Am I banned from Heaven because of my fornication?
Question:
Hello,
I am a strong believer in God and Christ. I try so hard to live a righteous life. I'm only 20. I have had sex before in the past, but now I'm saving myself for marriage because I want to please God. I previously slipped up with someone I was in a relationship with. I prayed and prayed to God for forgiveness. I just still feel so much regret. I know that God has forgiven me but even though I repented He said in I Corinthians that the wicked (including fornication) shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven. So will I not make it to heave? It's something I can't stop thinking about.
Answer:
How can a person claim to be a strong believer in God, believe they are forgiven, and yet believe that a forgiven person will not enter heaven? "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6).
It is clear to me that you read a quote from I Corinthians 6, but you did not read the passage for yourself from your Bible.
"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. 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" (I Corinthians 6:9-11).
There is a difference between someone who is a fornicator and someone who was a fornicator. There were people in Corinthian who used to practice fornication but gave it up for Christ.
There are a lot of people who think of themselves as Christian but have no idea what God requires to enter into a covenant with Him. So what I would like you to do is read with an open and honest heart the following. If there are things you have not been doing, then it is important that you make changes.
These things start you down the road that leads to heaven. From this starting point, you learn all you can of God's Way and mold your life to conform it to His Will.
