Thursday, February 19, 2009

Sinners in Heaven

I was startled when a friend of mine asked me this question: Why are all those sinners in heaven?  My first response was to say, "There won't be any sinners in heaven because it's well - heaven."

And then I thought for a moment and realized that, in fact, heaven is going to FULL of sinners.  Forgiven, ransomed by the blood of Jesus, sinners, but sinners none the less.

Romans 3:23 tells us that "...all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." And further on, in Romans 6:23 we are told "...the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."   So - all the sinners in heaven will be those that have been redeemed- and that makes all the difference.  Will our sins be taken to heaven with us?  No, because heaven is a place of no sin.  God sees us as sinless and spotless; because Jesus' blood shed for us has satisfied the payment of death demanded by our sin and made us pure and righteous before God.  We have eternal life because of the work of Jesus on the cross to save us from sin.

A better answer to my friend would be something like, "and you as a sinner, can be in heaven, too.  All you need to do is accept the free gift of eternal life from God (Ephesians 2:8-9) and trust wholly in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross to save you from your sins (John 3:16)."  

So the next time you think about sinners in heaven, remember we are ALL sinners and the sinners who trust in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation and right standing before God, are redeemed from the hell deserved and welcomed into heaven to stand spotless before Him.  For me, that is the true beauty of heaven.

Lynn Randall




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