I think so. Nobody goes to heaven because they deserve to be there. I believe if you put your trust in God and do what you can to do what's right, everything else will work out.
I do not know the initial reasoning behind your question, so allow me to answer you in a way that is not directed solely to you, but should be a consideration of us all when we consider topics such as these. Often, when we begin on the Way towards God, fulfilling what has been asked of us to do as Christians, we begin to wonder about some of the things that occur in our own lives and try to see if they are compatible with our understanding in Orthodoxy of God. Is it possible that when I ask myself the question, "Will I still be able to go to heaven if (fill in the blank; in this case, if I lie and don't repent)?" that I am trying to find a way of trying to make my lifestyle compatible with my Orthodoxy by compromising my Orthodoxy? In other words, am I trying to find ways of still doing what I want to do, even if I know it to be against the will of God?
I think this is an important question that we should ask ourselves on a daily basis. Yes, God is Love, and He is a merciful God, but He is also just and has given us a standard by which we should live. This standard, which we should constantly be striving to be like, is Our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ. As it has become a common phrase today, allow me to ask "What would Jesus do?" Would Jesus lie? Can I, striving to be as Jesus was and is and will be, lie? If I separate myself from God by an act of sin, can I knowingly refuse to return? Perhaps more important than these hypothetical questions is whether or not I actually do these things. Is there something preventing me from confessing about it? Is it my weakness, my pride, my wish that my father of confession not know about what I've done so as not to look down on me, or any other number of reasons?
Be strong! In order to be strong, I must recognize my weakness and find my strength in Christ, through whom all things are possible. If it is not I who has committed the sin and refuse to repent but my neighbor, do I pray for him or her? Do I submit his or her name on the altar?
Let us all pray for one another, and ask for strength, not our own but that of the Son of God, to be able to recognize our faults and overcome them through the blessed Mysteries that have been given to us by God, through the apostles, found in the Church, and freely obtained if our hearts, minds, souls, and spirits so desire.
Comments
George
I do not know the initial reasoning behind your question, so allow me to answer you in a way that is not directed solely to you, but should be a consideration of us all when we consider topics such as these. Often, when we begin on the Way towards God, fulfilling what has been asked of us to do as Christians, we begin to wonder about some of the things that occur in our own lives and try to see if they are compatible with our understanding in Orthodoxy of God. Is it possible that when I ask myself the question, "Will I still be able to go to heaven if (fill in the blank; in this case, if I lie and don't repent)?" that I am trying to find a way of trying to make my lifestyle compatible with my Orthodoxy by compromising my Orthodoxy? In other words, am I trying to find ways of still doing what I want to do, even if I know it to be against the will of God?
I think this is an important question that we should ask ourselves on a daily basis. Yes, God is Love, and He is a merciful God, but He is also just and has given us a standard by which we should live. This standard, which we should constantly be striving to be like, is Our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ. As it has become a common phrase today, allow me to ask "What would Jesus do?" Would Jesus lie? Can I, striving to be as Jesus was and is and will be, lie? If I separate myself from God by an act of sin, can I knowingly refuse to return? Perhaps more important than these hypothetical questions is whether or not I actually do these things. Is there something preventing me from confessing about it? Is it my weakness, my pride, my wish that my father of confession not know about what I've done so as not to look down on me, or any other number of reasons?
Be strong! In order to be strong, I must recognize my weakness and find my strength in Christ, through whom all things are possible. If it is not I who has committed the sin and refuse to repent but my neighbor, do I pray for him or her? Do I submit his or her name on the altar?
Let us all pray for one another, and ask for strength, not our own but that of the Son of God, to be able to recognize our faults and overcome them through the blessed Mysteries that have been given to us by God, through the apostles, found in the Church, and freely obtained if our hearts, minds, souls, and spirits so desire.
childoforthodoxy