I like the Message Version because it is clear and to the point. My ticket to hell has been canceled. It is not my destination.

I’m happy from the inside and from the outside in, I’m firmly formed.
You canceled my ticket to hell—that’s not my destination! Psalm 16:9-10 MESS

Why was my ticket to hell canceled? Christ died on the cross to cancel our destination, i.e., hell. The Old Testament dispensation did not allow redemption for our sins. Adam and Eve sinned and were cast out of the Garden of Eden. There were no second chances in the Old Testament. Once guilty, always guilty.

When Christ visited the earth in human form, experienced what we experience and then was crucified, He did so to provide a path of repentance and redemption to righteousness. Forgiveness from God is essential for our relationship with God.

The crucifixion of Christ changed our relationship with God. We were no longer bound by the atrocities of sin that man has committed since the beginning of time. In today’s lexicon, ‘God gave us an out.’ If we are truly remorseful for whatever sin we committed, we can go to God in prayer and ask His forgiveness; we will be washed clean. 1 John 1:9 says,

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Psalm 51 stresses that God can blot out our transgressions and cleanse us from our sin. He can create a new heart in us and renew a steadfast spirit within us. He will not cast us away and will not take the Holy Spirit that dwells in us away. He will, upon praying, restore our joy in His salvation and uphold us in Christ.

The Unforgivable Sin

The only unforgivable sin is the sin of rejecting God and refusing His offer of forgiveness and new life in Jesus Christ. This is the only unforgivable sin because it means we are saying that the Holy Spirit’s witness about Jesus is a lie.

And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. Luke 12:10

Jesus is God in human form and when we deny Jesus, we are denying God Himself; we limit Him and assume He is unable to save us.

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. John 1:18

The main reason it is serious to reject Christ is that Christ is God’s appointed means of (our) salvation. Our greatest need is to have our sins forgiven; if we don’t, we have no reason to expect God to welcome us into Heaven. But by His death and resurrection, Christ provided the way for us to be forgiven and cleansed of all of our sins.  (What’s the Unforgivable Sin? Billy Graham. Billygraham.org, April 12, 2016)

Praise our God. We are not doomed to go to hell unless we commit the unforgivable sin. Less that, we are not hell bound.

Images – Google Images; LAB Photos
Scriptures – Biblica.org; Biblegateway.com
Resources – Billygraham.org; Biblestudytools.com; Crosswalk.com

Thank you for visiting my Young Christian Warriors site and dailyinspiration-lisasthoughts.com, at the moment there is some duplication. I am working on merging the two to create one great site. Please bear with me through this process.