Help me not fear heaven/hell

[tackattack]

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Practically, you could skullfuck a child. If you have the right equipment. Would you is a different question and is being only part of this particular part of the conversation. I agree, if you have free will you have free will. Absolute evil is the space opposite of absolute good in the vernacular. Sin is action opposite of God's will, in the vernacular. Did Christ have free will? Did Christ sin? Could Christ have sinned? Yes. No, Yes.

I think that many christians will be surprised to hear that god can sin.  I guess I don't have the right equipment to skullfuck a child even though I do have free will.  

You can't really get rid of the interpretive structure we use to process. You can't separate the information harvester from the process. You don't have to will to be what you are, but that's a very nascent form of information gatherer without volition. We constantly will ourselves otherwise, intentionally or instinctively, albeit incrementally.

Then you don't need will, let alone free will, for whatever innate depravity that christians refer to as sin.

I suppose, conceptually that death signifies the termination of sensory input in the materialist view. No input no choice, no choice no will. If you retain your free will in death then there would have to be a choice and an input to continue the cycle of choosing, learning and growing. I don't know why it would matter if you kept or lost your free will in death, that wasn't my point. My point was the connotation of sin implies that you can sin this side of the afterlife. Snow seems to imply a belief "True Christians" can't sin and I was allowing snow to ellaborate on their concept.

If we can sin this side of the afterlife, can we sin on the other?

You're giving Snow a chance to elaborate on his idea of how (or when, r why) christians can't sin..I'm giving you an opportunity to elaborate on why you think free will is required for or indicative of the ability to sin...or, if you prefer....why sin would require or be indicative of free will. Mostly because neither seems to be the case...or if either is the case, then some portion of christian theology is wrong.

This could, ofc, help op (or anyone else) with his general fear. If op just can't do anything about his sin because it's innate..well, that's that. He'll just have to learn to accept what he can't change or will to the contrary. If OP can only sin if he freely wills it, then he need not fear internal sabotage an can simply focus on being a good person.

-and if this whole christian sin song and dance is garbage from top to bottom........

Personally, I think that christian belief is a sin, both in the context of something that could or would offend a god, and in the context of a thoroughly earthly appraisal, lol..so..there's always that. I've found that this can sometimes help people worrying about the disposition of their souls, even christians with that worry, provided that they aren't the dogmatic types with inerrantist or literalist beliefs.
(or, : shudder :...both )

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Jesus demonstrated that He knew God's will, didn't want it (had a choice) temporarily but complied with it anyway. If Christians have an issue with that they can take it up with the authors.

Going back to your tasteless example. You might never envision a scenario where you would choose to skullfuck anything. But choices can be made for you, even over your dead body. the actuality is that there is a kid and there is a peter and the 2 can be made to come together, with or without your volition. I notice you're intentionally not saying that you'd "never choose to skullfuck a child." you're just claiming it could never manifest, when there are lots of scenarios where it could be.

I will agree that you don't need will to have sin. Sin is an external. You do need will to commit sin because commit is an action that requires volition or movement. You can act on that external, taking the responsibility from the "Yes there is sin out there" to the "I committed a sin" through volition.

With response to helping the OP, stop letting other people's fears become your fears, and deal with the now.

Ok, I'll elaborate why I think free will is indicative of the ability to sin and why sin is indicative of free will.
If, assuming that God exists and He created Evil and
A. the definition of sin is to act against God's will
B. the definition of free will is independent volition
Then
C. You cannot have B without a choice.
If
1. the nature of God is good and everything else is evil
Then creating evil allowed choice, thus allowing free will.

You can only have free will without sin only if you believe sin, as defined doesn't exist, which I believe you said was your stance. Please fill me in on your definitions of free will and how it is independent of choice.

It seems as though God could have simplified all this mess by creating only those people he knew would never, of their own free will, commit a sinful act.

Boru

Then there would be no free will, thus a planet of robots. See above.

@fredd bear I understand you accept that God gave us free will because you don't accept the premise.
will (free or not) isn't illusory, it's a fundmental part of the construct. We are not all just blank slates receiving sensory input. Mainly because slates can't cogitate, it takes an information harvester, a force of will, an attention director to narrow our input to something usable an real for us.