Thursday, January 31, 2008

Serial Killers in heaven?

Q: Can God be all forgiving? Can He let serial killers and child molesters into heaven? Or is there a point that comes when even HE cannot forgive?

A: God can be and is all forgiving. He is the epitomy of grace and He tells us in the often quoted verse John 3:16 that He loves us SO much that he gave His only son, Jesus Christ, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but will have eternal life. Nowhere in this verse does he make a stipulation...
on an individual’s history of sin.
Daniel did a message not long ago where he talked about “a little thing” he “likes to call justification by comparison.” It’s where we look at individuals and compare ourselves…”well, I’m not as bad as that person”. It is human nature to assess how bad certain sins are. When, in reality, God doesn’t set varying levels of sin. Sin is sin. Lying, using God’s name in vain, murder, cheating on your taxes, cheating on your spouse…it’s all the same. While the pain and earthly consequences of those actions are obviously different, the impact they have on our being righteous enough to enter heaven are the same. We are all sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God. Without God’s grace, NONE of us are worthy of the Kingdom of heaven. But the beauty of it is…with God’s grace, ALL of us are capable of entering that Kingdom.
The hard part, I think, is recognizing the above statement as “beauty”. Jesus actually tells a great parable- the story of The Prodigal Son. (Luke 15:11-32) If you’ve not read it, take a moment and check it out. In the story, the older brother represents the Pharisees, who at the time were really angry and bitter that “sinners” were being welcomed into the kingdom of God.
I think it’s just as easy for us to fall into the same trap as the Pharisees – where we actually resent God’s forgiveness of others who are “way worse sinners” than we are. Instead, we are told to rejoice and celebrate when others come to Jesus. Our focus should not be on the past of others but rather on Luke 15:32 “…celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

If I am not mistaken, Jesus asked
God to forgive those who were murdering him. If those who murdered the son of God can be forgiven then anyone can??

Daniel Taylor said...

Dear Tuno,

I am not sure if you are questioning that idea or not? Are you asking a question or making a statement? If you are making a statement I would simple agree with you. A murder can be forgiven just like I can be forgiven. If you are asking a question then the answer is, yes--anyone can be forgiven--even a murder.

Anonymous said...

Just making an observation that if Christ asked God to forgive those who murdered him then no one is beyond redemption I would think.

What greater sin could there be than to murder the son of God?

Daniel Taylor said...

Good point!

Anonymous said...

What about Sucide? Is this forgiven if the act is done and you ask him to forgive you

Unknown said...

Suicide is a touchy subject; as it is impossible to know the heart of a person who takes their own life. Rob Mehner actually answers your question in an earlier post on January 15th, called "Suicide - Ticket to Hell?"...check it out...