An author once stated, "I wish there were some wonderful place called 'the Land of Beginning Again,' where all of our past mistakes and heartaches, and all of our poor selfish grief, could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door and never be put on again" (Louisa Tarkington, Putting Your Past Behind You, p. 13).
There are hundreds of movies where the main character's goal is to go back in time and correct mistakes of the past. This idea of "a new beginning" has always been an appealing one. We've all messed up (Romans 3:23), and so we wish that we could have a fresh start. There are words we wish we could take back, actions we wish we hadn't done, and decisions we wish we hadn't made.
Unfortunately, this life does not work this way. The great news is, there is a way to get a fresh start. Revelation 21:25-27 explains, "In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life."
To put it simply, there is no sin in heaven. All of our mistakes, sins, and poor decisions will be "left at the door" and will never be a part of us again. While baptism does cleanse us of the sins we commit (Acts 2:38; Romans 6:3-4), those sins cannot be reversed. Sometimes the punishments of these sins are ones people continue to deal with for life. In heaven, there is no punishment. We will be cleansed and remain so forever. The kicker is that in order to obtain this, we must be saved (1 Peter 3:21), and then remain faithful until death (Revelation 2:10). How very sweet this will be. Let's make sure we are living in a way to obtain this reward!
Brett Petrillo
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