What does God consider a sin?
Sin can be many things, but essentially, it is anything that separates us from God. Sin occurs when a person acts or behaves in a way that does not conform to God’s character or commands. It’s a failure to do the right thing and represents a rebellion against God. In essence, it’s falling short of the perfect standards God sets. Anyone would find it a struggle to be ideal for a lifetime. Therefore, no one can go to Heaven based on self-deeds.
The only way to get into Heaven sinless is to accept Jesus’s gift of taking our sins with him to his death on the cross and thereby dying in our place after we repent for our sins, asking his forgiveness. When Jesus died, he carried each of his followers’ sins with him to his death within his own body, killing the sin and suffering it represented. He became our sin.
God Turned From Sin
As he died, he cried out, “Father, why have you forsaken me? He felt God turn away, unable to look upon His sin-filled body or save him from completing his task of dying, emersed in the filth of our sin. Not only did Jesus feel the agony of physical torment, but he also felt the loss of his Father’s love in that moment. He took our sins into his body and carried them to death on our behalf so that we could enter Heaven clean. No greater love was ever known.
If we accept that gift on the day of judgment when the angel opens the Book of Life to see whose names appear for entrance into Heaven, Jesus will immediately announce, “This one is mine.” Anyone who has not accepted Jesus’ gift of salvation will go into the lake of fire with Satan and his demons for eternity. It won’t matter how many good works they have performed, how nice they are, who their parents were, or how much money they had; without Jesus, they won’t have a ticket to get inside. There won’t be a second chance at the door.
Why Doesn’t Everyone Ask Jesus to Take Away Their Sin?
Satan disguises sin, making it look fun and harmless. He tells us that God is being overprotective and that obeying God makes life boring. We often want our way and are born with a natural inclination to be disobedient. How many kids like obeying their parents?
Many people believe that they can gamble with time. They plan to wait until the last minute to ask for forgiveness, but “party hardy” until time almost runs out. When they think their time is nearly up, they will quickly repent, ask for forgiveness, and have the best of both worlds. They believe that repenting too soon means giving up on fun too early, thereby sacrificing their desire for a fulfilling life.
Risking Hell
Holding out for a last-minute save may sound like a good plan, but it is risking eternity in Hell. There is no guarantee you will have time to ask Jesus to be your Savior before you die. When your number is up (i.e., a massive heart attack, severe car accident, the rapture calls believers home), you can’t say, “Hey, give me just a minute, I have a confession to make.” You won’t have time. You will go directly to Hell, accompanied by Satan’s demons. Believing is not enough to get into Heaven. Satan believes in Jesus, and so do Satan’s followers. To get into Heaven, you must follow Jesus.
At the end of time, everyone and everything will bow their knee in recognition of Jesus as Lord, but not all will be bound to Him as THEIR LORD. For some, it will be too late. Jesus will tell them that He does not know them, and they will not be allowed to enter Heaven. Satan’s followers know and believe in Jesus and his powers and fear his strength and glory. However, Satan does not follow the written word of God and believes that in the end, he will overthrow God’s kingdom and take over the universe, reigning in God’s place as ruler of eternity. That belief is why God threw Satan out of Heaven. Don’t let procrastination make you a default follower of Satan rather than a true believer of Christ.
