Sins, Sin, and Sinning

Growing up I heard ministers say that a person needs not only to be saved from the penalty of sin (justified), they must be transformed (sanctified) in a way that changes their heart and they will stop from sinning. I believe that salvation involves all of that and would like to add one more that we seldom think about.

Not only does God want to save us from hell and to heaven God wants to make us “safe for heaven”. When we get there God doesn't want us to mess the place up.

Apparently a spirit being such as angels and people are can sin in heaven. From the little bit we are told the archangel Lucifer sinned in heaven. Isaiah 14:14 says that he said “I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." so God cast him and the third of the angels that followed him out of heaven.

So if we are asked “can you sin in heaven” we must overcome our immediate impulse to say “of course not” and realize that in order to achieve the quality of love God desires to have, God allows freedom for created spirit beings (angels and people).

So the aspect of salvation called sanctification involves trnsformation of both actions and will. To be “safe for heaven” God must be certain that a being has been so thoroughly transformed (not just 'reformed') that they will always allow God to be God and not seek to substitute any other thing, not even themselves.