|
One possible explanation is the metaphysical approach. Because of the nature of God and Heaven, "evil cannot abide in his presence." This means that no one with sin attached to them can enter into the gates of Heaven. When Christ was crucified, he carried the sins of the world on his body at the time so those sins were all crucified with him. Again, free will comes into play though. If you believe that Christ died for your sins and choose to pledge your life to him and his work, then your sins are forgiven and your sins are crucified with Christ. When you appear at the gates of Heaven, you are without sin and can "abide" in heaven.
Conversely, If you do not accept that sacrifice you will reach judgment with sin still attached to your being. Since you are not clean you cannot enter Heaven because sin cannot reside in Heaven. The question this raises then is why can't you apologize at the gates of Heaven and have your sin removed? The answer is that there are limits to God's forgiveness. He cared so much that He allowed his only son, the only creature that was born lived and died without sin to be tortured and killed for your sake and if you chose to not even accept him then you are not worthy of having your sins cleansed.
With that said, I am a former theology student. In my second year I wrote a paper on theological questions that no one had been able to answer for me. This question was one of them. Ultimately, that paper led me to fast and pray for weeks for clarity. In the end, my faith was gone and there was no response from Heaven to replenish my faith so I had to leave the church.
__________________
I know Nietzsche doesnt rhyme with peachy, but you sound like a pretentious prick when you correct me.
|