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Can God Forgiven Casey Anthony? What About O.J. Simpson? Did They Commit the Unforgiveable Sin?
There have been some discussions on the Internet about the spiritual fate of Casey Anthony, just as there were lots of discussions about the spiritual fate of O.J. Simpson. Over 4 million people inquire into Casey every month, and even today there are almost half a million monthly searches on O.J. Therefore, interest is high regarding both of these people.
In case you don't know, Casey is the woman who was recently acquitted for killing her daughter Caylee in Florida USA., when the vast majority of people think she is guilty. It's a repeat situation of the O.J. Simpson murder case in the mid 1990s. The same thing I say here I believe applies to O.J. as well as to Casey, although I will confine my comments to Casey.
After Cain killed Abel, God 'marked' him in some way. Some say it was to tell everyone of his horrific crime, but Genesis 4:15 tells us it was to PROTECT him. We lawyers call this 'aiding and abetting a criminal.' BUT, this is what God did.
How about King David, who wrote most of the book of Psalms. Not only did he commit adultery, but had the woman's husband murdered, and lied and deceived the people of Israel. He knew he could be executed for his crimes. Have you read Romans 4:6-8 recently?
How about the Apostle Paul, the Christian killing/jailing Jew who wound up writing over half the New Testament? Likewise, can Casey receive God's forgiveness? Absolutely!
Salvation is not about our sins, and our ceasing to do bad and becoming good. That is modern, western salvation.
True conversion is seen through Paul in Philippians 3, where he left all the GOOD he was doing (not bad until he started killing Christians) -- to receive Jesus Christ. I've said it just recently: salvation is not us dealing with sin, but about us being IN CHRIST. It's a 'state of being' not a 'state of (bad) condition.' Read Romans 5.
God forgets our sins (Heb 8:12, 10:17). HOW CAN HE DO THIS??
Because Jesus became sin for us (II Cor 5:21). Jesus came to put away sin by the cross (Heb 9:26). The whole, entire Old Testament is about (1) a coming King, and (2) his coming Kingdom. If we have received the King, and are in his Kingdom, we are forgiven, no matter what we have done -- just like Cain, David and Paul.
As we lawyers know, God's gift of salvation is a unilateral offer -- it is available to anyone. Now, it must be accepted by us personally, but it is a one-way offer that requires nothing on our part except that we must accept it. If we accept Christ, then God ADOPTS us into his Kingdom, and Jesus says in John 6 that he never loses one person whom the Father gives him. If Casey accepts God's offer of salvation, she is forgiven, and she is going to heaven.
We western thinkers have a problem with Casey Anthony receiving forgiveness, and ever being forgiven by God. We don't like the thought of her receiving redemption, because of our LEGAL thinking.
I did some tweets, and also an article on 10 ways of thinking that most often keep us from seeing and living New Testament gospel truth. These ten thought processes were what I called being (1) rational minded, (2) deductive minded, (3) material minded, (4) reactive minded, (5) dogmatic minded, (6) skeptical minded, (7) recognition minded, (8) legal minded, (9) critical minded, and (10) responsibility minded.
These 10 mindsets, or ways of thinking, actually keep us from seeing spiritual reality through gospel eyes - or the way God sees things. These are ways of seeing and observing things in this world, which is how we relate to God, ourselves and others, including Casey Anthony. A following article will delve into this issue a little more deeply, setting aside our western way of thinking.
ROGER HIMES, THE GOSPEL COACH: www.TheGospelCoach.com. Live life at least 50% in a year than you are today -- in the finished work of the cross. Legally, dying declarations are very important. The dying declaration of Jesus was, "It is finished!" The gospel empowers us to live life better by accident than we ever could on purpose. Follow tweets on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/TheGospelCoach. The gospel is living life in the power of God: in the revelation of who we are in Christ (Rom 1:16-17).
Article submitted Friday, September 02, 2011 & read 10 times.
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