Venial Sin And Mortal Sin

Christians who have been baptized, converted, and brought to the faith; scripture teaches that there are in them some sins with which faith and the Holy Spirit can remain. The believer is not condemned because of them, but he has and retains faith, the Holy Spirit, God's grace, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life. This doctrine has its bases in Romans 6-8, John 1, Psalms 32, and so on. And these sins are called venial sins.

By contrast, scripture also says with great earnestness that Christians may well fall into those sins through which they lose faith, the Holy Spirit, God's grace, forgiveness of sins, and the inheritance of the kingdom of God and thus fall back under the wrath of God unto eternal condemnation unless they again repent and are reconciled anew in faith for Christ sake. This doctrine has its bases in statements of Paul and Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 6, Galatians 5, Ephesians 5, Colossians 3, and James 1. These statements should be instilled in the people with diligence, and these sins are called mortal sins.*

Through repentance, every sin becomes a venial sin. This may be summed up for the simple in these two parts: repentance and faith, that is, whether we find displeasure in sin or are enemy of it, oppose it and crucify and mortify it, or else whether we are pleased with sin and have desire and love for it. Seek every occasion for it, follow it, act upon it, and so on. Likewise, whether we seek to be rid of sin or to increase it. Any simple person can understand this and can find it in himself. And when the doctrine of mortal and venial sin is subjected to this examination, every Christian can make good use of this doctrine in daily life. And this doctrine should thus be directed to the end that each should make sure that he is not stuck in mortal damnable sin and caught in it by God's judgment, but rather repent while there is time.**

Those who teach Christians may not lose faith and God's grace through any sin, and likewise, no sort of sin may harm believers should be avoided as the worst poison to the soul. Luther powerfully and with great passion refutes such teaching in the Smalcald Articles 3.3.43-45. This also agrees with the Augsburg Confession Article XII.

*Martin Chemnitz

**Aurelius Ambrosius

- Pr. Heath Curtis