I know that there is 7 deadly sins. I have heard that there should have been an 8th one. Can you tell me what that was? A reply would be greatly appreciated.
The Roman Catholic Church is credited with having coined the phrase, seven deadly sins. That list of seven sins contains pride, anger, envy, sloth, lust, covetousness and gluttony. (McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2000 by Biblesoft)
I am not aware of a so-called eighth deadly sin. However, the Bible attributes to every sin for which one has not repented the capacity to condemn a soul to a devil’s. “For the wages of sin is death …” (Romans 6:23). Hence, the catalogs of sin appearing in the New Testament list all manner of sins without an artificial distinction as to which sins can condemn a soul and which other sins are not bad enough to cause one to miss heaven and spend eternity in.
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, NKJV).
“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21).
“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).
Though we may naturally think that sins such as murder, which cannot be undone and have far reaching consequences, are worse than some others, before God, every sin unrepented of can condemn one’s immortal soul. Artificial distinctions in sin, sometimes styled venial and mortal sins, are not biblical terms; they represent false concepts that only cloud one’s perception of righteous, which God expects each soul to pursue. Consequently, Revelation 1:8 lists murders and liars together as bound for “the lake which burns with fire and brimstone.”
Fortunately, any sin for which one is willing to repent can be forgiven. Following the list of sins in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 is the uplifting assurance that those sins can be forgiven. “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” The apostle Paul brought the Gospel message to the ancient city of Corinth and led many of his auditors to be “washed,” “sanctified” and “justified” in this way. “Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized” (Acts 18:8). This corresponds to what Jesus himself instructed prior to his Ascension.
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15-16).
