Sin at the time of death

[Lybrah]

Let's say you are saved. If you are sinning at the exact moment of your death (anger, having bad thoughts, etc)---say a car or truck crashes into your car and you die instantly---will you go to hell? If you were lusting over someone the night before, and you know you'll probably do it again, and you die, will you go to hell?

 

[HTacianas]

Let's say you are saved. If you are sinning at the exact moment of your death (anger, having bad thoughts, etc)---say a car or truck crashes into your car and you die instantly---will you go to hell? If you were lusting over someone the night before, and you know you'll probably do it again, and you die, will you go to hell?

That's a question the scholasticism of the West has posed over the centuries. Unless one of my Catholic cousins corrects me, I believe their catechism has it that it must be something one would ordinarily repent of and confess, but that confession was prevented by death.

Eastern theology doesn't really attempt to answer the question, and has always been content to say it is unknown. But we do offer prayers for the dead in the hope that those who have passed find peace.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

Let's say you are saved. If you are sinning at the exact moment of your death (anger, having bad thoughts, etc)---say a car or truck crashes into your car and you die instantly---will you go to hell? If you were lusting over someone the night before, and you know you'll probably do it again, and you die, will you go to hell?

Only the Father knows the answer to that question. He knows the heart.
Blessings

 

[Kris Jordan]

Let's say you are saved. If you are sinning at the exact moment of your death (anger, having bad thoughts, etc)---say a car or truck crashes into your car and you die instantly---will you go to hell? If you were lusting over someone the night before, and you know you'll probably do it again, and you die, will you go to hell?

Hi Lybrah,

We are not saved by our actions, good works, godly thoughts, etc. We are saved by the blood of Jesus that was shed for our sins on the cross. When we trusted Him for our forgiveness and salvation, we were born again, rendered righteous in His sight, and were given the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of what was to come (heaven).

Whether we realize it or not, we all sin every day, knowingly and unknowingly. We don't become perfect or sinless when we get saved. Instead, we become a work in progress that continues until the day Jesus takes us home to be with Him.

Here are some Scriptures to help you put (and keep) your focus on Jesus and what He did for you instead of on yourself or your efforts.

• As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:14-16 (NASB)

• In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:13-14 (NKJV)

• The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. John 3:35-36 (NJKV)

• Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. John 5:24 (NASB)

• And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. 1 John 5:11-13 (NKJV)

Let me know if you'd like more verses to study.

 

[SkyWriting]

Let's say you are saved. If you are sinning at the exact moment of your death (anger, having bad thoughts, etc)---say a car or truck crashes into your car and you die instantly---will you go to hell? If you were lusting over someone the night before, and you know you'll probably do it again, and you die, will you go to hell?

God lives outside of "time."

Rejecting God is the only unforgivable sin.
And it's only unforgivable because if you reject God
then you don't recognise that He has forgiven you.

 

[AvgJoe]

Let's say you are saved. If you are sinning at the exact moment of your death (anger, having bad thoughts, etc)---say a car or truck crashes into your car and you die instantly---will you go to hell? If you were lusting over someone the night before, and you know you'll probably do it again, and you die, will you go to hell?

How is a person saved?

Romans 10:9-10(NIV)

9) If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10) For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.​

Confessing, with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord and believing, in your heart, that God raised Jesus from the dead, is what saves a person. Salvation, is not a matter of a believer, trying to confess and repent, from every sin they commit, before they die. Salvation is not based on whether a Christian has confessed and repented of every sin. When we place our faith in Jesus Christ, for salvation, all of our sins are forgiven, which includes past, present, and future, big or small. Believers do not have to keep asking for forgiveness or repenting in order to have their sins forgiven.

But, 1 John 1:9 tell us to confess our sins? 1 John 1:9 does indicate that somehow forgiveness is dependent on our confessing our sins to God. How does this work if all of our sins are forgiven the moment we receive Christ as Savior?

It seems that what the apostle John is describing here is “relational” forgiveness. All of our sins are forgiven “positionally” the moment we receive Christ as Savior. This positional forgiveness guarantees our salvation and promise of an eternal home in heaven. When we stand before God after death, God will not deny us entrance into heaven because of our sins. That is positional forgiveness.

The concept of relational forgiveness is based on the fact that when we sin, we offend God and grieve His Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). While God has ultimately forgiven us of the sins we commit, they still result in a blocking or hindrance in our relationship with God. A young boy who sins against his father is not cast out of the family. A godly father will forgive his children unconditionally. At the same time, a good relationship between father and son cannot be achieved until the relationship is restored. This can only occur when a child confesses his mistakes to his father and apologizes. That is why we confess our sins to God—not to maintain our salvation, but to bring ourselves back into close fellowship with the God who loves us and has already forgiven us.

 

[Aussie Pete]

Let's say you are saved. If you are sinning at the exact moment of your death (anger, having bad thoughts, etc)---say a car or truck crashes into your car and you die instantly---will you go to hell? If you were lusting over someone the night before, and you know you'll probably do it again, and you die, will you go to hell?

No.

 

[eik]

Let's say you are saved. If you are sinning at the exact moment of your death (anger, having bad thoughts, etc)---say a car or truck crashes into your car and you die instantly---will you go to hell? If you were lusting over someone the night before, and you know you'll probably do it again, and you die, will you go to hell?

The question you pose really asks whether or not every sin constitutes an act of apostasy, to which the answer is clearly not, but some sin can be of itself a wanton act of apostacy:

2Ti 2:11-13
Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

There is the sin that leads to death, and the sin that does not lead to death.

1 John 5:16
If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.

However the "sin that leads to death" may be more venial for an older believer, than for a new believer, because as Christ pointed out, the more you know, or claim to know, the more guilt is attributable to your sins.

John 9:41
Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains."

The thing is, are we conscionably despising the LORD's word and breaking his commands? That is the question, but if we are doing it at all, whether just before death or any time, we are on very dicey grounds spiritually.

 

[Albion]

Let's say you are saved. If you are sinning at the exact moment of your death (anger, having bad thoughts, etc)---say a car or truck crashes into your car and you die instantly---will you go to hell? If you were lusting over someone the night before, and you know you'll probably do it again, and you die, will you go to hell?

No. Not according to the belief system that describes most Protestant churches. However, the situation is different for Christians who belong to the denominations that teach "works righteousness." According to their theology, a serious slip-up that is not repented of before death means you're lost.

One proviso, however, needs to be considered for us to have the whole picture. Some of the sins that you named are not generally considered to be "mortal" sins. A Catholic, for example, would be told by his church that these lesser, or "venial," sins would not cost the person salvation but he would have to go to Purgatory before passing on to Heaven (of course also, he would have to go to Purgatory if he'd ever committed any sin, whether or not it was repented of, confessed, and forgiven).

 

[FreeinChrist]

ADVISOR HAT

This thread was moved from Ethics & Morality, which is not a theology forum, to General Theology.

​

 

[fhansen]

Let's say you are saved. If you are sinning at the exact moment of your death (anger, having bad thoughts, etc)---say a car or truck crashes into your car and you die instantly---will you go to hell? If you were lusting over someone the night before, and you know you'll probably do it again, and you die, will you go to hell?

If you were to be persistently and willfully and knowingly participating in some awful sin that intrinsically opposes love of God and/or neighbor, then you're no better or different from the unsaved; you'd have shown that you've spit and on and rejected the justified state that God had placed you into by His forgiving, washing, and making you a new creation. You'd no longer be living by the Spirit, but you'd have returned to the flesh. And the wages of sin is still death.

 

[1213]

Let's say you are saved. If you are sinning at the exact moment of your death (anger, having bad thoughts, etc)---say a car or truck crashes into your car and you die instantly---will you go to hell? If you were lusting over someone the night before, and you know you'll probably do it again, and you die, will you go to hell?

Bible tells:

He who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever is born of God doesn't commit sin, because his seed remains in him; and he can't sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn't do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn't love his brother.
1 John 3:7-10

These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Mat. 25:46

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

If person is not righteous, he doesn’t get eternal life. However, righteous person may also make mistakes, which is why it may be that person has done wrongly before his death and still get eternal life.

For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again; But the wicked are overthrown by calamity.
Pro. 24:16

Righteous person remains loyal (faithful) to God, that is why he lives.

Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright in him, but the righteous will live by his faith.
Habakkuk 2:4 (Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38)

 

[IntriKate]

Jesus didnt go through all that anguish at the cross shedding his blood out of love for us just to throw one of his children into hell because they didnt repent before sudden death.

 

[fhansen]

Jesus didnt go through all that anguish at the cross shedding his blood out of love for us just to throw one of his children into hell because they didnt repent before sudden death.

He created all of us, so by the same logic and with the same nod to His love and suffering none should go to hell. If a believer can turn back away from Him by the way they actually live their lives, what makes them any more a child of His than one who never believed?

 

[IntriKate]

He created all of us, so by the same logic and with the same nod to His love and suffering none should go to hell. If a believer can turn back away from Him by the way they actually live their lives, what makes them any more a child of His than one who never believed?

The op asked if we would go to hell if we were sinning at the time of death, that is not the same as rejecting christ in your heart and backsliding. We all sin and will sin until we do die, its our hearts and the fact we lean on Jesus to make us stronger to fight it that matters.

 

[fhansen]

The op asked if we would go to hell if we were sinning at the time of death, that is not the same as rejecting christ in your heart and backsliding. We all sin and will sin until we do die, its our hearts and the fact we lean on Jesus to make us stronger to fight it that matters.

I agree, until and unless the sin amounts to a complete turning away from Him-by our walk regardless of our talk. But a life lived in overall obedience to Him with sin occurring wouldn't be the problem IMO, unless it was murder, etc.