Automatic Transcript Generated
Speaker 1
Ananimo asks, if a person does something disgusting that makes everyone hate him with all his might and doesn’t want to be around him, will he go to hell? For no one will want to live with her in heaven.
Speaker 2
Julia I’m going to say here’s the thing. It kind of feeds or goes along with what our friend Ages said as far as the attitude of somebody who’s going to heaven. The people that are going to go to heaven are people who are demonstrating the character of God. And God’s character is the character of forgiveness and of love. And there’s no way that you can go to heaven while hoping somebody else won’t be there. That’s not the character of somebody who’s going to heaven. It doesn’t matter how religious you are. It doesn’t matter how much you give to church or whatever it is, however holy you think you are, if you don’t have a spirit of love and forgiveness in you, you’re not in a relationship with God. That is where God sees you fit or safe to be in heaven. Because heaven is a place of love and forgiveness. And so even if somebody does something terrible that is disgusting or whatever it is, if you confess your sins like we’ve shared in one John one nine, that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Speaker 2
Now, other people might not forgive you, but that doesn’t mean you will not have access to heaven. God is the one in control of who goes to heaven and who doesn’t. And God is going to take the people there who truly want to repent to turn away from their sin and to turn to God and to have a new heart. And so if somebody is wishing hating you or wishing you don’t go to heaven or that sort of a thing, it doesn’t matter what people think about you or what people feel towards you, because the only thing that matters when it comes to going to heaven or not is your relationship with God. Now, does that mean that the person who did something terrible shouldn’t ask for forgiveness? Of course they should. And they should try to make things right. We definitely see examples of that in the Bible, like the story of Zacchaeus, where Zacchaeus had caught his own people and stolen from people and even poor people. He was a thief and a liar, but yet Jesus still wanted to reach his heart. And Zacchaeus, when he recognized his sin, he went out and repaid four times what he stole.
Speaker 2
And so it wasn’t that his repayment is what forgave him. It was that the forgiveness God gave him is what caused him to then change his heart and do what was right in God’s eyes. And again, we see that even in the story that my friend J just talked about, which is a parable where the man owed like a million dollars or crazy amount of money. And there was another person who only owed like $100, and the man that was forgiven, like the million dollars, he then afterwards goes and tries to get his money from the man that only owed him $100. And the thing is, what you see in that story is that God is the one that owes everything. And the forgiveness that God gives us should change our heart to forgive others. And so if there’s somebody out there that I don’t know, if you’ve wronged them and they’ve not forgiven you do what you can to reconcile with them. Ask them for forgiveness. Repay them if you’ve stolen or restore what you can as much as possible. But if they still refuse to forgive you, just know that God will always forgive you if you come to him with true repentance.
Speaker 2
And that you don’t need to live in a state of anxiety or fear that God won’t forgive you, because he will as long as you come to him with a bright heart. And so I hope that answers your question, my friend. And I hope that even as terrible as something that could have been done may have happened, it doesn’t matter because we’ve all come short of the glory of God. And again, just one last story reference to the Bible. When you think of the stoning of Stephen, like my friend Jay just talked about, you know who was in that crowd of people when Steven, this righteous man, was stoned. It was a man named Saul who became Paul. And Saul was going around killing Christians, and yet Jesus sought his heart. And that man Saul, became Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament, who was the greatest evangelist of the whole in all of history. He was an amazing witness for Christ. And so I know that when we go to heaven, our friend Steven, who was there where Saul was saying, crucified kill Stephen. They’re going to be in heaven together one day.
Speaker 2
And I know that Stephen will be so happy that Paul made it there, because that was because Stephen had the right heart. He had the heart of Jesus. And so anybody who goes to heaven is going to want you or anybody to be there. No matter what sin anybody’s committed, god will still always want people there. Because we are all sinners. We’ve all come short of the glory of God, but we can all have forgiveness and salvation through the blood of Jesus, which cleanses us from all unrighteousness. So I hope that answers your question, my friend. And I pray that you continue to look to God for a new heart and new life. And God gives you that peace and assurance of salvation. Thank you.
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