(April 14, 2014 at 10:40 pm)Lek Wrote: What I said was someone who makes a plan to do what he wants with the intention of sliding into heaven on his death bed wouldn't be forgiven because he wasn't sincere in his repentance.
And that doesn't address my point. I never mentioned anything about planning to keep sinning. You can still sin, repent, sin, repent, sin, repeat without planning to. That's what every Christian does.
(April 14, 2014 at 10:40 pm)Lek Wrote: I guess you're right in saying getting into heaven isn't directly tied to our behaviors. This is how it is - a person who has faith in Christ will also have a desire to follow him. Jesus has given us a code to live by, which involves commiting to living a moral life in his service. If a person is not commited to living a moral lifestyle, then he also doesn't have faith in Christ. How you live isn't what saves you, but how you live is a demonstration of your faith. True faith is inseparable from a moral lifestyle.
No, that's one way a Christian gets to heaven. As you already admitted, sincere deathbed conversions would be admissible. The point is, the punishment and reward system isn't tied to good deeds; it's tied to swearing the proper oath. Sure, if you swear it early in life, you're not supposed to plan to keep sinning, but it doesn't stop you from doing it, so long as you're contrite.
Christian theology teaches that someone like John Wayne Gacy could totally rape and murder several dozen boys and men, find Jesus, repent, and get heaven. That absolves him from all his raping and murder. However, some truly generous person who helped thousands with his donations, never raped or murdered, but didn't swear the oath gets punished.
I'd rather see a system that says "don't raper and murder, and instead help people" as opposed to one that says "if you raped and murdered, it's no biggy, so long as you repent and try to stop raping and murdering. If you start again, repent again and try harder. Also, try to be nice to people, but that's not a strict requirement. You should want to, but you're not being kept out of heaven for it."
