Will I Be Able To Sin In Heaven?
It should come as no surprise to any of us that scholarship and expertism rule the day in our modern society. Actually, if one thinks about it, such has always been the case for centuries. There is nothing new under the sun. We meager peasants must concede our woeful lack of understanding to those in authority who are much smarter than us. They are the experts after all, so they must know something that we don’t. This is the very assumption that keeps mankind under tyranny. Religious and political despots prey on unwitting slaves using this very premise. It is the primary tool in their tyrannical toolbox. It is rule number one in the art of subduing the masses: you know nothing, therefore you must submit to me.
In the endless discussion over determinism and total depravity there is always one key idea that most everyone (at least in the religious realm anyways) always overlooks, and that is man’s relationship to the law and the law’s role in justification. 
And so when I come across a podcast posted in a discussion group about Calvinism, to me the answer to the question posed by the article is outrageously simple. But like all things that God made for man to understand, it is the Philosopher King who goes out of his way to make the simple unbearably complicated.
Like most religious scholars, the speaker seeks to impress us with lofty words and ideas. Much effort is made talking about doctrines of angels and philosophical thought experiments that have nothing to do with the subject at hand. It merely serves to obfuscate the answer, talking round and round in circles, using many words but in the end saying very little of substance, not coming anywhere close to giving a definitive answer about anything. Yet many will be impressed and humbled by this man’s great wisdom as compared to their own lack of understanding since their primitive totally-depraved mind can never hope to comprehend such things. Therefore the laity defers to those in authority to do the heavy lifting for them. The dirty little secret is, this is exactly the way the experts want it, and you have played right into their hands.
To be honest, I can’t recall that I have ever even considered the question before: Will I be able to sin in heaven? I don’t know why I never thought about it. Maybe I’m just not smart enough to think about such things. I guess I never assumed it was an option let alone a possibility. It seems like a stupid question really. I mean, the apostle Paul said in Romans, “Should we continue in sin that grace may abound?” But even Paul rejected the absurdity of this notion. Why should we who were saved from sin continue in it any longer?
Nevertheless, once I did pause and consider the question I found it intriguing. I knew the answer right away. It is as plain as plain can be. I also knew that before I even read the transcript of the podcast I knew what the scholar’s answer would be; or at least knew what his premise would be. You see, regardless of what this speaker says, whether he actually answers the question or not, his purpose in the question begins with the premise that denies the reality of the New Birth and reveals a woeful misunderstanding of the law. Before we can even consider if his answer has any shred of credibility, we must first start by unpacking what he is really asking.
The question is not a matter of reality in heaven but one of man’s ability. Notice, it is not about IS there sin in Heaven, but will I have the ABILTY to sin.
The problem with this question should be obvious. No self-respecting Calvinist believes that man has any ability whatsoever. Not only that, if God determines everything – and this MUST include sin – any question of man’s ability is irrelevant from the get go. Such a question is disingenuous at best and outright deception at worst.
It doesn’t take a genius or a biblical scholar to know the answer right off the bat. I can say emphatically and without equivocation that I will not be able to sin in Heaven.
As stated many times over and over here at TANC Ministries and Paul’s Passing Thoughts, a proper understanding of justification begins with a proper understanding of the law and its role in justification. The reality is that man does not have a “sin” problem. Man has a relationship to the law problem. Because unregenerate man is under law he is subject to condemnation. The law can only condemn him. Regardless of how much good he does, he is under condemnation because he is under law.
But the New Birth changes that. When a person accepts God’s gift of eternal life, his old self dies, and in his place a new creature is reborn who is the literal offspring of God the Father. This new creature is not under law. The law cannot touch him. The Bible states that where there is no law there is no sin, and if there is no sin then believers are fully righteous. Believers are righteous not because of perfect law-keeping imputed to them. Believers are righteous because their existence as God’s offspring precludes any ability to sin since there is no law that can condemn them. This is why the apostle John said,
“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” ~ 1 John 3:9
Do you get that? Christians don’t sin because they CAN’T sin. It is a metaphysical impossibility for believers to sin. If it is impossible for believers to sin while here on earth, doesn’t it stand to reason that the same must hold true in Heaven as well?
Believers are free to show love to God and others by aggressively striving to obey the law. While the law does not justify, the law that once condemned us is now our vehicle for showing love. Any system of doctrine that teaches that we should not obey but rather experience Jesus’ obedience manifested through us takes away man’s ability to show love to God and others. In fact, showing love to God and others is a fulfillment of the law.
But there is another reality that is important to mention that is relevant to this discussion. It is the reality that here and now, we believers still reside in a body of flesh. The Bible says that this body is weak. Weakness is not “evil,” nevertheless because our bodies are weak we are still subject to temptation. Now while believers cannot be condemned, we don’t always show love they way we should. This happens when the Sin master comes along and tries to control us or tempt us to wield control over others. Control lust is the antithesis of love. While it is impossible for believers to sin, it is still possible for us to fail to show love. This is a reality that we as believers will struggle with for the rest of our earthly lives.
But here is another truth. One day, these earthly bodies will be changed as well. There will come a time when we will no longer reside in corruptible flesh, but our spirits will reside in new glorified bodies that will never corrupt. Our weak flesh will finally be perfect, mature, complete!
So I ask you this, since it is impossible for believers to sin on earth in weak fleshly bodies, how much more impossible will it be it be for us in Heaven with complete glorified bodies?
Now wasn’t that easy?
~ Andy
Dr. Lopez Was Fired For Being Wrong About The Protestant New Birth
This post concerns the latest trending drama in the Southern Baptist Convention. A Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary professor was fired for his position on LGBTQ. By the way, the cultural debate/discussion is underway that argues for the “P” to be added to that as well. That would be pedophilia, and I assume zoophilia (Z, [bestiality] since there is already a “B” in there) will also be forthcoming in the near future. Hey, a sexual preference is a sexual preference; who’s to judge, right?
So, when are those trying to save the SBC going to talk about the elephant in the room? And what is the elephant in the room? Answer: a concise biblical definition of the new birth. Lopez got fired because he is a confused Protestant, which is a good thing; church was a good place to be when Baptists were confused.
Albert Mohler et al are part of a movement that returned the SBC to authentic Protestant orthodoxy. Founders Ministry is an organization that was founded by Earnest Reisinger for the sole purpose of doing such. Reisinger was a Presbyterian who became an ordained Southern Baptist minister for the express purpose of infiltrating the SBC with “The Centrality of the Objective Gospel Outside of Us.” Thomas Ascol is a disciple of Reisinger who died in 2004.
I get it; those who want to save the SBC don’t want to admit that while debating Calvinistic predeterminism for all of these years, they didn’t really understand what Calvin and Luther believed about the very gospel itself and the new birth in particular. Nevertheless, EVERY woe taking place in the SBC right now boils down to what one group believes the new birth is, and the assumption of the other half that everyone believes the same thing about it despite overt public statements by Mohler’s clan.
The good guys are not paying attention. Words mean things. When John Piper states openly that Christians still need to be saved; you really ought to stop for awhile and think about what that means exactly.
Full stop: Lopez got fired because he believes in a biblical new birth as applied to the LGBTQPZ issue. Mohler et al do not believe in a biblical new birth; they believe in the Luther/ Calvin new birth. What is that?
It denies that the new birth is a transformation of a person’s actual state of being. Instead of the new creature being righteous as a state of being, or being holy as God our Father is holy, we are only “declared righteous.” Hello, please pay attention; they say it all of the time. Also, according to Luther and Calvin, the new birth does not change the believer’s relationship to the law. In other words, the “believer” remains “under the righteous demands of the law.” Hello, the Bible calls that being “under law” and that is the biblical definition of a lost person. Now you know why John Piper states that Christians still need salvation; please start paying attention. Also be advised: being under grace does not abrogate the law, but being under grace does remove the condemnation of the law and makes it our counsel for loving God and others with all of our heart, mind, and soul.
In the gospel of Luther and Calvin; in fact, its cardinal point, is that “believers” remain under the condemnation of the law and this is the very crux of double imputation soteriology. Since the “believer” remains totally depraved, Christ’s fulfillment of the law must also be imputed to our lives. The legendary RC Sproul even stated that Christ obtained His righteousness through perfect law-keeping and clarified the statement by saying Christ would not have been righteous without it. Regardless of the fact that such a statement is outright blasphemy, no one even blinked.
Please start paying attention.
So, what is the Luther/Calvin definition of the new birth? It’s merely a perception, or ability to see righteousness, but not perform it. ALL of our (who is the “our”?) works are like filthy rags, right? Hence, we must merely preach the gospel, but we cannot perform the gospel. “Sanctification is done TO us, not BY us as the progression of justification [salvation].” “Sanctification is justification in motion” because there is no real transformation in the person other than their ability to see “our sin as set against God’s holiness.” Faith is merely a perception, not an actual change in state of being.
Therefore, as they say, “our gospel is confessional” Get it? We cannot actually practice what we preach, we can only confess it. “It is our mission to preach the gospel, not be the gospel.” Get it? In the SWBTS statement denying accusations concerning Lopez, they affirm their stance that homosexuality is sin and not biblical, while also adding that they are “confessional.” They probably think it’s cute that they can say what they mean without most SBC parishioners knowing what they are really saying by saying that. In essence, they are saying:
“We deny that we don’t think homosexuality is sin; of course it is sin! But on the other hand, if you have that orientation, you are enslaved to it, and the church is a hospital for the sick. If you deny slavery to sin, you are saying you have no need for a doctor! The gospel is for those who need a doctor, not those who have no need for a doctor (Luther).”
And after all, “We are all just sinners saved by grace,” right? If a lie is sin, and you are afforded the full rights of church, why wouldn’t LGBTQPZ be afforded the full rights of church as well? If you break the law at any point as James 2:10 says, you are guilty of breaking all of it, no?
Yes, if the biblical new birth doesn’t change your relationship to the law and completely transform your state of being from sinner to saint. You, in contrast to what Luther stated, are not both saint and sinner simultaneously, you are one or the other: you are either under law or under grace; under grace is NOT a covering for remaining under law. Sinning as a true born again believer is NOT the same as sinning as an unbeliever. One is a failure to love and is a family issue between you and your Father while the other is sin that remains under the condemnation of the law. Fact: Calvin and Luther’s soteriology maintains that ALL people lost or saved remain under the condemnation of the law.
I am still the only one to date able to keep Dr. James White from running his pie hole a split second after someone says something. During a conversation about justification on a UK radio program, White was doing the usual Protestant word shell game with everything I was saying until I asked this question: “Is justification an actual change of being from unrighteousness to righteousness and not merely a declaration? In other words, are we merely declared righteous, or are we righteous as a state of being?” Ironically, they even state that justification is a “legal declaration.” How is that a righteousness manifested apart from the law?
The real problem is not Lopez’s position on LGBTQPZ per se, but what his position states about the new birth.
Right, because Lopez believes that believers are no longer enslaved to sin, but rather enslaved to righteousness. Being under the “law of Christ” is a totally different reality than remaining under the “law of sin and death.” The law of the Spirit of life has set us free from that law (both are “nomos” in Roman’s 8:2).
Look, let me help here. For you good men of God being driven crazy by this stuff, I have a story you can use to save face. It might go something like this:
“Now fellow Baptists, there is a reason we are all not attending the Lutheran church down the street, right? [Those who have not yet broken their necks from nodding yes so much will do so]. And as you know, I have always had a problem with Calvin, and even though I have always known he had the new birth wrong [it’s alright to lie because you are no longer under law], it is high time we start talking about that.”
You then begin to broadcast the fact that the problem with church is Calvin’s false gospel, not the election debate. NOTHING well change until the elephant in the room is discussed. Personally, I believe the problem with church is church, but if you are going to save church, you might want to start with its false gospel.
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