after the above described event. I am not sure what that blasphemy entailed, and God has not since told me not to pray for anyone else.

As for some sins being worse than others, it is clear in Scripture that this is so and on many levels. For starters, take that OT penalties varied according to the degree of sin. Further, God makes distinctions among "sin, transgression, and iniquity." Stealing to feed your hungry family was less serious than stealing for greed. Both were wrong and required penalties, but those penalties differed.

 

[Ronald]

What do protestants make of this from 1 John 5?

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.

This is general sin that does not lead to physical death. It's not talking about the sin against the Holy Spirit, since a Christian brother could not commit that. KJV inserts "a" before sin -- that is not in other translations. So it implies a particular sin, but the correct translation is not concerning a specific sin.

Simply pray for your brother if he sins, unless he kills himself in the act and then of course it's too late!

 

[jackmt]

Oh, wow... okay. Degrees based on what? There are no measurements in the Bible.

Firstly: That Scripture (I John 5:16-17) actually means is this: When you comment the sin you can either ask for forgiveness (sin not unto death) or not ask for forgiveness and have that sin until you die (sin unto death).

Secondly: A person DOES NOT have to sin after they are saved. Romans 6

Remember: Sin is a willful transgression against the KNOWN will of God.

Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Not all sin is willful transgression. Transgression is a transgression is a sin. 'Sin' is an archery term meaning 'missing the mark,' or more literally, 'without.' 'Sincere' - without wax; French 'sans' - without; etc.

'Sin' is the overarching term encompassing the 3 types of sin: sin, transgression, and iniquity. In the archery analogy, sin is trying but failing to hit the target, ignorance of the proper technique, or weakness, perhaps; transgression is deliberately shooting at something you ought not be aiming at, someone else's target, for example; and iniquity is like having a deformity that makes it impossible to shoot correctly. Each type of sin has a different cause and a different remedy.