Can sin be excusable?

[Daniel50]

Luke 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as
his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be
merciful to me a sinner.

 

[2ephesians8]

Thank you Daniel, yes that is the refence.

 

[CabinetMaker]

So anyone who isn't a martyr (or at least would, in extremis, be absolutely certain to be prepared to be martyred) wouldn't be accepted into Heaven?

Merciful.

Would it not be better to commit a minor sin so that you can go on to do good, universally beneficial things in the future, rather than throwing away the life God gave you, out of what could easily be construed as pride?

A lie is not a minor sin. God felt it important enough to write it in stone with His own finger. I think it very possible that people not willing to be martyred for Christ may not be acceptable into heaven for if you are not willing to die for Christ then He is not first and foremost in your life. Where is your faith if it is not strong enough to die for?

 

[Robert T. Lee]

Response to "Can sin be excusable"

Response to "Can sin be excusable"

God is not as we are. And does not judge His children as harshly for their misdeeds as we are sometimes prone to think. Remember that the gospel message was a message of Divine mercy. God is a God of mercy.
We are all instructed by God in the Bible to feed the hungry. And suppose none volunteered to obey God's command, even though there were a hundred so called believers about. Would not God work himself to feed his child whom He vowed to love more than any other could? In such a circumstance God would bring about a means for the hungry to feed himself so that he or she might gain strength and bear witness God's love among those who do not obey Him. "Thou preparest atable before me" in the sight of mine enemy.
God is not concerned about the fact the man who took the bread did so without asking. He is more concerned with the fact that he took it BECAUSE he was hungry. The MOTIVE behind the action is what is the heart of the action. In God's sight "as a man thinketh, so is he". God sees the heart. Worse, therefore would be the view of God of those who knowing the hungry man had need but did not feed him. All of our tomorrows are sheltered in the hand of God. None gains in good or evil without God's knowing grace.

 

[Lighthouse]

A lie is not a minor sin. God felt it important enough to write it in stone with His own finger. I think it very possible that people not willing to be martyred for Christ may not be acceptable into heaven for if you are not willing to die for Christ then He is not first and foremost in your life. Where is your faith if it is not strong enough to die for?

Actually, what He wrote in stone was to not bear false witness, not to not lie.

 

[Chileice]

God is not as we are. And does not judge His children as harshly for their misdeeds as we are sometimes prone to think. Remember that the gospel message was a message of Divine mercy. God is a God of mercy.
We are all instructed by God in the Bible to feed the hungry. And suppose none volunteered to obey God's command, even though there were a hundred so called believers about. Would not God work himself to feed his child whom He vowed to love more than any other could? In such a circumstance God would bring about a means for the hungry to feed himself so that he or she might gain strength and bear witness God's love among those who do not obey Him. "Thou preparest atable before me" in the sight of mine enemy.
God is not concerned about the fact the man who took the bread did so without asking. He is more concerned with the fact that he took it BECAUSE he was hungry. The MOTIVE behind the action is what is the heart of the action. In God's sight "as a man thinketh, so is he". God sees the heart. Worse, therefore would be the view of God of those who knowing the hungry man had need but did not feed him. All of our tomorrows are sheltered in the hand of God. None gains in good or evil without God's knowing grace.

C.S. Lewis had a keen insight into forgiveness in an essay entitled: "On Forgiveness." I have the book. It is called Fern seed and Elephants. But I couldn't find a good link to the essay. Anyway, here is a quote from that essay:

To excuse what can really produce good excuses is not Christian charity; it is only fairness. To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you. This is hard. It is perhaps not so hard to forgive a single injury. But to forgive the incessant provocations of daily life -- to keep on forgiving the bossy mother-in-law, the bullying husband, the nagging wife, the selfish daughter, the deceitful son -- how can we do it? Only, I think, by remembering where we stand, by meaning our words when we say in our prayers each night, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." We are offered forgiveness on no other terms. To refuse it means to refuse God's mercy for ourselves. There is no hint of exceptions and God means what He says.
... C. S. Lewis, "On Forgiveness"

If an act is excusable, it is not in need of forgiving. Forgiveness admits the evil of the act and yet chooses to treat that person with righteousness. Maybe I'll find the whole essay sometime and put it up. It is only a few pages. The version I have is in Spanish or I would just scan some of it.