Many individuals have false beliefs surrounding hell. Despite the teachings of false teachers and beliefs across the world, a person cannot go to hell because of their actions. A person only goes to hell if they fail to accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord.
Even though no sinful behavior, including swearing, can send us to hell, we should want to do the right thing because we know Jesus.
Swearing and Cursing
Similar to many individuals, I grew up with the idea that I would go to hell if I swore. Since I grew up in the South, any type of swearing was frowned upon.
Sadly for myself, I picked up on many curse words as a child because of my dad’s habit of swearing when he was upset. With this type of thinking as a child, I firmly believed I would go to hell if I cursed, and I thought my dad was without hope.
As a child, you can imagine how scary this would have been. Whenever someone would curse in our house, my mom would put a bar of soap in their mouth, and she threatened to send any of our friends bars of soap if their swearing had rubbed off on us.
The roots of the idea that a person could go to hell if they swear is not fully known, yet it is not biblical. Nowhere in the Bible are we told that we will go to hell if we say a curse word. The only thing that will send us to hell is if we don’t accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord.
Jesus tells us directly, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16-17).
Therefore, if a person places faith in Christ, they are given forgiveness of sins, salvation, and eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
There is nothing we can do to “earn” our salvation because salvation is not based on works. The Apostle Paul tells us, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
In the same way, nothing we can do could make us lose our salvation. Once a person is saved, they are eternally saved, and they can never lose their salvation. In other words, there’s nothing we can do to earn salvation, and there’s nothing we can do to lose salvation.
With this correct view of salvation, we can be assured of the truth that a person will not go to hell if they swear. Similar to other sinful behaviors, if we do them, we will not go to hell.
This doesn’t mean we have a free license to sin because we should naturally want to do good things for Christ after we become a believer.
An Eternal Mindset
At the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside us, and He will never leave us. Since the Holy Spirit is inside us, He will help us to develop the fruits of the Spirit, and He will also help us to grow more into Jesus’ image (Galatians 5:22-23).
Swearing is a sin, but it will not send us to hell. Colossians 3:8 tells us, “But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.”
In the same way, Ephesians 5:4 says, “Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.”
Swearing is not a good habit to pick up, even though it is very common in the modern day. Jesus tells us that we will have to give an account for every careless word we have said (Matthew 12:36-37).
The Lord’s half-brother also tells us, “Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless” (James 1:26).
As James tells us in this passage of Scripture, we need to keep a tight rein on our tongue and exercise self-control.
It can be extremely tempting to use profanity when we are upset, yet we must have the Holy Spirit’s help to keep our tongues from sinning against the Lord. Every time we curse, swear, and use profanity, we hurt God because all sin ultimately hurts God.
Even though swearing will not cause us to go to hell, we should intentionally try not to swear. It can be hard at times, but if we’ve already picked up the habit of swearing, we can take steps to break this bad habit.
We can break the bad habit of swearing by praying to God for help, following the Holy Spirit’s direction, and doing our best to practice self-control.
The Lord can help us if we ask Him for help and listen to His instructions as told to us in the Bible. God knows what is best for us, so it is best to listen to His instruction in His Word.
Since God knows swearing is not good, we need to listen to Him. In everything we do, we need to follow Jesus’ example. The Lord never cursed, and neither should we.
Cursing, swearing, and profanity do not lead to the life God desires for us. He wants us to live godly lives that shine brightly for Him.
The Lord tells us, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). We cannot shine brightly for Christ if we are swearing.
Thus, we will not go to hell if we swear because salvation is not based on behaviors. Rather, a person’s eternal destination is based on whether or not they placed faith in Christ as their Savior and Lord. Simply because a person swears does not mean they are going to hell.
Many individuals judge others for swearing or questioning their salvation, but we must not do this. Jesus tells us plainly not to judge others (Matthew 7:1). God is the only Judge, and we should leave all judgment to Him (Isaiah 33:22).
We should all strive to practice self-control and abstain from swearing, yet our salvation is never in jeopardy. Swearing is a hard sin to overcome, yet it is completely possible to overcome it with God’s help.
What Does This Mean?
During difficult times, such as extreme anger or frustration, it can be extremely hard to refrain from saying a swear word but try to remember at these times the sacrifice Jesus paid for our sins.
While it is impossible to never sin again, we should strive to do our best to refrain from sinning against the Lord, including abstaining from swearing. Going to hell is not based on our actions, behaviors, or our good deeds versus our bad deeds.
Rather, the only people who go to hell are those who fail to accept Jesus as their Savior. If you have accepted Christ as your Savior and Lord, you will go to heaven. We will all sin until we are with Christ, yet we should do our best to glorify God in our actions.
For further reading:
Did Jesus Fight Satan for the Keys to Death and Hell?
How Should Christians View Cursing?
What Are the Seven Deadly Sins?
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