So a gay dude who had sex with another gay dude one time but then decided to abandon that path and turn to Christ is the same as a gay dude who systematically raped dozens of children before deciding to do the same as the first? Both these guys get to go to heaven? Heaven is filled with degenerate child rapists? Or am I missing a piece of this puzzle?
That's quite a few logical fallacies right there. Simply because a child rapist CAN make it to heaven does not mean that heaven is filled with degenerate child rapists. But, moving on from that and addressing what should be your main concern:
How God perceives sin and how you and I perceives it are different. All sin has an equal punishment of death, and we are all sinners who sin daily. At a high level overview, SPECIFIC thoughts with intent can be sin, and failing to do certain actions can be sin. To summarize it for 40k feet, sin is from, "the heart" and not necessarily an action as violent as raping a child.
Your sin is no greater than my sin, nor a degenerate child rapist's sin any greater than mine in the eyes of The Lord. That being said, certain actions such as general degeneracy are viewed as an, "abomination before The Lord" and is said as such frequently in The Bible. The Bible rarely uses that term, but does so repeatedly in regards to degeneracy such as faggotry.
So I'm not saying that YOU are no different than a child rapist or anything of that nature. I am however saying that the penalty for sin is death, no matter the sin itself.
The difference is that Christ died for us, to save us from our sin. He lived a perfect life and paid the price of our sins by dying FOR us. Sinners cannot enter Heaven, and Christ's death (and our salvation through him) makes us whole. At a believer's judgement day before God, Christ is effectively our, "admit one" ticket into Heaven, if you want to simplify it as such. He lived a perfect life because we cannot.
Isaiah 64:6 : For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our wrongdoings, like the wind, take us away.
If we were to be admitted into Heaven based on OUR works and deeds, no one could enter. A single sin has the penalty of death, and we ALL sin daily - it is inevitable. We STRIVE to reduce the sins we commit, but we are imperfect humans and will continue sinning until death. That's just the reality of things.
Only one man was perfect, and we crucified him. That says enough about humanity.
When one becomes, "saved", and accepts salvation, one is putting their trust into Christ. You are believing that he was the perfect Son of God, you confess that you are a sinner, confess and repent from your sins, and you put your faith in Christ. You strive to be more like Christ whenever possible, sinning less and fulfilling the duties that God wants out of your life. You try to, "move" closer to Christ daily. You do these things genuinely from your "heart" and repent from sin.
It's not that anyone STOPS sinning, but you trust and lean on Christ to try to move away from your sin as much as you humanly can. Sinners do still end up in Heaven - this is the point of Christ. You don't send a doctor to help sick people just as you don't send a Christ to provide salvation to those who are not already lost.
There are penalties for our sin and actions in Heaven - we are rewarded for good deeds and behavior, and we are stripped of rewards and blessings for sin. The purpose of writing all of this is by NO means to say, "SIN AWAY! YOU'RE FORGIVEN ANYWAYS!" An attitude such as that would likely indicate that someone was not genuine in their faith to begin with, and was never truly saved. Someone who genuinely believes and wants to follow Christ should show a change of heart and attempts to rebuke and repent from sin. One shouldn't have contentness with sin.
So, if a child rapist is true and genuine about repentance, just as the rest of us are from our own sins, then yes, they can get to Heaven. There's nothing too great for Jesus's blood to wash away. He paid the price for us, all we have to do is accept it.
That's quite a few logical fallacies right there. Simply because a child rapist CAN make it to heaven does not mean that heaven is filled with degenerate child rapists. But, moving on from that and addressing what should be your main concern:
How God perceives sin and how you and I perceives it are different. All sin has an equal punishment of death, and we are all sinners who sin daily. At a high level overview, SPECIFIC thoughts with intent can be sin, and failing to do certain actions can be sin. To summarize it for 40k feet, sin is from, "the heart" and not necessarily an action as violent as raping a child.
Your sin is no greater than my sin, nor a degenerate child rapist's sin any greater than mine in the eyes of The Lord. That being said, certain actions such as general degeneracy are viewed as an, "abomination before The Lord" and is said as such frequently in The Bible. The Bible rarely uses that term, but does so repeatedly in regards to degeneracy such as faggotry.
So I'm not saying that YOU are no different than a child rapist or anything of that nature. I am however saying that the penalty for sin is death, no matter the sin itself.
The difference is that Christ died for us, to save us from our sin. He lived a perfect life and paid the price of our sins by dying FOR us. Sinners cannot enter Heaven, and Christ's death (and our salvation through him) makes us whole. At a believer's judgement day before God, Christ is effectively our, "admit one" ticket into Heaven, if you want to simplify it as such. He lived a perfect life because we cannot.
Isaiah 64:6 : For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our wrongdoings, like the wind, take us away.
If we were to be admitted into Heaven based on OUR works and deeds, no one could enter. A single sin has the penalty of death, and we ALL sin daily - it is inevitable. We STRIVE to reduce the sins we commit, but we are imperfect humans and will continue sinning until death. That's just the reality of things.
Only one man was perfect, and we crucified him. That says enough about humanity.
When one becomes, "saved", and accepts salvation, one is putting their trust into Christ. You are believing that he was the perfect Son of God, you confess that you are a sinner, confess and repent from your sins, and you put your faith in Christ. You strive to be more like Christ whenever possible, sinning less and fulfilling the duties that God wants out of your life. You try to, "move" closer to Christ daily. You do these things genuinely from your "heart" and repent from sin.
It's not that anyone STOPS sinning, but you trust and lean on Christ to try to move away from your sin as much as you humanly can. Sinners do still end up in Heaven - this is the point of Christ. You don't send a doctor to help sick people just as you don't send a Christ to provide salvation to those who are not already lost.
There are penalties for our sin and actions in Heaven - we are rewarded for good deeds and behavior, and we are stripped of rewards and blessings for sin. The purpose of writing all of this is by NO means to say, "SIN AWAY! YOU'RE FORGIVEN ANYWAYS!" An attitude such as that would likely indicate that someone was not genuine in their faith to begin with, and was never truly saved. Someone who genuinely believes and wants to follow Christ should show a change of heart and attempts to rebuke and repent from sin. One shouldn't have contentness with sin.
So, if a child rapist is true and genuine about repentance, just as the rest of us are from our own sins, then yes, they can get to Heaven. There's nothing too great for Jesus's blood to wash away. He paid the price for us, all we have to do is accept it.
Thanks for the detailed response. Definitely a lot to think on and will save this comment.