Subject: Can you lose your salvation? |
Bible Note: Mike: I disagree with the minor premise of your syllogism. Simply citing Isaiah 59 does little to support your view that the "sin unto death" is a sin unto the loss of salvation. Your view of confessing sin, by the way, if very close to the Catholic idea of sacramental penance. Yes, we are undoubtedly to be confessing and repentant (Martin Luther's first thesis was that our lives should be ones of continual repentance). However, we have a contradiction in your claim that we are saved by God's grace (unmerited favor), but that we lose that salvation if we don't confess each sin. Another question...when you became a Christian, did you confess every single sin that you ever committed? Assuming you did not, why didn't you have to make your list then? In my experience, those who hold that every sin must be confessed generally have a poor understanding of just how much we still sin. I could not even count the number of times I have sinned (in even the most passing thought, word, or deed) against an infinitely holy God since I rolled out of bed this morning. While I do continually confess my sin against God in a general sense, it would be literally impossible to do anything else during the day but confess our continual lack of conformity to God's law and our transgression of it. Everything we do is still tainted by sin. Even our God-honoring works are imperfect in some form or fashion. If we must confess each and every sin, then we are doomed, because no one does that. --Joe! |