Expert: Dr. Ronald E. Shultz - 11/27/2011

Question
Hi

I have a few questions I would like to ask in relation to what the Bible says about causing others to sin.

The passages I am reading from are:

Mark 9:42

“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.”

Matthew 18:6

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

Luke 17:2

“It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.”

1 Corinthians 10:32

"Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God"

Matthew 23:13

13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. [1

It's clear from these passages that it is possible for a person to cause others to sin (my interpretation of “stumble” or “stumbling would include causing others to sin, not believe in God or hurt others or themselves). The examples are people who comes from an abused background or people who are young in faith (whether born again or not).
My questions are:

1.   What happens to those that were being caused to sin? E.g. people who were brainwashed in cults because of their family background or because they do not understand the Bible.
2.   Do they go to heaven or not (if they were caused to stumble all their life)?

Thanks

kind regards

Ricky

Answer
Your interpretation is correct, Ricky. We need to consider a couple of things.  First, we are all sinners and are on our way to Hell from birth so there are no truly innocent people.  True, we believe that people incapable of understanding such as infants and mentally challenged people are covered by grace but the rest of us must come to acknowledge the truth and receive Christ as Savior.  

Secondly, we are all given a free will and we can still choose to sin or not despite the various circumstances.  We have nature to arouse our curiosity about God and it speaks to many of His attributes as Creator, His omnipotence, omniscience and such.  We all now have the Bible to study ourselves and it tells us to try the spirits to see if they jive with the Word so we are really without an excuse for not knowing the truth.

I am convinced that if more people read their Bible and sought God and not just rely on the teachings of man there would be more Christians and fewer denominations as many would leave their denomination or cult.  I understand that we are all born into something.  My wife and I were of two different denominations and yet I once believed that we might be offspring of aliens.   When I was a teenager I was in a field and said to God that if He would show me that He was real I would serve Him.  That happened a few years later.  I have heard many stories over the years where people from all over the world in various cultures, belief systems and such have done the same thing and God gave them light.  Some atheists have tried to disprove the Bible, the resurrection and such and became believers.  Despite being taught error or abused one can rise above and beyond.  

Those who did the abusing or false teaching will held accountable and will receive whatever God deems as just.  God knows the heart of people and if a person seeks light I believe he will be given light despite what they have been told. They do not get a pass because they were under false teachers.  There is only one way to Heaven and if they miss it they do not go to Heaven.  I believe that everyone gets the opportunity to believe many times throughout their lives no matter what their background.  Whether they will grasp the opportunity is up to them.  Judas had the most ideal situation you can imagine outside of being transported to the throne room of Heaven and yet he did not believe.  Others have been raised in satanic and other weird cults and have come to Christ while many in the pews and pulpits will go to Hell.

Now, if a person is saved they will go to Heaven albeit they will lose rewards here and at the Bema.  If the problem is severe enough they may even get to Heaven early.  It is the work of Christ that gets us their not our works but that is not a license to sin or abuse people.  He does know how to scourge His people if He needs to do that.  

Blessings to you as you continue to study and seek His will!!