If you just go live in sin you don't go to heaven. If I decide I'm just going to do drugs and live together in sin with someone, which I did, I'm no longer on my way to heaven, but if people try to stop and are in Romans 7 and haven't been set free it's different. I yelled and cursed all my life as a christian, at times it went better, at times it didn't. So was I not a believer? I prayed for souls for hours a day and lead the prayer in church, but still I did that. That's one of the sins of: those won't inherit the Kingdom. Believers need to be set free and convinced of how bad it is, like that testimony of Alithis who was set free. I don't think it's very helpful to tell a drugaddict who gave his life to God but isn't instantly set free, yet wants to and asks forgiveness that he'd better quit, because he won't go to heaven. He needs deliverance and help.
Reading this ... I still think those who think in terms of "sin or no sin", either don't realize what Jesus did or what it means that "God so loved the world,"
or they haven't repented of their life yet. Or maybe both.
It's not just that "sin is forgiven". It's more than that. People are loved to the degree, that even if and when they are guilty of being evil, they are more than forgiven ... their "prison sentence" has been swapped out by another who went in their place. It's like ... let's say I loved someone so much, or that you loved someone so much, but this person was going to die. Forget for a moment as to whether or not they are a "good person" or a "bad person". It's irrelevant. In order to prevent them from dying, however, you have the opportunity to die in their place. You could die in their place ... go against all the laws of nature, heaven and hell, and "swap". You die, they get to live. You love them so much, you are willing to do that. This makes sense, yes ? I mean, people do similar things all the time in real life, in various ways anyways: sacrifice for one another. Parents for children, lovers for the one they love, sometimes fighters for a cause, etc.
Now let's say the person you loved ... didn't love you back. You loved them, but they didn't love you. Not only that, but they scorned you. They couldn't stand you. Not only that, but they were wasting their life, throwing it away in something ... drugs, crime, violence. Maybe even horrible violence. But ... you love them. You LOVE them. You value them and prize them, even when they aren't valuing and prizing themselves. Even though they discredit your love, don't care about it, and would even throw it in the gutter. You still love them ... it's yours to have and give, and you give it to them. MAYBE they'll do something with it. But even if they don't, you are still giving it to them. You decide, you don't want to see them suffer in prison, or death either. Do they "deserve" to die ? Probably. Do they "deserve" prison ? Probably. Do they "deserve" your love ? Probably not. But do you have it anyways ? Yes. Do you give it ? Yes. Do you trade places with them, offer them a second chance, a third chance, and ENDLESS amount ? You don't even think in terms of "amount". No seven chances. No 70x7 chances. You don't think in those terms, you LOVE them. And you offer it, give it to them ... even if they throw it down. You freely give it. You can't stop your love, or pretend it's not there, or fake it. Have you ever loved someone like this in your life ? Maybe you have loved someone who didn't give it back, or treated it like garbage. But you still loved them. Undeniably.
Now, let's say not only was this person supposed to go to prison, and die, but they were also destined for some fiery hell or afterlife. Would you trade places with them, going to the pit so they wouldn't have to ? Of course you would, you LOVE them. You're not holding it against them, nor are you expecting them to pay you back. They can't lol ... do you hope they make the most of your gift ? Yes. But even if they don't, it's LOVE. You LOVE them. You give it anyways.
This is the way Jesus and the Father look at us: they LOVE us. Both the "good" and the "bad". Sin is forgiven ... all you have to do, is look at Jesus, and understand what "Sin is cast as far as from the east to the west" means. He did the very thing I just described: took our place. Made that "swap". Whether we were doing good with our life, or "bad". He loved us. By our standards today, most people would say that type of love isn't "healthy" lol ... loving abusers, and evildoers to our own detriment and abuse. But Jesus could do it, and did do it. He even went to the pit, through death, torture, etc.
Sin is not held against us the way we hold it against ourselves. Why ? Because of love. Proof ? Jesus Christ. And the fact we are still here, breathing, committing "good and evil".
Drugs no drugs, bad language no bad language, a million prayers a day or a million violations a day ... love is love. We are loved. Sin is more than forgiven. Our very natures have been forgiven. We are "paid for." We are a pearl of great price, bought with everything that God had to buy us with. Even though we devalue ourselves.
So if someone is still talking about, "What if I commit this and that sin ?" I would argue they don't understand love, or what Jesus did. Even though they may be the most scholarly believer walking, they missed the most basic point of all: love. I would also probably argue the converse: they also don't know what a "sinner" is, ironically enough, because they haven't repented lol. Do they acknowledge what some sins are ? Of course .Do they realize they aren't "perfect" ? Of course. Do they feel bad about some things ? Of course. But that's not what it means to repent or know what it means to be a "sinner". Guilt, shame, fear ... natural reactions, but even that doesn't mean a person has repented. When you realize how valuable human lives are to God, and what lengths God went to for us, I believe you can begin to "repent" ... not just about sins, but ALL of it. Your very existence. Repentence is when you stop treating valuable things, as though they have no value. You realize the source of value and pricelessness, beauty, life, etc ... and you embrace that: God. It's about standing in the light of God, fully. Not based on arguments, or justifications of laws and lack of laws. No lawyers. No fig leaves covering you in order to stand with Him. It's when you realize that the love and beauty outweigh the fear and shame and guilt, and freedom and life are right there in front of you. It's so easy. But if you're thinking still in terms of "sin or no sin", you haven't repented. You are still in some kind of darkness, some kind of thing that both devalues human life, and doesn't recognize the value of the extent of what Jesus did, or *is*.
I would argue the main "sin" a person needs to worry about, is the sin against the Holy Spirit. This, imo, is simply when: the Holy Spirit comes to you, in you, on you, etc ... and you reject the Spirit. It's not about what sin you commit or don't commit ... or what evil you perpetrate or don't perpetrate. This is when the very gift that brings you life and seals you, is rejected. Like turning away light. It's not about turning away knowledge, or giving into the "flesh". It's about rejecting the Spirit. So you have two people ... one a believer who prays everyday, knows every scripture, perhaps has even experienced the Spirit frequently. You have another person: let's pick Kim Jong Il. Or someone you may think is "evil". Both's sins are more than forgiven. That isn't the issue. The issue, is whether or not they reject the day of their visitation: when the Spirit comes to them. If they do, they are in danger. Whether you're the believer, or not. Rejecting Jesus is one thing, rejecting the Spirit by which He does things ... is another. Even Jesus said that blasphemies against Him will be forgiven, but not those against the Spirit. If you reject the very power that "powers" life itself, and your own new creation which inherits the Kingdom, what else is there ? Books and knowledge and flesh do not inherit the Kingdom. Love or no love, if you reject the Spirit, what else do you have ? You can give mental assent all day long, or emotional assent all day long. You can physically show great restraint and discipline. But it doesn't matter ... you are rejecting the Spirit, the force and power that gives you life. This is arguably what the Pharisees, Teachers of the Law, and other Israelites were doing: they not only rejected the Spirit, they thought it was evil ... demonic, by the enemy. This is more than a "discernment" issue, this is a full out misidentification. That sin isn't "forgiven", because doing so is irrelevant. You can forgive it all day long, but they reject the Spirit in the end regardless.
Thoughts.
. Also, since our past sins were forgiven, even those done OT times were according to Rom 3:25, and Hebrews 11:40 by the act of the cross, why wouldn't our future sins be forgiven already?
