Christ or Life

In this post I want to talk about rejecting Christ and his Church in order to avoid suffering or even death. So, is it okay or justifiable to denounce your faith in a case where your life is at risk? We, in Revelation 2:10, Christ said, "Be faithful unto death." So, we really should suffer the torture and even death when our faith is being tested, and, if one does die from the suffering, he/she will become a martyr and gain guaranteed acceptance into Heaven, although this may involve going to Purgatory first. After all, Christ gave his life for us and so that we may experience salvation. And, we should live in imitation of Christ's own life, remaining faithful to our Father and our faith. But, for those who do denounce their faith, God knows how morally culpable we are when we do snap under such pressure. Nonetheless, we are called to never betray our loyalty to Christ and the Church even when we are experiencing pain or are at the risk of death.

Now, another question rises that is very relative to the first question. Does a Christian commit apostasy if he/she denies his faith while suffering or being threatened with death? Apostasy is committed when someone totally and completely repudiates the faith. Apostasy is one of the major wounds to unity. In some situations though, when the torture or suffering is very immense, the suffering can lessen one's ability to choose purposefully. So, someone might not be culpable for apostasy if he/she does not have full knowledge and deliberate consent to the action that they commit, for it would not really be a grave matter or mortal sin. But, he/she would not have been an example of a heroic martyr either. Also, it is possible for a person who is facing martyrdom to, at first, reject his/her faith but then repent and suffer martyrdom.

Overall, Christ is life. It is because of Jesus and his sacrifice of his own life no the cross that we are saved from the suffering of Hell and are able to be saved and enter into the gates of Heaven
. Jesus gave his life for us to live in eternity with God in the Kingdom of Heaven, where there is eternal happiness and peace. he saves us from our own actions and sins. Jesus offers us eternal life as he gives of his own self, as his Body and Blood in the Eucharist.