{"id":52043,"date":"2017-11-24T20:56:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-25T02:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=52043"},"modified":"2022-08-14T20:58:34","modified_gmt":"2022-08-15T01:58:34","slug":"can-i-be-forgiven-for-denying-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-i-be-forgiven-for-denying-christ\/","title":{"rendered":"Can I be forgiven for denying Christ?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

I’m currently 13 years old, but when I was 12. I would tell my grandmother “I don’t believe in God” deliberately because I wanted to make her angry, since I was angry. I didn’t know it was bad to say that. I actually regret it so much that I’m about to cry writing this. But my question is: Am I going to hell for doing this, even though I asked God to forgive me? And would Matthew 10:33 refer to me?<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

Let’s be reasonable. You did know it was a bad thing to say, that is why you said it to make your grandmother angry. However, there are two things you don’t understand.<\/p>\n

Sins will keep you out of heaven if you\u00a0stay<\/em>\u00a0in them. Being a Christian is about changing into a better person. You’re going to make a lot of mistakes in life, but if you reject the mistakes and work to become a better person, God is willing to forgive you. See:\u00a0Are You Unforgivable?<\/a><\/p>\n

The second thing is that Jesus is talking about people who say they are Christians, but will not admit it in front of other people — particularly people who are pressuring them to deny Christ. What Jesus is saying is that we have to be committed to him no matter what happens.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: I’m currently 13 years old, but when I was 12. I would tell my grandmother “I don’t believe in God” deliberately because I wanted to make her angry, since I was angry. I didn’t know it was bad to say that. I actually regret it so much that I’m about to cry writing this.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[51,1571],"class_list":["post-52043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-confession","tag-forgiveness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20407,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-i-get-so-angry-at-my-boyfriend-all-the-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":52043,"position":0},"title":"Why do I get so angry at my boyfriend all the time?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 10, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why do I get so angry at my boyfriend all the time, he doesn't do anything negative? I feel as if I should control him. I can't stand him not listening to me. I know this is wrong.\u00a0How can I change? Answer: There isn't enough to go on, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24163,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-you-deal-with-an-easily-angered-father\/","url_meta":{"origin":52043,"position":1},"title":"How do you deal with an easily angered father?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 31, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How should a Christian deal with a person who is easily angered? Well, let me rephrase that -- how can a Christian deal with a very easily angered father, who is always speaking negatively about people, things, and me? 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My husband and I get along for the most part, but the thing is when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14328,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-talk-to-my-buddhist-grandmother-about-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":52043,"position":3},"title":"How do I talk to my Buddhist grandmother about Christ?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 15, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My grandma has been a Buddhist for a long time, if not all her life. I see her follow her traditions once in a while. Recently I have been scared about her salvation and I want her to know about Jesus before her time comes. She speaks in my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4908,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-does-one-know-if-he-has-faith-in-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":52043,"position":4},"title":"How does one know if he has faith in God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 25, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have this question: how does one know if he has faith in God or not? For example, I find it hard to talk to people who fought with me, but not all people. Some I talk to without fear that they might yell at me and they forgive\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3070,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-have-empathy-with-his-children-when-they-make-mistakes\/","url_meta":{"origin":52043,"position":5},"title":"Does God have empathy with His children when they make mistakes?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hey Mr. Jeffrey, Does God have empathy for His children if they make mistakes or if they're growing slowly, or does He just want us to be mature and not make any mistakes at all right off the bat? 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