How can sins keep you from getting to heaven if you are saved?
Question:
Hi,
I'm confused with the passage I Corinthians 6:9-10. Because if these things send a person to hell, then wouldn't that go against what the churches teach today when they say you just have to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and you are going to Heaven?
Answer:
"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).
First, nowhere does the Bible state that a person just has to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior to be saved. It is true that it is popularly taught, but it is a teaching of men. See: What Saves a Person?
Second, you assume that once a person is saved, they cannot be lost. The root of this belief is found in John Calvin's teaching. Calvin assumed that no one could be saved without God selecting them, and since God doesn't make mistakes, Calvin argued that whomever God selected cannot be lost. However, this is based on a mistaken notion. The Bible says God selects the type or class of people who will be saved. It doesn't say the selection is on an individual basis. See: Is "Once Saved -- Always Saved?" a Bible Doctrine?
What churches teach does not matter. What matters is what God teaches. The fact is that sin keeps anyone out of heaven. "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" (Romans 6:1-2).
