Explain Like I'm Five

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ELI5: If you're a Christian, why do you have to be good if Jesus will forgive you no matter what? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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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.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I am no longer a Christian, I came from a super fundamentalist bent of Christianity. The idea of choosing to not sin even if you know your sins are forgiven has to do with love.

"For God so loved the world he gave his only son for our sins" etc

So the pastor tells us that we know we are a real Christian who is really saved by our "good fruits", that is, the good things we choose to do and the bad things we choose not to do. So by choosing not to sin, you're proving to yourself that God is real and that God really saved you, because, as everyone knows, it's impossible to be for even a moment anything but absolutely selfish without God's help.

Most Christians aren't that Calvinist though. That was the church I grew up in.