Can Sin Be In Heaven?

I have often heard preachers say that one of the reasons you must accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior is that sin is not allowed to enter the kingdom of GOD. I’ve heard the example used multiple times of a paint can filled with absolutely white paint (the sinlessness of GOD’s presence in heaven) and a single drop of black paint (sin) being dropped into that white paint and making that absolutely white paint no longer white.

The problem is, that’s a false premise.

Pick your jaw up off the floor and follow me here and you’ll soon understand. Remember the story of Job (long “o”)? Check out what it says in Job 1:6-12:

“6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. 7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? 9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? 10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. 11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. 12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.”

So if Satan was there with GOD in heaven and they were talking, then doesn’t that mean that – since GOD’s abode is heaven – Satan with all of his sin and pride and hate was also in heaven? Is that not correct?

Let’s go further into Job and see that it wasn’t just the one time that Satan was present in heaven with GOD. In Job 2:1-7 we see that Satan returned to the presence of GOD and did more talking to Him:

“Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. 2 And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 3 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause. 4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. 5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. 6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life."

So that’s twice that we know of that Satan was in the presence of GOD in heaven. So sin, which we have been taught cannot be in heaven, it says in the Bible was in heaven.

Let us not forget that it was also in heaven when Satan became puffed up (conceited) and decided to lead a rebellion against GOD and one-third of the angels in heaven followed Satan into banishment. Read about that in Jude verse 6 (only one chapter, thus it is verse 6) we see

“And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”

Their “first estate” was in heaven with GOD. Thus sin was in heaven during the rebellion. We also see: Luke 10:18:

“And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”

2 Peter 2:4:

“For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;”

Note that they sinned while in heaven and then were cast down. Sin was in heaven. Not only was sin in heaven, but it started there! (Pick your jaw up!)

Revelation 12:7-9:

“7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

The “dragon” here is Satan. So why do we so often hear preachers preach about heaven being “without sin”? Some say that the myth gets its origins from Habakkuk 1:13:

“Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?”

But if you look at the fact that we know that GOD and Satan have had conversations about Job face to face, in heaven, then we know that it’s not that GOD cannot look at evil. Some of the other translations say:

“Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, And You can not look on wickedness with favor.” – New American Standard Bible
“But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil.” – New Living Translation
“But you can't stand sin or wrong.” – Contemporary English Version

I think that the GOD I serve is holy, righteous and good, but He is also able to look at whatever He wants to look at, but He can also overlook (look at and put on “ignore”) sin. GOD is GOD and there is nothing He cannot do except sin. To say that He could not look upon sin is to say that when He was speaking to Satan about Job He was looking a different direction while talking to Satan. That’s rude and I don’t think GOD did that. I think that GOD keeps an eye on His enemies because if He doesn’t then Satan may try to get an upper hand. We already saw that Satan was cast out of heaven by GOD and His Archangel, Michael. So why would GOD not be able to look at something He created even though that something (someone) sinned? Doesn’t GOD look at you and I daily?

“GOD is watching over you” is something we hear all the time. Do you sin daily? Perhaps you told a little “white lie” perhaps to save someone’s feelings, or had a little gluttony to help you through a difficult time (as did I when my cat died two days ago: chocolate helped)? It says in Psalm 121:5

“The LORD himself watches over you! The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade.” – New Living Translation

So, the answer to that is, “Yes. GOD watches over us.” So, does he see our sin? Yes. He must see our sin. Is He strong enough to handle it? Absolutely. Does He overlook it? Not in a non-judgmental way, but in a way that he puts your sin on “ignore” and he watches you without registering your sin. Have you ever had a time when you’re talking to someone, looking into their eyes and you don’t really see them because your mind is so out of focus or preoccupied? GOD does that. He doesn’t see your sin when He sees you. He waits patiently for that moment when you finally give in and accept Jesus Christ (His Only Begotten Son) as your Lord and Savior. If he weren’t watching for you to come home, the story of the “Prodigal Son” returning home in Luke 15:11-32 would be a totally useless biblical lesson.

Let’s look at the question considering this information: Can sin be in heaven? Yes! Absolutely yes! (Again, pick your jaws up off the floor.) However, the reason it can be there is that GOD is absolutely strong enough to handle it and He can overlook it, tune it out, whatever, for as long as it takes to get the job done that He wants done. In other words, it can be there long enough to suit His purposes: longer than that cannot be.

In the discussion with Satan about Job and how wonderful a character Job was, GOD allowed Satan to come in and try to cast aspersions upon Job’s character after which Satan was given permission to take all that Job had: children (he did), cattle (he did), property (he did that, too). When that failed, GOD gave Satan a second chance to do Job some damage, but this time allowed Satan to harm Job, just that Satan had to “spare Job’s life”. GOD wasn’t only strong enough to look at Satan, but to negotiate what damage Satan wanted to do to one of GOD’s most trusted servants.

No, it’s not that sin cannot enter into heaven, it is that sin is not allowed to stay in heaven. When we stand before GOD and we carry our sin up there with us to face judgment those who are not covered with the blood of Christ will still be covered in their sin. Thus, sin enters heaven that way, does it not? However, when it enters any which way, sin is not allowed to linger. It must move on to a more “appropriate” place: hell. We see in Revelations 20 the story of the Great White Throne judgment and how it says that

“12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

So we know that for that time of judgment, a person's soul and spirit (together as one) are standing before GOD, who is still in heaven, and thus, their sin is in heaven. Their deeds were all written in the books and those whose names were not written in the book of life were “cast into the lake of fire”. (That’s not what we want to happen to people so that’s why we tell people about Jesus and get people’s names into the book of life: so that they don’t get “cast into the lake of fire”.) After all, if you’ve sinned enough to be “cast into the lake of fire” and you’re standing before GOD doesn’t that tell you that your sin was there, too?

We see that:

1) Sin has already been in heaven during the rebellion, during the conversation about Job (twice) and probably multiple other times
2) Sin is allowed in heaven and it apparently does not affect GOD
3) Sin in heaven includes our sin on the great white throne judgment day
4) GOD is strong enough to handle looking at sin (He is omnipotent, after all!)

So if sin is allowed in heaven and GOD can handle it, why are we taught that sin is not allowed into heaven at all? That’s confusing, isn’t it?

I think it’s because heaven has already had one rebellion and GOD doesn’t want another one on His hands. He knows that if He allowed sin to enter and stay in heaven that it would not be good for heaven, for Him, for those who are there already. Sin has a way of oozing and sliming its way into hearts, minds, bodies, egos, and making itself at home and polluting and corrupting everything and everyone it has half a chance of touching. If sin were not just allowed into heaven, but allowed to linger and allowed to take root bringing disobedience, rebellion, hatred, lust, etc., into heaven as did Satan while he was up there, heaven would no longer be heaven, would it?

“1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

“5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”

That’s the heaven we look forward to, those of us who have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, according to Revelations 21: 1-7. Those who do not have Jesus as our Lord and Savior have Revelations 21:8 to look forward to:

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

If sin could stay in heaven, then the pollution that is sin (How far does a lie spread because people are willing to believe it, want to fit in, or whatever?) will destroy heaven. GOD will not – cannot – allow sin to stay in heaven because if He did sin would destroy it. GOD loves us too much to allow that. Sin not covered by the blood of Jesus Christ must be “cast into the lake of fire.” It is not just protecting those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ and will remain in heaven with Him, but it also allows GOD to keep His solemn, holy word. When GOD makes a promise, He keeps it. GOD promised those of us who accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior a “New Jerusalem” to live in:

“9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.

“10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

“15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. 17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. 18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. 19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

“22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. 25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. 27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.”

That’s why GOD cannot allow the pollution of sin to stay in heaven. If someone without the covering of the Lamb were to stay it would destroy heaven, the New Jerusalem and all who were therein. Sin can enter heaven outside of the City, New Jerusalem, but it cannot stay. Is your sin covered by the blood of the Lamb and is your name in the Lamb’s book of life?

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© 2018 Linda McKinney All Rights Reserved

Freedom Does Not Trump GOD

I have recently been involved in a discussion about “freedom” and what it includes. It didn’t start out that way, it just went that way due to the main sticking point my “opponent” was trying to create against my stance. My opponent was defending his support of homosexual marriage. In his efforts to do so, he tried to assert that, “maybe allowing people to practice homosexuality [i.e. homosexual “marriage”] even though some believe it is sin is a more conservative use of government.”


He went on to say, quote: “Therefore, as I look at the upcoming election and evaluate how I want to vote there is one thing in particular that I hold as an irrefutable value: Freedom may not be free, but it is always worth the price. Even if that price means other people are allowed to do things I think are stupid (like smoke cigarettes). Even if that means other countries are allowed to do things we think are stupid (like have nuclear weapons [even if we only think it’s stupid when they want them]). While granting sovereign rights will always be fraught with potential calamity, taking those rights away will always result in the greater calamity of dictatorship.” Unquote.


His stance in support of homosexual marriage is unique if nothing else. Standing against laws that allow homosexual marriage is less government and therefore something Conservatives should support. Never thought of it that way before. Putting the number of laws on the books ahead of right and wrong is novel to say the least. But more about this later.


I argued against his idea and was astonished at the persistence in my opponent’s defense of such a stance. Smaller government = more freedom = homosexual marriage should be allowed purely on the basis of smaller government, therefore Conservatives should support it! Well, there’s a problem with that line of thinking.


A few for instances: I live on a corner lot. When we first moved into our house the yard was unfenced. Our boys were small and we put the boundary on them that they could not go into the street. The street was not safe for them. We loved them so we set that boundary. Sometimes they pushed the boundary and went into the street, for which they got reprimanded (sometimes a swat on their bottoms), and that helped teach them to stay out of the street.


If we love someone we put boundaries up to protect them. Some of those boundaries are physical, some we set up are spiritual, some emotional. If love includes boundaries then not all boundaries are bad. A boundary that keeps people from walking on the “third rail” of an electric train is going to keep a person alive is a good boundary. The same thing is true with emotional boundaries: don’t give your heart to a married man because it’s going to cause someone to get hurt (the wife, the mistress, the children of the married man, etc.). Don’t get involved in drugs, voodoo, etc., are examples of things that a majority of people think of as “good boundaries” parents set for their children.


Freedom comes from GOD (the Declaration of Independence confirms this) and, even though we are free, with freedom comes certain responsibilities. As Rick Santorum so astutely pointed out at a Lexington, SC, restaurant (the “Flight Deck”)recently,“[W]e were founded as a country that had God-given rights that the government had to respect. And with those rights come responsibilities, right? God did not just give us rights. He gave us a moral code by which to exercise them.” Mr. Santorum’s excellent reminder for folks is that just because you have freedom declared in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, that doesn’t mean that there is a “free for all” and we can run, helter-skelter, to do whatever we wish, whenever we wish, with/to whomever we wish, however we wish.


With freedom – which the Declaration itself states comes from GOD – comes the boundaries GOD believes in and tried to teach us via His relationship with His people (Israel), via His Son, Jesus Christ and via His Word, the Holy Bible. Does that mean that America should be a Baptist country (Baptist is a for instance, it could be Greek Orthodox, Catholic, or Lutheran)? No. It means that if we are going to tout our freedoms that come from GOD as our Founding Fathers reiterated in their writings, the Congressional record (read the earliest Congressional records and you’ll be amazed at how often GOD and His providential guidance are referenced), and elsewhere, then we also must act as though our freedoms come from a moral, loving, wise, Creator who knows us better than we know ourselves.


Freedom means we have the personal rights that come from being intelligent enough to act as though we know right from wrong, good from bad and moral from immoral. We have the right to feel whatever we feel (even feeling homosexual), but we do not have the right to engage in “marriage” (per se) because marriage is a conscript from GOD. He established it and it was He who decided – via establishing Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve (cliché but true) – what a marriage was going to be. It is in Genesis Chapter 2:24, that marriage is established as, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” One flesh: one person: one child or children (one flesh) from two people. That is not possible with homosexuality.


When GOD created marriage He created what He wanted us to live. He gave us the rules regarding homosexuality:
• Leviticus 18:22: “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”
• Leviticus 20:13: “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”
• I Timothy 1:10 (read the first portion of that in 1:9: “Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient,”): “the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine,”
• I Corinthians 6:9: “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,”

Remember that GOD gave us freedom, but that also means that we must include within that freedom what GOD says is freedom: living by the rules He set down. Otherwise, the law is made for those who are “lawless and disobedient”.


Now I’ll return to the previous paragraph that talked about the number of laws on the books being a reason to not outlaw homosexual marriage: the “too many laws” thing.


Until 1993 it was not even considered a possibility for homosexuals to marry. Not that there were any laws on the books against it, just because the homosexuals who had tried and been refused had decided not to make a fuss about it. There were no laws preventing homosexual marriage in effect in any of our fifty states (fifty-seven in obamination’s America) until 1995. When they started pushing for the “right to marry”, that’s when man’s traditional views on marriage were tested and new laws created. Thus, the biblical reminder that “the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient…”. We cannot fight GOD. If we do, we lose. The laws that are now being created against homosexual marriage are just the laws of GOD coming into effect. So the number of laws on the books is inconsequential in regards to this. (If we can write laws mandating punishment for feelings -- “Hate Crimes” -- then we can have laws based on actions.)


America, as a Christian nation (founded by Christians, GOD mentioned throughout our founding documents, in our earliest Congressional records, prayer being established at our first Congressional meeting and practiced within our Congressional meetings as the starting point of every meeting and effort of Congress’s guiding America, etc., etc., etc. [and like it or not]), is based upon GOD’s Word. We looked for His guidance. We looked for His Providential protection. We looked for – and a majority of us still look for – His truth.


Now, are we as a nation so far from GOD that we will turn our backs on Him for the convenience, the emotions of, the “freedoms” of a very few people who have started down the road toward perdition? Should we not, instead of allowing this and stepping aside to let the slide continue, love homosexuals enough to stand up and say, “No. This far and no further!”? If we, as Christians and a Christian nation, should love our neighbor enough to try to bring them to Christ (GOD’s command in the “Great Commission” in Matthew 28), should we at the same time hate them enough to support them wallowing in and spreading their sin, adopting and raising children in the belief that it is acceptable? What GOD calls an “abomination” we should support in order to prevent there being another law on the books?


Is that what my opponent thinks GOD would condone? Is His Love going to be considered so all-encompassing that He will be seen as accepting every sin instead of just every sinner? GOD judges our actions as well as our hearts. If we are to emulate Jesus Christ, we must stand up for what GOD says is right. In Matthew 21:12 we see Jesus Christ take action against what was considered wrong by GOD. In 15:6) we see the Pharisees using the same idea as my opponent is espousing, “Jesus replied, ‘And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God?’” Jesus then went on to call the Pharisees and scribes “hypocrites” and “blind guides” for doing so! Read Matthew 23 and you’ll see what happens when Jesus sees people who are giving lip service to right, while all the while doing wrong.


Is that what my opponent wants? Should we give lip service to “freedom” so that we can leave man enslaved to sin while touting "fewer laws"? Should we give lip service to GOD’s LOVE while all the while condemning homosexuals to damnation because of their sin? If we are to do nothing contrary to the desires of those in sin because we want to demonstrate our love of the sinner, then are we not enabling the sin? Is that what GOD wants? Is that what Jesus demonstrated with His own actions? If Christ were to do so, the money changers’ tables would never have been overturned and the practice would have continued. If Christ were to do so the “teachers of the law and Pharisees” would never have been called out in Matthew 23. Instead Jesus would have simply loved them into the Kingdom of GOD, and not have called them a “brood of vipers” (vs. 33).


If you see a junkie on the street who says, “Give me ten dollars so I can go get some more meth, man. I’m dying here, man, I need more meth.” Do you give the junkie the money? If you do not, will he like you? If not, will he think you love him? If not, will he be angry at you? If you do not give the junkie money to get more meth, you are demonstrating love. If you do not condone sin, you are demonstrating love.


The bottom line for me is that GOD set boundaries for us when He gave us freedom. Look at the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. There was one rule: “Don’t eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil” (Genesis 2:17). Only one rule to live by: now that’s freedom! When Eve and Adam (in that order) broke that one rule there was a price to pay. Adam worked for a living, Eve bore children in pain, the serpent crawled on his belly and there was enmity between the serpent and man, and Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden. A preventive measure was also taken in that GOD set a guard at the Tree of Life, just in case (Genesis 3:24).


If we are to be Christ-like and try to “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48), then should we not also emulate Christ and His Father and their love of the sinner as much as we can? Remember, loving the sinner is not loving their sin. If it were, there would be no condemnation at all, nor would there have been reason to punish Adam and Eve and no reason for a Redeemer.