Quick Question in Regards to Hell

[Jaedan]

If a person (who is born again) purposely committed a sin before they died, would they go to hell?

*Bonus question: what if the sin this person purposely committed resulted in their death? Would they go to hell?

 

[atpollard]

No.

 

[Albion]

The answer depends to some extent upon which church a person is affiliated with, but the answer might be "yes," depending on the exact details.

I don't see exact details in the hypothetical situation you are referring to. Was the sin deliberate? Well, you said "purposely." So, OK. Was it also a grievous sin? You included a mention of it as resulting in his death. What does that mean?

It sounds as though you are working up to telling us something more, but only after teasing us (or "warming us up" to the topic) with a broad-based and unspecific scenario.

 

[Jaedan]

You included a mention of it as resulting in his death. What does that mean?

A sin that leads to an individual's physical death.

 

[Albion]

A sin that leads to an individual's physical death.

Such as?

 

[Jaedan]

Such as?

Killing yourself by driving drunk or killing yourself by committing suicide.

 

[Albion]

Killing yourself by driving drunk or killing yourself by committing suicide.

Committing suicide in any manner has long been considered a mortal sin, so many churches would consider that to mean the person enters the afterlife in a state of unforgiven sin (since it's the last thing he does on Earth).

We might also mention that the two examples you've used don't seem parallel to each other. Driving drunk increases the chances of crashing and being killed, but drunk drivers don't ordinarily intend to crash and die. If the example is supposed to be of a deliberate decision to end one's life...and driving recklessly was simply the method chosen, that would be somewhat different. Could a person with real Faith do such a thing? Look at the example of Judas who committed suicide. He regretted his betrayal of Jesus, but he's not portrayed in Scripture as a true follower who just slipped up and was forgiven. Peter, however, denied to the Romans that he was a friend of Jesus yet he is considered one of the great saints of the church.

That said, there are churches which emphasize the principle that the true believer has an unbreakable bond with God, meaning that even if he falls at times in life, his salvation is assured. With a deliberate decision to commit suicide, though, it can be argued that the Faith which makes possible that bond could be called into question.

Lastly, we humans, even devout believers, do not know everything that God knows and intends. There is a lot of speculation involved when answering a question such as you've posed, and there are some answers that simply must be left to God.

 

[HTacianas]

If a person (who is born again) purposely committed a sin before they died, would they go to hell?

*Bonus question: what if the sin this person purposely committed resulted in their death? Would they go to hell?

To answer your question, yes. But only with the caveat that it is not up to me to decide who goes to hell and who doesn't. The writer to the Hebrews explained it:

Heb 10:26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

Heb 10:27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

That is according to the bible. Around 200 or so AD a schism developed in the Church based on wilfull sin committed after baptism. Hippolytus, an early Christian, was at odds with Calixtus I, Bishop of Rome, as to whether murder, adultery, or idolatry after baptism could be forgiven. Calixtus decided that they could be, thus opening the way for absolution of mortal sin committed after baptism. Hippolytus led a schism against Calixtus, his position being that based on Hebrews 10:26-27 that those sins could not be absolved. Calixtus eventually won out. It's an early example of a Pope being opposed for a tradition that contradicted scripture.

You mention in another post the idea of suicide. Suicide has always been viewed as the ultimate rejection of God in most cases and in the Orthodox Church is grounds for exclusion from an Orthodox funeral and burial. That has been relaxed in recent years based on a modern understanding of mental illness.

But again, the answer to your question is yes. A baptized Christian can end up in hell based on sin committed after baptism. There's an old saying that goes "the floor of hell is paved with the skulls of priests". It's a polemic against priests who do bad things or lead others astray based on faulty ideas. If a Christian could not find themselves in hell that saying would never have existed.

 

[atpollard]

*Bonus question: what if the sin this person purposely committed resulted in their death? Would they go to hell?

A sin that leads to an individual's physical death.

Killing yourself by driving drunk or killing yourself by committing suicide.

John 3:14-21 [NLT]

"And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life."

"For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God's one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants."​

Mark 3:28-30 [NLT]

"I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences." He told them this because they were saying, "He's possessed by an evil spirit."

​

If a person (who is born again) purposely committed a sin before they died, would they go to hell?

Again, no.

Romans 10:8-13 [NLT]

In fact, it says,
"The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart." And that message is the very message about faith that we preach:
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced." Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. For "Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved."​

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

If a person (who is born again) purposely committed a sin before they died, would they go to hell?

*Bonus question: what if the sin this person purposely committed resulted in their death? Would they go to hell?

Impossible to know. That is between the person and God.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

If a person (who is born again) purposely committed a sin before they died, would they go to hell?

*Bonus question: what if the sin this person purposely committed resulted in their death? Would they go to hell?

Nobody can real answer that question with full confidence. We have a loving and forgiving God. Only He knows the heart of the individual.

 

[disciple Clint]

The answer depends to some extent upon which church a person is affiliated with, but the answer might be "yes," depending on the exact details.

I don't see exact details in the hypothetical situation you are referring to. Was the sin deliberate? Well, you said "purposely." So, OK. Was it also a grievous sin? You included a mention of it as resulting in his death. What does that mean?

It sounds as though you are working up to telling us something more, but only after teasing us (or "warming us up" to the topic) with a broad-based and unspecific scenario.

The answer depends to some extent upon which church a person is affiliated with, but the answer might be "yes," depending on the exact details.

I agree with this statement from a theology standpoint and then I had to think, it makes no difference to God what denomination we are associated with He is going to treat us all the same, so there can be only one right answer. Right? Which then brings the question which answer is the right answer according to God.

 

[Albion]

I agree with this statement from a theology standpoint and then I had to think, it makes no difference to God what denomination we are associated with He is going to treat us all the same, so there can be only one right answer. Right? Which then brings the question which answer is the right answer according to God.

Well, yes, that does have to be faced. What I was saying with that comment you referred to was that the answer is sufficiently uncertain that there are, among Christians, those who have one answer and are sure of it, while there are others that have a different one and are equally sure of it.

That reality seems like something that is worth pointing out to any inquirer before we begin to discuss the reasons for believing one way or the other.

 

[bling]

God decides, but we know He judges the person's heart.

 

[eleos1954]

If a person (who is born again) purposely committed a sin before they died, would they go to hell?

*Bonus question: what if the sin this person purposely committed resulted in their death? Would they go to hell?

Hell is the grave ... everyone (saved and unsaved) who dies (earthly death) goes there (to their grave) and are in a dormant sleep until Jesus returns ... then the 1st resurrection (of the saved) will happen.

 

[Dorothy Mae]

If a person (who is born again) purposely committed a sin before they died, would they go to hell?

*Bonus question: what if the sin this person purposely committed resulted in their death? Would they go to hell?

How would anyone here know for the sure the answer to this?

 

[aiki]

If a person (who is born again) purposely committed a sin before they died, would they go to hell?

No one gets in to heaven on the basis of what they do. Jesus is the sole Way into God's kingdom. (John 14:6; Acts 4:12) It's him plus nothing. If you have the Son, you have eternal life (1 John 5:11) and no sin can undo this.

 

[ReuleauxMan]

If a person (who is born again) purposely committed a sin before they died, would they go to hell?

*Bonus question: what if the sin this person purposely committed resulted in their death? Would they go to hell?

I'd say sin is virtually always a conscious choice against one's conscience and prompting of the Holy Spirit; that is all one has to go on with knowing right from wrong (it is definitely possible and encouraged to read scripture to get a better idea of what to do and not do, of course!). So, the very nature of sin is that of willfully doing, and the degree to which sin is evil is how willfully it is done with regards to the degree of temptation and how egregious the sin is. After saving knowledge and confession of faith to Jesus Christ, regeneration starts to take place but it is a process by which we are refined. Sometimes problem sin habits (e.g. pornography) can take time to be completely overcome, going from sinful to sin free usually isn't like flipping a switch, even though the Holy Spirit's conviction is quite compelling and can bring about a rapid transformation.

Whether or not it is possible to become free of sinning completely by the time one dies I do not know, but all Christians are called saints in the bible if I understand correctly. Still, definitely there is no license to sin, and sinning willfully is actually two sins - the sin done itself and the sin of believing it is acceptable to do so because it is covered by Christ's atoning sacrifice. This second sin I believe is grieving the Holy Spirit, which is pretty egregious. I believe the question also appeals to the question as to whether one can fall from grace, and yes, that is possible, but when that is only God can determine. Jesus Christ says to strive to enter the narrow way to life, because wide is the way to destruction (paraphrased from Matthew 7:13).

 

[Dorothy Mae]

No one gets in to heaven on the basis of what they do. Jesus is the sole Way into God's kingdom. (John 14:6; Acts 4:12) It's him plus nothing. If you have the Son, you have eternal life (1 John 5:11) and no sin can undo this.

That is your personal theology and while it ought not be debated here, it is a personal statment, not a statment of fact.

 

[aiki]

That is your personal theology and while it ought not be debated here, it is a personal statment, not a statment of fact.

No, it is the plain declaration of Scripture. As the verses I provided - and many others I didn't - indicate.