Question 6: Do you believe that murderers and thieves can go to Heaven?

Answer: If an individual has accepted Jesus Christ as their personal saviour and their conversion was real, then they will go to Heaven – period. While it may be difficult for our human minds to comprehend, sin is sin in the eyes of God. The sins that we might label as “small or inconsequential” in our eyes is still sin in the eyes of God. However, an individual who has accepted God’s free gift of eternal life has been forgiven of all their sins. Those sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 9:12, Revelation 1:5) and are removed as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). Because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ that is imputed to us, it is “as if” we had never sinned to begin with! The Bible tells us that when we are born again, that we become new creatures (II Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”) We are changed and empowered by God to overcome evil and not allow our old fleshly nature to rule our lives like it used to (Ephesians 2:1-10, Romans 6:6-7, 12-14). Many famous Bible characters can be listed among the crowd of murders, including Moses (Exodus 2:11-12), the great King David (“a man after God’s own heart” – Acts 13:22) and the Apostle Paul. Finally, when Jesus was crucified at Calvary, the Bible tells us that he hung on across between two thieves who were also being crucified (Matthew 27:38). While both initially mocked and cursed Jesus, one of the two finally realized who Jesus was and confessed and repented of his sins. Although he lived a full life of thievery, he was saved on his “death bed” (cross) and heard Jesus say these wonderful words – “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:43)