Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
False Doctrine: Our Sins Send Us to Hell
Likely your own church teaches that your sins will send you to hell. That you must repent from your sins to be saved. What would you say if I told you that the Bible never once actually says that?
The most common scripture pointed out to back up that your sins will send you to hell is this one..
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NASB)
9 Or 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 effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
The first thing I like to point out on this scripture is that these are not types of sins being mentioned here. These are types of sinners! Fornication is a sin. A fornicator is a sinner. Every one of these mentioned are types of sinners.
The next point I will make is that those who use this scripture always tend to leave off the most important verse....
11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
You see, this scripture is not saying these types of sins will send you to hell. It is not saying that those who commit these sins cannot go to heaven. It is saying that all of those sinners will not enter the Kingdom of God, and remember that we were also once these sinners. But we are no longer these sinners because we are sanctified, justified in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord and in the Spirit of our God. Basically, this is only telling us that even though we do still sin, we are not sinners, but we are saints. We are sanctified and justified because of our faith in Jesus. We have been washed clean!
Some like to believe that we don't sin anymore once we are saved. It's simply not true. We do sin. The closer we get to God in our relationship with God, the less we will sin, but everyone will still sin now and then. Some Christians far more than others.
1 John 1:8 (NASB)
8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
We all sin. Every single one of us. The good thing is that it is not our sin that sends us to hell. This scripture is the full explanation of how we are saved....
Romans 10:9-11 (NASB)
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
This is what I call a "primary" verse. It is so plainly written that you cannot come up with a logical alternate interpretation other than what it plainly says. There are 19 different primary scriptures I have found on "how" we are saved. Every single one of them says it is through faith, or believing in Jesus. Not one of them mentions works, refraining from sin, repenting from sin or water baptism. Every scripture that is used to support any of those other beliefs, are scriptures that I can explain why they are misinterpreted. Which means not one of them are primary verses.
Jesus clearly tells us that anyone who does believe is saved and anyone who does not believe is going to hell...
John 3:18 (NASB)
18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Notice Jesus doesn't say it is because he did not repent of sin that he was judged? The truth is, our salvation is strictly by believing in our hearts that Jesus is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead.
Ephesians 1:13 (NASB)
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
You see, this explains how salvation actually works. The moment we hear the truth of the Gospel and believe it in our hearts, God sends the Holy Spirit to seal us with the promise. What promise is that? Salvation! When Jesus comes to rapture us, it is the Holy Spirit inside us that He will look for and everyone who has the Holy Spirit will be caught up to Him in the sky. When we die, it is the Holy Spirit in us that takes us up to heaven.
So what does sin have to do with it?
When we believe in our hearts, God automatically forgives us for the sins we have committed because He must do that to wash our souls clean. What does He cleanse our souls of? The stain of sin. When Adam sinned, it stained our souls with sin. Because of that stain, nobody could go to heaven because sin cannot exist in the presence of God when He is in His full glory.
In ancient days, God allowed man to sacrifice animals to atone for their sins. Those sacrifices allowed them to be forgiven for the sins they committed. The problem is that no animal could be pure enough or holy enough to wash the stain of sin off our souls. That is why Jesus had to die on the cross. He was the only sacrifice that was pure enough and holy enough to truly wash us clean.
So when we accept Jesus as Lord, we are automatically forgiven for our sins. We are washed clean and we are sanctified and justified in the name of Jesus Christ.
The sins we commit have two major consequences. One in this life and one in the afterlife. Believe me they are dire consequences still.
In this life, sin separates us from God in our personal relationship with Him. Now some might not think that is so bad but believe me it is everything. You see, Paul tells us that we are naturally bad. We are not even able to please God in our sinful state. Before we can even turn to Jesus, God must first do something. He changes our spirit to desire Him. He doesn't remove the desire to sin. We still have free will. He only gives our spirit a desire for Him. From that point on, we can never be happy living in sin. Those of us who do fall back into sin, if we really truly believe and are saved, we become miserable. The further we fall from God, the more miserable we are. The closer we grow to God, the happier we are. So in this life, sin makes us miserable inside.
In the afterlife, sin has a different effect. It eats away our rewards. When we stand before the Bema Seat and are judged, it will not be us who are judged as for whether we are going to heaven or hell. We are already accepted to heaven. What happens is we will have our sins and good deeds compared. If the sin burns up all the good deeds, we lose rewards. The important thing to keep in mind here is that this is not temporary. The effects our sins in this life will have on the afterlife will last forever! Lose enough rewards and you will be nothing more than a servant or a laborer in the afterlife forever.
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 (NASB)
11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
Once we are saved, we are saved. The only way that changes, is if we stop believing that Jesus is Lord. Whether you believe that it is possible to lose your salvation or not does not matter. If it is possible, that is the only way it can happen, because it is our faith in Jesus that saves us. Our sins will not send us to hell. They will only make us miserable in this life and eat away our rewards in the next.
What about Homosexuals?
I bring up homosexuality because this is the reason the false doctrine that our sins send us to hell is so harmful. If our sins do not send us to hell, then what does that mean for homosexual? It means they too can be saved! If you don't agree with that, then show me where it says that the sins we commit will send us to hell. Show me where the Bible says we must stop sinning before we are saved. Show me where it says that homosexuality is the second unforgiveable sin!
Christians are taught that our sins send us to hell. For that reason they say homosexuals can't go to heaven unless they stop sinning first. All the while the Christians will push hatred on homosexuals, go out and get drunk, gossip, lie, cheat and have premarital sex. All which are just some of the sins they commit. So if homosexuals are going to hell for their sins, then doesn't that mean all the Christians are going to hell for theirs? Which means basically, since Paul says we all sin, that nobody is going to heaven!
The truth is, our sins we commit do not send us to hell. The only reason anyone is going to hell is because they rejected Jesus as their Lord and Savior. If a homosexual turns to Christ then they too are washed clean and forgiven for their sins. Their sin after that is between them, God and their relationship with God. I am not saying homosexuality is not a sin. It is. But if a baby killer can turn to Christ and be saved, you better believe a homosexual can too!
The real problem however is that the vast majority of homosexuals won't turn to Christ. They won't even hear about Him now. Why? Because Christians have done such a great job of portraying the Lord as hateful! Instead of showing homosexuals the love and forgiveness of Christ, Christians have been attacking them for their sins and being hateful and chasing them away from Christ.
Think about how many souls will be lost, not because they rejected Jesus, but because Christians got them to believe Jesus is rejecting them! Think about how much the Christian community has done the devil's work for him!
Getting Catholicism to twist the interpretation of scriptures to mean that we go to hell for our sins was the most powerful move the devil has ever pulled off. Even when protestants broke away, they continued to teach that false doctrine. The devil has blinded us to do his work for him and countless souls are lost because of it.
As soldiers of the Lord, we must stand against that false doctrine now. We need to start showing homosexuals the love of Christ. The forgiveness of Christ. Teach them that Jesus died for them as much as anyone else and that they too can accept the wonderful gift of salvation. Leave it up to God to change their hearts and work on their sins. We should only be bringing them to the Lord and be there to teach them to truth of God's Word along the way as they learn to grow closer to God. We should be doing God's work! Not the devil's!
The most common scripture pointed out to back up that your sins will send you to hell is this one..
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NASB)
9 Or 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 effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
The first thing I like to point out on this scripture is that these are not types of sins being mentioned here. These are types of sinners! Fornication is a sin. A fornicator is a sinner. Every one of these mentioned are types of sinners.
The next point I will make is that those who use this scripture always tend to leave off the most important verse....
11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
You see, this scripture is not saying these types of sins will send you to hell. It is not saying that those who commit these sins cannot go to heaven. It is saying that all of those sinners will not enter the Kingdom of God, and remember that we were also once these sinners. But we are no longer these sinners because we are sanctified, justified in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord and in the Spirit of our God. Basically, this is only telling us that even though we do still sin, we are not sinners, but we are saints. We are sanctified and justified because of our faith in Jesus. We have been washed clean!
Some like to believe that we don't sin anymore once we are saved. It's simply not true. We do sin. The closer we get to God in our relationship with God, the less we will sin, but everyone will still sin now and then. Some Christians far more than others.
1 John 1:8 (NASB)
8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
We all sin. Every single one of us. The good thing is that it is not our sin that sends us to hell. This scripture is the full explanation of how we are saved....
Romans 10:9-11 (NASB)
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
This is what I call a "primary" verse. It is so plainly written that you cannot come up with a logical alternate interpretation other than what it plainly says. There are 19 different primary scriptures I have found on "how" we are saved. Every single one of them says it is through faith, or believing in Jesus. Not one of them mentions works, refraining from sin, repenting from sin or water baptism. Every scripture that is used to support any of those other beliefs, are scriptures that I can explain why they are misinterpreted. Which means not one of them are primary verses.
Jesus clearly tells us that anyone who does believe is saved and anyone who does not believe is going to hell...
John 3:18 (NASB)
18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Notice Jesus doesn't say it is because he did not repent of sin that he was judged? The truth is, our salvation is strictly by believing in our hearts that Jesus is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead.
Ephesians 1:13 (NASB)
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
You see, this explains how salvation actually works. The moment we hear the truth of the Gospel and believe it in our hearts, God sends the Holy Spirit to seal us with the promise. What promise is that? Salvation! When Jesus comes to rapture us, it is the Holy Spirit inside us that He will look for and everyone who has the Holy Spirit will be caught up to Him in the sky. When we die, it is the Holy Spirit in us that takes us up to heaven.
So what does sin have to do with it?
When we believe in our hearts, God automatically forgives us for the sins we have committed because He must do that to wash our souls clean. What does He cleanse our souls of? The stain of sin. When Adam sinned, it stained our souls with sin. Because of that stain, nobody could go to heaven because sin cannot exist in the presence of God when He is in His full glory.
In ancient days, God allowed man to sacrifice animals to atone for their sins. Those sacrifices allowed them to be forgiven for the sins they committed. The problem is that no animal could be pure enough or holy enough to wash the stain of sin off our souls. That is why Jesus had to die on the cross. He was the only sacrifice that was pure enough and holy enough to truly wash us clean.
So when we accept Jesus as Lord, we are automatically forgiven for our sins. We are washed clean and we are sanctified and justified in the name of Jesus Christ.
The sins we commit have two major consequences. One in this life and one in the afterlife. Believe me they are dire consequences still.
In this life, sin separates us from God in our personal relationship with Him. Now some might not think that is so bad but believe me it is everything. You see, Paul tells us that we are naturally bad. We are not even able to please God in our sinful state. Before we can even turn to Jesus, God must first do something. He changes our spirit to desire Him. He doesn't remove the desire to sin. We still have free will. He only gives our spirit a desire for Him. From that point on, we can never be happy living in sin. Those of us who do fall back into sin, if we really truly believe and are saved, we become miserable. The further we fall from God, the more miserable we are. The closer we grow to God, the happier we are. So in this life, sin makes us miserable inside.
In the afterlife, sin has a different effect. It eats away our rewards. When we stand before the Bema Seat and are judged, it will not be us who are judged as for whether we are going to heaven or hell. We are already accepted to heaven. What happens is we will have our sins and good deeds compared. If the sin burns up all the good deeds, we lose rewards. The important thing to keep in mind here is that this is not temporary. The effects our sins in this life will have on the afterlife will last forever! Lose enough rewards and you will be nothing more than a servant or a laborer in the afterlife forever.
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 (NASB)
11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
Once we are saved, we are saved. The only way that changes, is if we stop believing that Jesus is Lord. Whether you believe that it is possible to lose your salvation or not does not matter. If it is possible, that is the only way it can happen, because it is our faith in Jesus that saves us. Our sins will not send us to hell. They will only make us miserable in this life and eat away our rewards in the next.
What about Homosexuals?
I bring up homosexuality because this is the reason the false doctrine that our sins send us to hell is so harmful. If our sins do not send us to hell, then what does that mean for homosexual? It means they too can be saved! If you don't agree with that, then show me where it says that the sins we commit will send us to hell. Show me where the Bible says we must stop sinning before we are saved. Show me where it says that homosexuality is the second unforgiveable sin!
Christians are taught that our sins send us to hell. For that reason they say homosexuals can't go to heaven unless they stop sinning first. All the while the Christians will push hatred on homosexuals, go out and get drunk, gossip, lie, cheat and have premarital sex. All which are just some of the sins they commit. So if homosexuals are going to hell for their sins, then doesn't that mean all the Christians are going to hell for theirs? Which means basically, since Paul says we all sin, that nobody is going to heaven!
The truth is, our sins we commit do not send us to hell. The only reason anyone is going to hell is because they rejected Jesus as their Lord and Savior. If a homosexual turns to Christ then they too are washed clean and forgiven for their sins. Their sin after that is between them, God and their relationship with God. I am not saying homosexuality is not a sin. It is. But if a baby killer can turn to Christ and be saved, you better believe a homosexual can too!
The real problem however is that the vast majority of homosexuals won't turn to Christ. They won't even hear about Him now. Why? Because Christians have done such a great job of portraying the Lord as hateful! Instead of showing homosexuals the love and forgiveness of Christ, Christians have been attacking them for their sins and being hateful and chasing them away from Christ.
Think about how many souls will be lost, not because they rejected Jesus, but because Christians got them to believe Jesus is rejecting them! Think about how much the Christian community has done the devil's work for him!
Getting Catholicism to twist the interpretation of scriptures to mean that we go to hell for our sins was the most powerful move the devil has ever pulled off. Even when protestants broke away, they continued to teach that false doctrine. The devil has blinded us to do his work for him and countless souls are lost because of it.
As soldiers of the Lord, we must stand against that false doctrine now. We need to start showing homosexuals the love of Christ. The forgiveness of Christ. Teach them that Jesus died for them as much as anyone else and that they too can accept the wonderful gift of salvation. Leave it up to God to change their hearts and work on their sins. We should only be bringing them to the Lord and be there to teach them to truth of God's Word along the way as they learn to grow closer to God. We should be doing God's work! Not the devil's!
