From my study of the Bible scriptures I believe the only sin that condemns in this age of the gospel of grace, as taught by Paul in his writings, is the sin of unbelief: not taking God at His word.
Ex 23:27-33 NKJV
27 "I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
28 And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you.
29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.
30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land.
31 And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River. For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.
32 You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you."
The above is the promises made by God to His people the Israelites as they entered the gateway city to the promised land.
But did the Israelites believe God? ---- No! they choose to send in spies to see if the Jews could take the lands and 10 came back with a report that they could not. A direct disbelief in the word of God. -- Because of their unbelief they were forced to live in the wilderness for 40 years and that generation was not allowed to enter their promised land.
Today, under grace, God has proclaimed that a person’s salvation has already been accomplished by the work of God (Jesus) on the cross: His shed blood. ---- However, most will not believe God and turn to religious legalism to earn, or insure, their salvation.
1 John 2:2 KJV
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
The book of Hebrews is a writing to encourage new Jewish believers (those that believed that Jesus was the Messiah) to come out from under the legalism of Judaism and not to become entangled again to a works religion. -- In other words to place their belief, faith, trust, and confidence in God’s work on the cross; not in their own religious works.
Heb 3:16-19 NKJV
16 And who was it who rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice? Wasn't it the people Moses led out of Egypt?
17 And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn't it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness?
18 And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn't it the people who disobeyed him?
19 So we see that because of their UNBELIEF they were not able to enter his rest.
Unless a person truly believes that his/her sins are paid for by the work of God on the cross they can not be saved. For a person to think that their religious works save them is to deny that God’s work has saved them; it indicates that God’s work is incomplete.
Ex 23:27-33 NKJV
27 "I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
28 And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you.
29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.
30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land.
31 And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River. For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.
32 You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you."
The above is the promises made by God to His people the Israelites as they entered the gateway city to the promised land.
But did the Israelites believe God? ---- No! they choose to send in spies to see if the Jews could take the lands and 10 came back with a report that they could not. A direct disbelief in the word of God. -- Because of their unbelief they were forced to live in the wilderness for 40 years and that generation was not allowed to enter their promised land.
Today, under grace, God has proclaimed that a person’s salvation has already been accomplished by the work of God (Jesus) on the cross: His shed blood. ---- However, most will not believe God and turn to religious legalism to earn, or insure, their salvation.
1 John 2:2 KJV
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
The book of Hebrews is a writing to encourage new Jewish believers (those that believed that Jesus was the Messiah) to come out from under the legalism of Judaism and not to become entangled again to a works religion. -- In other words to place their belief, faith, trust, and confidence in God’s work on the cross; not in their own religious works.
Heb 3:16-19 NKJV
16 And who was it who rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice? Wasn't it the people Moses led out of Egypt?
17 And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn't it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness?
18 And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn't it the people who disobeyed him?
19 So we see that because of their UNBELIEF they were not able to enter his rest.
Unless a person truly believes that his/her sins are paid for by the work of God on the cross they can not be saved. For a person to think that their religious works save them is to deny that God’s work has saved them; it indicates that God’s work is incomplete.