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 Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:19 am
http://deadlysins.com/sins/index.htm Pride is excessive belief in one's own abilities, that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity. Envy is the desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation. Gluttony is an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires. Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body. Anger is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury. It is also known as Wrath. Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual. It is also called Avarice or Covetousness. Sloth is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work. Please read over this list. Have you ever done one of these thngs? I'm sure you have. Everybody acts out of anger sometimes, it's only natural, right? Yet that is the sin of Wrath. Everybody wants to procrastinate every once in awhile, right? That is Sloth. I mean, seriously, does human nature actually allow one to be perfect? Perhaps it is impossible not to sin during your life? My point here is simple: perhaps those who go to Heaven are not those who sin, but those who balance their sins with good deeds, such as helping the poor and downtrodden. Perhaps certain sins (not mortal sins such as murder), such as sex outside marriage (lust) or a bit more pride in yourself than is healthy, are automatically forgiven if balanced with good deeds, as it is impossible NOT to sin, so sins are weighed against good deeds. What do you think?
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:45 am
No.
You cannot enter the gates of heaven on your own accord. The only way to enter heaven is to believe in Jesus and believe he died for your sins.
Wouldn't that just be the sin of pride anyways. "Well If I do this, then I can get God's forgiveness."
We don't earn his forgivness. We don't deserve it. But, God loves us so much, that he gives it to us.
Besides, as Christians, we should be forgiven anyways, and our love from christ for others should get us to do nice things.
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High-functioning Businesswoman
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 4:39 pm
Like what Paranormal said- there is nothing that you or I or anyone could do to save us from the wages of our sins (death), except for Jesus' death on the cross. Only Jesus' forgiveness redeems us and makes us worthy to enter God's kingdom.
Also, the whole thing with mortal sins is a Catholic belief, and I'm not quite sure how they got the idea that some sins were worse than others, but sin is sin. If you murder someone, it's not different than cheating on a math test. All sin will earn you the same reward: death.
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 4:46 pm
I agree with the last two statements. Human nature in itself is sinful. Fin. Jesus was the only person to walk through this earth and not sin because he did not have the nature TO sin, He was human, but had all the characteristics of God. You cannot get into heaven on your own accord, once you sin once, you need God's forgiveness and grace. Fin. You need to seek the love of a loving God, and to be washed clean by the blood of Jesus. Nothing by your own efforts can be done to get you into heaven. It IS already done for you, however, through Jesus on the cross. All you have to do, and it still amazes me, is believe in The Son and pray for forgiveness.
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Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:33 am
Just a few bible references...
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, he gave his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
1 Peter 3:18
"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit"
Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
(Bold mine)
The Bible says it plain and clear. We are saved by grace alone; yes, in God we have a desire to do good works because we love Him, but they aren't things you have to do to go to heaven.
Take the sinner who died on the cross next to Jesus, for example. He was a hardened criminal, a thief. And yet, he realized Jesus was God's son, and said, "Lord, forgive me." Jesus replied, "Today you will be with me in paradise." The criminal had sinned a lot more than he did good works, yet Jesus forgave him.
If it was up to us whether we did enough good things to get into heaven... then what was the point of Christ dying? The fact is, God is perfect. Heaven is perfect. Imperfect creatures like us could never get there; we are all sinners. "For all have fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23). No matter how much good we've done, we have still sinned! Only Jesus can forgive those sins and open the doorway to heaven; we really have no control aside from giving our hearts to Him. :]
I hope this helps answer your question. ^^
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Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 8:37 am
Aylay Imperfect creatures like us could never get there; we are all sinners. "For all have fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23). No matter how much good we've done, we have still sinned! Only Jesus can forgive those sins and open the doorway to heaven; we really have no control aside from giving our hearts to Him. :] That's what I said. We all sin, so perhaps sins are outweighed by good deeds. Otherwise, everybody would be damned.
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Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 11:45 am
The Amazing Jabels Aylay Imperfect creatures like us could never get there; we are all sinners. "For all have fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23). No matter how much good we've done, we have still sinned! Only Jesus can forgive those sins and open the doorway to heaven; we really have no control aside from giving our hearts to Him. :] That's what I said. We all sin, so perhaps sins are outweighed by good deeds. Otherwise, everybody would be damned. I hate to sound rather rude. But did you just ignore the other posts where it explains that the answer is no, only through God's grace can we be saved.
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Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 11:58 am
Paranormal Zombiiie The Amazing Jabels Aylay Imperfect creatures like us could never get there; we are all sinners. "For all have fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23). No matter how much good we've done, we have still sinned! Only Jesus can forgive those sins and open the doorway to heaven; we really have no control aside from giving our hearts to Him. :] That's what I said. We all sin, so perhaps sins are outweighed by good deeds. Otherwise, everybody would be damned. I hate to sound rather rude. But did you just ignore the other posts where it explains that the answer is no, only through God's grace can we be saved. I'm talking about the conditions under which that grace is to be granted.
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Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 1:15 pm
The Amazing Jabels I'm talking about the conditions under which that grace is to be granted. That's the best part. There AREN'T any conditions save asking for it. That's why it's grace. We are told that FAITH without works is dead, but as to the grace that leads to faith... that's ours for free. All we must do is ask.
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Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 1:56 pm
Ephesians 1:5-8 ... he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
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High-functioning Businesswoman
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 5:37 am
I think it's important to point out that the "Seven 'Deadly' Sins", while sharing characteristics with the teachings of Christ, are not Biblical principles. Neither is the idea that somehow murder is a worse sin than bearing false witness.
I have a question for you, Jabels: are you Catholic and/or have you been brought up with Catholic values?
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:36 am
Priestley I think it's important to point out that the "Seven 'Deadly' Sins", while sharing characteristics with the teachings of Christ, are not Biblical principles. Neither is the idea that somehow murder is a worse sin than bearing false witness.
I have a question for you, Jabels: are you Catholic and/or have you been brought up with Catholic values? I was brought up as a Catholic by my aunt and uncle, but I'm a Unitarian.
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 5:43 pm
Fushigi na Butterfly That bolded part about sums it up- He gives us His grace for free. There's no amount of earning it, no amount of working for it. If Hitler had wanted God's grace, He would have given it to him. This might bring up another conversation, in which case I'll apologize in advance. Hitler was raised Catholic, and often professed a belief in Jesus, and in fact believed he was doing God's work in exterminating the Jews and anyone else 'impure' like the elderly, crippled and homosexuals. So, my question here is... if we don't earn our way into heaven with good deeds, do we earn ourselves OUT of heaven with bad deeds? Are we all going to see Hitler hanging out with God when we get there? Is once saved always saved?
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Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 1:57 pm
Once saved is always saved, yes. If Hitler was truly saved, then good for him. I'd love to ask him what possessed him to think he was doing God's work. confused Or perhaps he was, especially by attacking mostly Jews. They're meant to face alot more persecution than Christians, because of a whole bunch of stuff in the OT that I don't remember. But if Hitler was truly and genuinely sincere about his love of Christ, then yes, we will see him in Heaven.
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High-functioning Businesswoman
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Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 5:12 pm
So, basic answer is we can't earn our way into OR out of heaven? It's either Jesus or bust. xd
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