Many times people ask me questions like “ John, do you believe drinking is a sin?” or “John, is being gay a sin?”.
Many times, the only reason why people ask these types of questions is either to 1. paint me as a hater of a particular group of people which God will “send to hell” or 2. they are genuinely interested and want to understand the answer.
Although I understand the reasoning for the question, what this reveals to me is how distorted one’s view of God and sin is. People try to make Christianity about sin. What is sin and which ones are greater than others? They are trying to find out what God sends people to hell for and so we try to understand or reason with the logic of God.
The Greek word (New Testament) for sin is Hamartia which is defined as a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine; missing the mark.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,- Romans 3:23
So basically, sin is you missing the mark that leads to your downfall. This means God has better for you! When you stay on track you rise up or resurrect! He is not mad about you missing the mark, in fact, He is the encourager and comforter to get you back on track. Does this make it right or ok? No! Sin is what separates us from God. When we are separated from God, we are not in the place God has for us, hence we have missed. You shouldn’t defend you missing or falling short even though we all miss! So what do you do? TRY AGAIN!
Just understand that:
God has a better relationship for you!
He has a better job for you!
The Father has a better ministry for you!
God has better friends for you!
The very simple answer to this question is this… It does not matter if you are gay or straight, black or white. We ALL sin and yes to some degree, we ALL justify why we do it. It’s not that you do not go to heaven because of your sin. The reason people don’t go to heaven is that they do not have Jesus! Once you have Jesus, you are covered by the blood. When he looks at you He no longer sees your sin but sees you as perfect. The reason for this is because sin needs to be punished.
In the ancient times, the Jewish people would have to make sacrifices continually to atone for their sins. So what God did, out of His love for you and understanding that we make mistakes EVERY DAY, sent His only son Jesus as the final sacrifice, the final lamb slain. It was by his blood that we can be perfected in Christ. This is why we need Jesus! Without Him, we will be judged by our sin, with Him God sees us as perfect and we can now spend eternity with Him.
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.” Romans 10:9-11
I would like to say to you that it does not matter what you have done or where you have been, accept Jesus into your heart today! Call out on His Name because He has the power to make all things new!
If you don’t know how to call out to Jesus, just repeat this prayer and mean this with your heart.
“Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, come into my heart and make me new. I know you alone have died on the cross for my sins and rose again on the third day. I surrender all, take all of my life and have Your way. I no longer want to miss the mark and am ready for whatever you have for me in Jesus name.”
If you said this prayer, we would love to hear from you! Please be sure to Contact Us and let us know!
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