I grew up going to church but I’m not religious now and I never really understood this part.
Please, no answers along the lines of “aha, that’s why Christianity is a sham” or “religions aren’t logical”. I don’t want to debate whether it’s right or wrong, I just want to understand the logic and reasoning that Christians use to explain this.
In other words, to say “Jesus forgives your sins” is not really quite accurate.
It’s not accurate in that your sins don’t really matter. Entry into heaven isn’t determined by acts, it’s determined by beliefs. All you have to do is to believe Jesus is lord and worship him and you’ll end up in heaven no matter what you do or did.
Jesus forgives your sins when you come to him for forgiveness. If you tie one on and then confess and regret it, he forgives. If you, however, just do this to get forgiveness so you can tie one on every night, he knows.
Therefore,
For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries - Hebrews 10:26-27