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.”

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Alcohol

Q: Why do many Christians have an aversion to the use of alcohol when Christ had a good palate for the taste of wine and performed his first miracle of turning water into the best type of wine? Not only did Christ, at a very young age have a taste for wine, but it was demonstrated he was able to discriminate good from bad wine as evidenced by verbal feedback from the wedding host.

A: There is nothing in the Bible that prohibits drinking alcohol. However, the Bible says quite a bit about drunkenness. It says that drunkenness leads to debauchery and ungodly living. Also, the Apostle Paul says that while there are things that are not wrong in and of themselves, they become wrong when they cause a brother or sister to stumble (fall into sin). I think a direct application of this is drinking around a recovering alcoholic.

Some Christians then make a decision that abstinence from alcohol is the best choice since drinking CAN lead to drunkenness (certainly more so than not drinking can) and since they can never be sure who might stumble because of their actions.

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Freedom to Sin

Q: Just because people believe in God this seems to give them a free reign to do whatever they want. Steal—forgotten; treat others wrong—forgiven.

A: I would disagree that just because someone believes in God they are some how free to do whatever they want.

Granted, there are individuals that claim to believe in God that use their freedom to sin. However, Paul tells us in Romans that using our freedom to sin is not appropriate. Romans 6:1-4 says, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

The answer is clear in the Scripture; people who believe in God through Jesus Christ are expected to live lives worthy of that relationship. We do not sin so that grace will increase. Christians are forgiven because of what Christ did on the cross on our behalf; however, this is in no way a license to sin.

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Do we sin less after conversion?

Q: Does a person's propensity to sin decrease after salvation?

A: Yes. Before conversion to Christ we are sin prone. It doesn't mean that we are always doing bad things. We are still made in the image of God, after all, and his goodness is not driven out completely. We all know many fine, morally upright people who are not believers. But, our natural bent is toward self and sin. When the Holy Spirit enters a human heart, that person is justified and given a new power to live for God. "Sin remains but no longer reigns," to quote Bob Tuttle. It is not due to will power or trying harder; it is due to Holy Spirit power ... what the Bible calls grace. To quote Tuttle again, "Grace, the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, changes our attitude toward God and sin so that we are now righteousness prone. Our inclination is to obey rather than disobey God."

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