17 sins that will keep you out of heaven

One of the fundamental errors of our day is the notion that God does not care about behavior. For those of you out there hoping for a wideness in God’s mercy, I am here to tell you that he is the God of the narrow way. Matthew 7 says that “wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.”

Simply put, God is very concerned with behavior, so much so, in fact, that in I John 3 the Bible declares that “no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.”

While murderers can repent and turn to Christ for the saving of their souls, it is not possible for a child of God to commit murder. Therefore, if someone claims to be a Christian and that commits murder, God says that person is a liar. He or she didn’t lose salvation either — they never had it.

Now, while I John singles out murder with such harsh condemnation, Paul in Galatians lists it along with 16 other sins. Quite obviously, God not only cares about behavior, but if you desire his mercy there are behaviors you must turn from.

Galatians 5:19 says, “Now, the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness.”

These first four sins are all sexual in nature. The reason they are sin is because they are outside the bounds of God’s institution of marriage. While many in our society are moving to pervert marriage, God created it, and Jesus affirmed it, as being one man and one woman for one lifetime.

Listen folks, God designed us as sexual creatures; that is, he designed for us to be fruitful and multiply. Finding sexual pleasure before, outside of, or in addition to God’s definition of marriage and you do so in defiance of your Creator. And let me tell you, God will not accept the line that you are a consenting adult or that you weren’t hurting anybody.

And a word to our military folks. It is honorable to serve your country in her armed forces, yet to involve yourselves in sexual sin not only sullies your own honor, but also that of the armed services in general. I’ll never forget the day one of your own told me that “TDY” stood for “temporary divorce.” God wants you to know that there is no such thing.

Galatians 5:20 says, “Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresie.”

This second grouping of sins are those that are religious in nature. This is easily discerned by how they are grouped: Both the beginning and ending are exclusively religious. As the beginning and ending go, so goes those in between, and indeed they do have keen religious applications.

Now, when I speak of religious sins, I speak of those things that are opposed to the only true God, of whom Jesus Christ is the second member of the Godhead. There is only one true religion, Christianity by name, all others being false. And for those who would take issue with me under the freedom of religion clause, I am not saying you cannot believe as you wish, just that it is sin if it is not the one true religion defined in the Bible.

Of these sins, perhaps the most malicious is that of heresy. Heresy is the perverting and twisting of the very words of God. This is why it is so important not only to have the correct Bible version, but that you read and study it, so that you won’t be deceived by heretics.

Galatians 5:21 says, “Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

This final grouping are those sins that have a direct and negative impact on those around us. To be brief, these sins demonstrate the height of selfishness of those who partake of them. And by way of association, envy, drunkenness and revellings are just as wicked as murder.

Now, after completing our tour of these 17 sins, how many of you thought to yourselves, “murder was the worst; the rest weren’t so bad”? While I know only a limited number of people read this column, I would be willing to wager most people would have this very response.

And this is my point — exactly.

Most Americans don’t view sin as God does. And because sin is pleasurable, and they are not murderers, they think they are good people. But they are wrong. And that, my friends, is a fatal mistake.

Ron Hamman is pastor for Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla. Contact him at 357-4229.