Several paths can lead to spiritual condemnation.Repent while you still can. These include:
· Fruitlessness: Illustrated by the curse of the fig tree, a life that bears no spiritual fruit is condemned. Acting like a beast in public or in private.
· Preaching a False Gospel: This includes the "prosperity gospel," which shifts the focus from the cross as a sacrifice for sin to a transaction for wealth. Such teaching often involves exploiting the vulnerable for financial gain and presenting an alternative path to salvation, which is found in Christ Jesus alone.
Heresy which empahize opinion versus biblical truth.
· Blasphemy: Attacking God's holiness (including lying about God) or committing the unpardonable sin—blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This is a persistent, hardened rejection of God's truth and grace, which refuses repentance.
· Rejection and Apostasy: Ultimately rejecting Jesus, whose sacrifice alone pays the wage of sin (which is death), or falling away from faith into false doctrine.
· Worldliness and Wrong Motives: Living for the world, driven by pride, greed, a thirst for power, and a desire for status rather than for God.
· Being Lukewarm: Christ specifically warns against apathy and half-hearted devotion. In Revelation 3:16, He says, "So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." This state of comfortable indifference is so repulsive to God that it warrants rejection.
· Leading People Astray: Jesus issued severe warnings about causing others, particularly "little ones" who believe in Him, to sin. He said, "It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble" (Luke 17:2). Similarly, the Bible condemns those who "blind the minds of unbelievers" (2 Corinthians 4:4) and teaches that those who lead others into error will face a stricter judgment (James 3:1).
· Persecuting the Church: To persecute the body of Christ is to persecute Christ Himself. When Jesus confronted Saul (who became the Apostle Paul) on the road to Damascus, He did not ask, "Why are you persecuting my followers?" but "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" (Acts 9:4-5). This identifies the Church so closely with Jesus that harming it is a direct assault on Him. Such violent opposition to God's people is a grave sin.