Could I go to heaven after committing all these sins?

Question:

I have a bunch of questions, but please answer them.

If you

  • Have sex before you are married,
  • Drink, smoke, or do drugs,
  • Use God's name frivolously,
  • Steal, and
  • Tell people that you hate going to church and it's a big waste of time

will you go to hell, or at least go to spiritual jail? To be honest, I have done all these and my heart is broken with regret. I am just so upset about it. I really want to go to the spiritual paradise. Do you think I will go to paradise and then eventually to Heaven?

Thank you so much for your time.

Answer:

Having sex without being married is called fornication or in some translations, it says, "sexual immorality." "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" (I Corinthians 6:9-10). This covers three of the things you listed.

Drugs also are condemned because when you are high you are not thinking clearly. "Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober" (I Thessalonians 5:6). A bit more subtle is to realize that the word for sorcery in the New Testament also applies to drug users because sorcery in those days involved drugs (like voodoo today). "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8).

Smoking tobacco doesn't affect your rational thinking, but it does cause harm to the body. "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are" (I Corinthians 3:16-17).

Using God's name frivolously or in vain is being disrespectful to God. We are supposed to hold God's name as holy. "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name" (Matthew 6:9). God's name is to be held as something sacred or hallowed. That is why the Jews had a law that said, "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain" (Deuteronomy 5:11).

Disrespect for God's people and His church is also condemned. "Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?" (James 4:11-12).

So, yes, God will send people involved in these sins to hell. However, it doesn't have to be that way. God doesn't care about who you were, but who you are and a major point about the Bible is that people can change. "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 6:11). Ezekiel explained it this way:

"But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. "Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?" says the Lord GOD, "and not that he should turn from his ways and live?"" (Ezekiel 18:21-23).

Therefore, the answer to your concern is that you need to be more than just sorry, you need to change. "For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter" (II Corinthians 7:10-11).

What I would like you to do is read What Must I Do to be Saved? Look at all the passages and then compare what you find in God's Word with your own life. Do all that God commands of you and turn your life around with a clean slate. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

Response:

You are a lifesaver. Honestly, I am ready to change, and now that I know all this I know I can. It was so helpful. Thank you so so much! I can't tell you how much it means to me. You were very kind to have done this for me, and I am very grateful. I hope to change for the better and I will. Also I will read, "What Must I Do to be Saved?" It sounds very refreshing.

Again, thank you for everything. You are simply amazing.

God bless you, really.

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