You are correct that the conditions of salvation are determined and set by God.<\/p>\n
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness’<\/em>” (Matthew 7:21-23).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nNotice that Jesus’ statement is quite different from your own. Sin does keep people out of heaven. Becoming a Christian does not give you immunity from this fact.<\/p>\n
“This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth<\/em>” (I John 1:5-6).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nYour response shows that you agree that drug use is a sin, and I agree since it ruins a person’s soberness. “For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation<\/em>” (I Thessalonians 5:7-8). Thus, the question is whether a person can be involved in sin and still expect to reach heaven. Paul says “no.” “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that\u00a0those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God<\/strong><\/em>” (Galatians 5:19-21).<\/p>\nNo one has to remain in sin (I John 1:8-2:1), but those who do can only expect to face the wrath of God. “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation<\/em>” (Romans 2:5-8).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Question: A Christian dying of an overdose\u00a0does\u00a0not\u00a0send him to hell. He was saved by faith in Christ not his works. All of us Christians sin. You sin, and I sin. If a drug user was never saved that is up to God. Answer: You are correct that the conditions of salvation are determined and set…<\/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,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[372],"class_list":["post-53706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-drugs"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":58748,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-there-be-love-in-heaven-when-sinners-are-in-hell\/","url_meta":{"origin":53706,"position":0},"title":"How can there be love in heaven when sinners are in hell?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good Evening, Thank you so much for all the resources included on the La Vista Church of Christ website.\u00a0 My son and I have been using these articles for years.\u00a0Unfortunately, my son is now a wayward Christian, and he asked me the following questions in a recent Bible study\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":13008,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/could-someone-who-was-abusing-drugs-and-died-of-an-overdose-be-in-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":53706,"position":1},"title":"Could someone who was abusing drugs and died of an overdose be in heaven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 1, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My pastor's son recently died of a drug overdose. He was always in and out of jail and had a drug problem that ultimately ended his life. At the son's funeral, my pastor said that he was confident that his son was in heaven because he witnessed his son\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":46912,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-prefer-other-women-does-that-mean-im-not-saved\/","url_meta":{"origin":53706,"position":2},"title":"I prefer other women. Does that mean I’m not saved?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm a Christian and a God-fearing woman. I accept Jesus Christ as my Savior and believe in His death and resurrection for the remission of our sins. My problem is that I prefer women. I know this is wrong. I have also fallen in love with another woman. I've\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":22446,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-feel-like-im-a-fake-christian\/","url_meta":{"origin":53706,"position":3},"title":"I feel like I’m a fake Christian","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good afternoon, I\u2019m in my thirties. I have never been intimate with a man. Last month, for the first time I actually had a hard time setting boundaries and was fingered by the man I\u2019m seeing. I\u2019m so upset at myself because I\u2019ve been so steadfast my entire life\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":41186,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-gods-will\/","url_meta":{"origin":53706,"position":4},"title":"What is God’s Will?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, Just a quick note to say I really enjoy your website. I find it very helpful. Quick question: In Matthew 7:21 Jesus talks about only those who do God's will get to enter heaven. Have you written on this verse before that I could go back and read\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":39621,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-sins-keep-you-from-getting-to-heaven-if-you-are-saved\/","url_meta":{"origin":53706,"position":5},"title":"How can sins keep you from getting to heaven if you are saved?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"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:\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53706\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}