Can Christians Go To Heaven If They Keep Sinning

Well, here’s a question that has been asked quite a few times before. Can Christians go to heaven if they keep sinning? I mean, doesn’t the word of God tell us that a person who turns away from their sins and practices righteousness is the one who can have an eternity in heaven?

Doesn’t the Bible tell us to turn to Jesus, confess our sins, stop sinning, and we will be saved from our sins because of God’s grace? That’s partially true. However, do you just magically “stop sinning” when you accept Christ or you are born again? I surely didn’t.

If you’re worried that you simply don’t have the power in yourself to stop sinning and start acting like a righteous person all the time, then here is some good news!

Unfortunately, some people teach that when they accept Christ as their Savior and are forgiven of their sins they must not sin anymore or they will lose their salvation. Or, if they do stumble and sin, the person must quickly confess it and get forgiveness because if they die with unconfessed sin, they will go to hell.

This is false. However, we do need to be concerned about dealing with sin as Christians.

So, Can We Go To Heaven If We Keep Sinning In Our Lives?

We will take a deeper dive into this as we go further into this article. However, even after someone gives their life to Christ, receives His forgiveness of their sins, and becomes a Christian they don’t automatically begin to live a perfect, sinless life.

Although, as Christians, we have received salvation through Christ’s death on the cross and received a new nature, we still exist on planet Earth in these bodies and minds that are going to be tempted to sin. And, unfortunately, we do – sometimes quite a bit.

Accepting Jesus, being born-again, getting saved, or whatever term you use referring to when you put your trust in Christ doesn’t mean that you will not sin anymore in this life on earth. So, yes, you can still go to heaven if you sin if you have truly trusted Jesus as your Savior.

Should We Have a Desire To Sin After We’ve Trusted Jesus For His Forgiveness?

When you ask that question in the deepest part of your heart, the answer should be – no! When we believe and accept that Christ Jesus died for our sins and we have been forgiven and placed in God’s family, we should have the desire to be faithful to Him and refrain from sin.

However, although our spirit has been made alive through Christ Jesus and we have a new nature spiritually, we still fight against the desires of the flesh – our old mindsets, habits, and old thought patterns.

So, what if you find yourself in a position where you are in major habitual sin and you practice sin over and over with no effort to resist temptation or you feel no remorse or need for repentance for that sin? In those cases, is it wise to question whether or not you had a true encounter with Jesus Christ and God’s forgiveness? I think so.

But, can Christians go through periods in their lives when they are not in God’s word, praying, and seeking Him and, as a result, their heart becomes a bit hardened to the Holy Spirit’s promptings? I believe so.

The Apostle Paul and others wrote about how Christians (saints of God) can sin, but if you have become a true believer – born again – you are forgiven – past, present, and future. The Holy Spirit in us guarantees and seals us in Christ with the promise that God will keep his children.

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”

Ephesians 1:13-14

When we SINCERELY trust Jesus as our Savior, giving our lives to Him, God gives us the Holy Spirit as the guarantee that we will not lose our salvation. I know that is a controversial doctrine with many. Although I believe it, I understand that it’s a doctrine with which we must be careful.

How Can We Go To Heaven if We Have Unconfessed Sin in Our Lives?

Our doctrine here at LivingPraying.com includes an interpretation of a Biblical concept that is a source of contention among some denominations. It’s called the Doctrine of Eternal Security. We have written about it on this site.

This doctrine, often called, Once Saved Always Saved,” says that if a person has experienced true repentance of their sins, asking God to forgive them, and placed their faith in the fact that Jesus Christ died to save us from our sins, that they can’t lose that standing of forgiveness even if they fall into sin.

Therefore you can’t be a true Christian one day, then fall into sin the next day, and therefore lose your salvation in Christ and not make it into heaven because of that.

Some believe that there is a certain level of sinfulness for which a Christian must confess and get forgiveness, or they may run the risk of going to hell. Since that is nothing to be frivolous about, we must be serious about knowing our future after death concerning heaven and hell.

Is There an Unpardonable Sin?

Is there a sin so egregious that even God in all of His mercy will not forgive? Yes. The Bible makes that clear.

However, the only sin for which there is no forgiveness is if you reject the Holy Spirit’s plea for you to accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God’s Holy Spirit (part of God’s Trinity) is who speaks to us to convict us of sin and draw us to God.

When the Holy Spirit convicts us of our need for Christ and if we ultimately reject Him, then we will be separated from God for eternity. Rejecting the Holy Spirit’s conviction for us to repent of our sins and turn to Christ is called blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. This is found in several places. We will use the passage in Mark, chapter 3.

“I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences.”

Mark 3:28-29

Here is the good news! If you are here and still reading this, you still have time to turn to God, repent of your sins, and accept Christ as your Savior! You don’t have to be guilty of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Turn to Jesus while there is still time!

Make Sure You Have Received God’s Forgiveness

Rather than ask the question “Can I still go to heaven if I sin,” ask yourself the question, “Did I understand my need for a Savior, repent from my sin, and receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior?”

If you ever fall into sin that is deep or perpetual, it’s not God’s grace that has failed. Sometimes there is a need to look back and answer the question “Did I really become a Christian in the first place?”

Did I get saved? Did I believe and place my faith in Jesus Christ? Did I accept Jesus and the truth of the Gospel?

It’s not my goal to make Christians doubt their relationship with Jesus. However, it is good to make sure that we didn’t just have some type of emotional experience in which we never actually placed our faith in Jesus. Sometimes people get caught up in the emotions of certain types of Christian meetings and pray and say things that do not reflect what is in their hearts.

If you conclude that you didn’t actually become a Christian before, then that could be the root cause of sin that you can’t seem to control.

On the other hand, battling sin and temptation certainly doesn’t mean that you are not saved. But if you look back and see that your life didn’t change when you thought you had an experience with Christ, then you need to go to Him in prayer and make sure that you are a new creation – born again – as God tells us in His word.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

2 Corinthians 5:17

Also, one of the most compelling conversations that ever occurred in the Bible is between Jesus and the Jewish leader, Nicodemus. We encourage you to read the entire chapter of John 3, but look at what Jesus told Nicodemus in verse 3.

“Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

John 3:3

A born-again encounter with Christ is much more than just being forgiven of our sins. That certainly is awesome. However, when we accept Christ our spirit is reborn. Our dead spirit is made alive. We are exchanging our life with the life of Christ – Our past for His past, Our present for His, and our future for His future.

Writing for LivingPraying.com I believe that if we truly experience being born-again, that eternal transaction cannot be undone.

Doesn’t the Bible Say We Can “Fall From Grace?”

Yes. It does say that. The question is, “What does that mean?” The Apostle Paul wrote this to the church in Ephesus.

“For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.”

Galatians 5:4

So, did he not mean that?

Certainly, he meant it. But, let’s examine what and who he was talking about. In our culture, we may hear about a famous preacher who was caught in some kind of sin, or sometimes a celebrity of some sort who had a good reputation, and perhaps it’s discovered they are involved in a scandal of some sort. Their reputation may be tarnished and people lose respect for those people.

In those cases, you might very well hear the media speak of those persons using the term that they have “fallen from grace.” That is not the context in which the Apostle, Paul, was speaking.

The Truth about the Fallen From Grace Passage

Paul wrote to the Galatian church to warn them about some false teachers who had come to try to influence the church. Those teachers had taught that the way to salvation was not simply “Jesus only.” However, what they were teaching was somewhat of a “Jesus plus” doctrine.

They taught that many of the Jewish customs, such as circumcision, under the Old Covenant, must still be practiced in order to be right with God. Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection fulfilled the requirements of the Old Covenant. This false doctrine taught by the false teachers was contrary to what the true Apostles and disciples of Christ were teaching.

Let’s look at Galatians 5:4 again, but this time add the verses before it at the beginning of the chapter.

“So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. I’ll say it again.

If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.”

Galatians 5: 1-4

In this passage, Paul is talking directly to those who are toying with the belief that they must be saved by the grace of Jesus PLUS obey the Old Testament law. If they accepted that a man must be circumcised to be right with God, then they would have to obey every regulation and law of the Old Testament.

These teachers were teaching a false way to salvation. If someone chose the Old Testament law as their way to heaven rather than Christ alone, they would be “cut off” from Christ.

They had the true teachings about Jesus and the gospel right in front of them, and unfortunately, they had the false teachers’ message about also keeping the Mosaic law to be saved. If they chose the latter, they would believe that they indeed could “fall away” from the message of grace.

So, that is not a verse about a Christian doing something to lose their salvation.

It is NOT Okay to Sin

Unfortunately, when someone believes or even teaches the doctrine of eternal security or once saved always saved” as we do, people can take it to an extreme. They can have a very unwise belief that it is ok to sin because we are forgiven and secure in Christ. Sometimes the doctrine of eternal security is said to give Christians a “license to sin.” Well, that’s not accurate. Actually, you can find it quite easy to sin without a “license.”😄

Just because God’s grace is beyond anything that we can imagine doesn’t mean that it’s okay to sin. Sinning against a Holy God is still wrong. It hurts the heart of God when we sin. It hurts us, it hurts those around us. Sin is never good.

“The Bible teaches that “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 6:23

Sin is so serious to God that He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ to die for our sins. When we teach that a Christian who sins can still go to heaven, some call that cheap grace. However, it’s not at all. It was very expensive. It cost the life of the Son of God. Jesus paid the “wages” of our sins. That is how great God’s love is!

So, here are some things which we should take a serious look at.

When Jesus Died and rose again, Defeating Death, hell, and the grave – all of our sins were in the future

“He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.”

1 John 2:2

John didn’t just say that Jesus died for their sins, but for every sin of every person to come. If they believe in Jesus and have that sacrifice applied to them, certainly, they may sin sometimes. However, a true Christian does not lose his salvation and eternal life with Christ.

We Have Been Justified Through Faith in Christ

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

Romans 5:1

When God declares us “justified,” He declares that we have His righteousness!

“But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”

Romans 3:21-22

We are talking about the righteousness of Christ, which is solid, reliable, and immovable. God declares you righteous with His righteousness when you are born-again, He will not undo that action. Jesus paid for your sins and He will not un-pay for those.

No Condemnation In Christ Jesus

“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.”

Romans 8:1-3

There is NO condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. Do you belong to Christ Jesus? Have you given your life to Him in repentance of your sin and trust in Jesus for forgiveness and life with Him? If so, nothing in the past, now, or in the future will make His Holy Spirit leave us and allow us to spend eternity apart from God,

Nothing will separate us from the Grace of God and the love of Jesus Christ

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 3:21-22

In Romans 3, take a look at the things that cannot take away your position in Christ. Death, life, angels, rulers, things that happen now, and (look closely) things to come will never separate Christians, from the love of Christ! Jesus offers forgiveness of sin and salvation. However, when we sin, He doesn’t un-forgive us!

Christians Are Forever Sealed With The Holy Spirit

“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise,”

Ephesians 1:13 (NASB)

Conclusion

So, can we go to heaven if we keep sinning after we have become Christians? The simple answer is yes. The more nuanced answer to the question is for us to make sure that we are Christians. We should make sure that we have repented of our sins and put our trust in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for our sins – surrendering our lives to Him.

It has to be a real experience – not just repeating the words contained in a prayer that we didn’t actually mean.

What many refer to as the “Sinner’s Prayer” is criticized a lot these days. However, it’s usually not the words of the Sinner’s Prayer that are bad. The key is internalizing the prayer for yourself, embracing Jesus and what you are saying in the prayer.

There are many versions of what would be called the Sinner’s Prayer. One such example of the prayer would go like this:

“Lord, I realize that I have failed in many ways. I recognize that I am a sinner, but that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life. Jesus, I ask you right now to come into my life, forgive my sins, and make me new. I submit to You and give my life to you. I accept You as my Savior and I now thank you for what you have done for me.“

So, if you just rotely recite that prayer following along with someone else who is saying it and you don’t embrace or believe what you are saying to God, then, of course, it’s just words. However, if you turn to Jesus Christ knowing you are a sinner, believing he died and rose again, and give your life to Him asking His forgiveness, He will do it. Even if you don’t use the exact right words that some pastor, evangelist, or friend might give you – God knows what is in your heart and that is what matters.

God doesn’t want us to go around constantly doubting whether or not we are Christians. Too many people do that and it’s a miserable experience.

God wants us to be confident that we are truly His children, truly born-again. If a Christian falls into habitual sin it can make them doubt their salvation in Christ. 1 John chapter 5 we are reminded of ways in which a Christian should act or think

“I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.”

1 John 5:13

If you are uncertain about your salvation, go to God and talk to Him right now. He is waiting to give you the assurance you need or welcome you as a new child into His kingdom!