Can the saved rebel after their entrance through the pearly gates?
- Thread starter DJ2
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Hi DJ,
What are we promised? We need to remember that God is not a man, He doesn't lie.
God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent;
Has He said, and will He not do it?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Numbers 23:19
We are promised over and over in scripture that we who are His look forward to eternal life. Eternal means eternal.
THere's no going backwards. \o/ Halleluyah!!!
The only condition for eternal life is to have faith in His Son, the only begotten of the Father. If we're in Christ we have that precious promise of eternal life.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16
He who believes in the Son has eternal life; John 3:36
For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:40
I think your question is a very insightful one and one I have pondered myself. To understand the implications and possibilities of how this question is answered says a lot about a person's concept of God.
My simple answer is that in heaven it will be possible for redeemed mankind to rebel (sin), but because of what God has done mankind will not choose to rebel (sin).
To say simply that we cannot and will not turn away from God or rebel in heaven misses the point of the question.
If that is all God had wanted he would have created robots who are forced to do his bidding. But God created man in his own image.
Will we still have free will in heaven and have the ability and option to choose to do good or to do evil? Of course we will! We will not have any less ability in heaven than what we do here on Earth. I am sure that we will not be robots for all of eternity that are forced to do God's bidding.
So how is God going to take a man who is constantly straying and sinning and failing and going his own way (here on the Earth) and make this man into a man who for all eternity in heaven never sins or rebels against God. How? by a very interesting plan - eschatology - the Rapture, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, the Tribulation period (on Earth), the Battle of Armageddon, the Millennial reign, the Battle of Gog and Magog,: Once we (the redeemed) have been through all these events, we will to a much deeper extent understand the love, the power, and the omnipotence of Heavenly Father.
Will we then rebel (sin) against the Father? Not likely! Will we be able to? (That is, will we still have freedom of choice?) Absolutely!
My simple answer is that in heaven it will be possible for redeemed mankind to rebel (sin), but because of what God has done mankind will not choose to rebel (sin).
To say simply that we cannot and will not turn away from God or rebel in heaven misses the point of the question.
If that is all God had wanted he would have created robots who are forced to do his bidding. But God created man in his own image.
Will we still have free will in heaven and have the ability and option to choose to do good or to do evil? Of course we will! We will not have any less ability in heaven than what we do here on Earth. I am sure that we will not be robots for all of eternity that are forced to do God's bidding.
So how is God going to take a man who is constantly straying and sinning and failing and going his own way (here on the Earth) and make this man into a man who for all eternity in heaven never sins or rebels against God. How? by a very interesting plan - eschatology - the Rapture, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, the Tribulation period (on Earth), the Battle of Armageddon, the Millennial reign, the Battle of Gog and Magog,: Once we (the redeemed) have been through all these events, we will to a much deeper extent understand the love, the power, and the omnipotence of Heavenly Father.
Will we then rebel (sin) against the Father? Not likely! Will we be able to? (That is, will we still have freedom of choice?) Absolutely!