I think sin is way beyond a simple stain on the soul.
It has corrupted us and creation to our core. It is part of our very nature and it kills and while the blood/death of Jesus allows God to judicially pardon us and then relate to us, or treat us, as if we had never sinned, we are not free from the sin until we die.
Those forgiven have been given a new spiritual nature that is sin free and both natures now indwell the body we inhabit, When we die, the old nature is gone and the new sinless nature remains, fir to be in God’s presence immediately. However, for those not forgiven by God, they carry their sin forever.
And while we live here, they are at war within us. (Romans 7)
All creation groans longing to be released from its bondage to sin.
I am out of town for the weekend and do not have access to all my files or I would post the verses. It’s in Romans 8.
I’ve read that, just as He wishes us to rest in His Sacred Heart, He wishes to rest in our hearts, and that at any time and in any situation or circumstance, He is “softly knocking on our door”, that we may let him in.
I’ve read that since His death on the cross, for Him to hug, He now uses our arms to hug, and that in our opening the door to Him and in our dying to our selves, we can become the instruments of His Peace.
When we open the door to Him and let Him use us as an instrument of His Peace, it is as though we become the lens through which His Love and His Light shines.
In this, I tend to think that our sins, our attachments to this world and our egos are the impurities that filter or block His Light and limit or even prevent us from being the instruments of His Peace, from being the arms He uses to hug and love our neighbors that we were made to be.
To this end, whether in good times, bad times or quiet times of rest, He has many tools with which He will purify our hearts and help us to become clear lenses through which He may shine, IF we open all of the doors to all areas of our hearts to Him. He is the ultimate teacher who even uses the tricks of Satan to purify our hearts.
This is true for everyone, whether believer or not. He’s always there in spirit for everyone in this life to answer the door and do His Will, to be His Arms to hug or do whatever the moment requires.
So, with regard to hell, I do wonder what happens to both the good-hearted who followed the dictates of their hearts, yet died without an understanding of Jesus that Christians have, just as I also wonder what happens to Christian believers who know the Word, yet fail to follow it or live the beliefs they claim for themselves.
My heart and I are glad judging souls isn’t my job and my heart breaks for the One who has to do it.
It’s kinda funny how, even though I don’t know what it is, to me hell is a scary place/concept/destiny, and just as real as real can be.