Salvation issue vs Death sin

[justme]

i read the following posting, and i had a question, but i couldn't post it in the original thread. which is prob just as good, because it certainly would have been a bunny trail.

As soon as the words "salvation issue" escape someone's lips, all hope is lost. The truth is that every aspect of a Christian's life is actually a salvation issue - right down to whether or not I want to choose to speak a kind word to a transfer or I decide to be a bit selfish and be a little gruff and rude instead.

What is the difference between a salvation issue, and a death sin?

[Josh]

i read the following posting, and i had a question, but i couldn't post it in the original thread. which is prob just as good, because it certainly would have been a bunny trail.

As soon as the words "salvation issue" escape someone's lips, all hope is lost. The truth is that every aspect of a Christian's life is actually a salvation issue - right down to whether or not I want to choose to speak a kind word to a transfer or I decide to be a bit selfish and be a little gruff and rude instead.

What is the difference between a salvation issue, and a death sin?

Choosing not to follow Jesus when he calls you to follow him is a “salvation issue”.

When one commits a death sin, one is certainly spiritually dead, because the Bible says people who do certain things won’t be in the kingdom of heaven.

A mark of a Christian is they aren’t be very focused on if things are “salvation issues” or “is this a non-death sin, so I can get away with it?” They simply want to follow Jesus and desired to be set free from all sin.

[Swiss Bro]

Respectfully disagree, Josh.

As I see it

- A sin unto death (1 John 5,16) is a sin that is punished with (physical) death by God, but can be committed by a saved believer. They die as a consequence of their sin but are saved by grace. Prime example are the Corinthians taking the Lord‘s Supper unworthily (1 Cor 11,32: they are judged, but not condemned with the world).

- The sin that cannot be forgiven, aka blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, on the other hand, can only be committed by unbelievers (they might be confessors), and does not necessarily immediately lead to physical death, but to damnation (aka the Second Death). The pharisees and scribes witnessing Jesus‘s miracles, clearly realising he must be the Messiah, yet deliberately refusing Him/salvation, are guilty of this, for example.

I know there are other opinions on the subject, of course.

[Josh]

I suppose I've never put too much stock in details of the mechanics of such (or that my own opinions necessarily make it to be true).

But I do firmly believe this:

#1. The heart of a sincere believer will be to stay away not just from evil, but the very appearance of evil.

#2. A new Christian sincerely wants to do the right things to stay on the straight and narrow, not see how close they can get to the edge of the wide path.

#3. Any sin could become a deadly sin at any moment. There is no occasion to indulge the flesh and find that we have endangered ourselves eternally. We should have confidence, however that Jesus can continually save us from sin.

#4. Ultimately, choosing not to go to heaven is a free choice and not one that Jesus will force on anyone. But we must take care that our hearts are not hardened, that we do not choose to reject following Jesus.

[justme]

i would think that salvation issue and death sin mean the same thing in a roundabout way.
salvation issue. if you don't do it, then you are not saved
death sin. if you do it, then you are not saved.

[Josh]

A key difference is that people often say, "That's not a salvation issue."

Nobody ever says, "Well, that sin isn't a death sin, so it's not a big deal."

[silentreader]

i would think that salvation issue and death sin mean the same thing in a roundabout way.
salvation issue. if you don't do it, then you are not saved
death sin. if you do it, then you are not saved.

James says....

James 4:17 (LSB)
Therefore, to one who knows to do the right thing and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Does this have the potential to become a "salvation issue"?



Doesn't any willful sin that is not repented of have the potential to be a "death sin"?

[Soloist]

Wife: I think I had someone explain to me once that a death sin was a sin that would have required the death penalty in the old testament. Don’t know if that’s right or not, but that’s one view on it. Another thing I’ve heard is that you can pray for people for unintentional sins they commit, and that they can be forgiven, whereas a death sin, you can’t pray forgiveness for them, because that’s something that, unless they repent and ask forgiveness themselves, it leads to spiritual death. I don’t personally know for sure, but that’s what I’ve heard so far. Then there’s the apostolic (Nazarean) view that Christians who commit those sins can never repent of them because that’s like putting Christ to death a second time, and you shouldn’t waste your time praying for them. I would lean against that one. There’s probably a dozen other ideas on it too.

[Josh]

i would think that salvation issue and death sin mean the same thing in a roundabout way.
salvation issue. if you don't do it, then you are not saved
death sin. if you do it, then you are not saved.

James says....

James 4:17 (LSB)
Therefore, to one who knows to do the right thing and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Does this have the potential to become a "salvation issue"?



Doesn't any willful sin that is not repented of have the potential to be a "death sin"?

I would generally say so.

However, in my conversations with evangelical sort of people (including conservative Mennonites), they often say, “well, that isn’t a salvation issue”. Apparently, many people believe that “gray areas” or even things that are definitely sinful but not so bad they appear in the lists of very serious sins in the NT are somehow OK to keep doing over and over.

[silentreader]

i would think that salvation issue and death sin mean the same thing in a roundabout way.
salvation issue. if you don't do it, then you are not saved
death sin. if you do it, then you are not saved.

James says....

James 4:17 (LSB)
Therefore, to one who knows to do the right thing and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Does this have the potential to become a "salvation issue"?



Doesn't any willful sin that is not repented of have the potential to be a "death sin"?

I would generally say so.

However, in my conversations with evangelical sort of people (including conservative Mennonites), they often say, “well, that isn’t a salvation issue”. Apparently, many people believe that “gray areas” or even things that are definitely sinful but not so bad they appear in the lists of very serious sins in the NT are somehow OK to keep doing over and over.

My personal experience has been that continued indulgence in "less serious" sins will eventually make "more serious" sins seem "less serious". Even "less serious" sins have the capacity to sear our conscience if they become an accepted part of our lives. But maybe I'm a weak Christian.