God never condones our sins, nor does He overlook them or forget them, unless you are in Christ Jesus. When, and if, those is the world ever give pause to contemplate the eternal, they believe He will though, they have, after all been good people, they have committed no blatant sin meant specifically to dishonor the Almighty, only those that the average natural man commits each day, and those they believe are expected by the Lord. In their minds they are not truly sins, but the simple mistakes that all men make, and as such are not seen as acts of rebellion, as dishonoring to Him, their idea of holiness is not the Holiness of God.
“Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5) And past that time of what can best be called “The age of grace,” when we become individualized, cognitive-based humans who have determined who we will serve, no excuse becomes viable, for at that age we make the decision as to whom we will serve. “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17)
Disobedience is sin in the eyes of the Lord, this is quite clearly seen in the account of the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve made their decision that what they wanted was more valuable to them than what God had commanded. It was not the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that brought sin into their lives, it was the act of disobedience against the Lord’s commandment.
Here is the difference between that moment of sin and that of Satan’s fall, Adam chose to disobey, Satan found pride within himself. This is why the angels desire to look into this thing called grace, (1 Peter 1:12) for it was not offered to their brothers. Grace is not offered to mankind because we are beneath, or lower than the angels, for these same angels are ministers of righteousness to us, (Heb. 1:14) it is offered because with disobedience comes the opportunity to repent and be cleansed of those sins, but only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice for all men. “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” (Heb. 9:22)
The pride that Satan exhibited was not disobedience to the will of God at its base, but an open shame, for he stated in his heart, so to speak, that God was not necessary for his continued existence, that the Lord had no control over his own desires. “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:20) So the Lord has made the invisible things of Himself clearly visible, (Romans 1:20) and He has put eternity into the heart of every man ever born. (Eccl. 3:11) The law, even after the complete knowledge of it, even after adhering to every letter of it cannot save a man from those sins, if it could, there would be no need for grace. “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” (Gal. 3:6)
It is grace that saves a man through faith, (Eph. 2:8) there is no other way, and since all men are born in sin, that grace because of the love of God for all mankind (John 3:16) is offered to all men. Because mankind has been given free will, he is responsible for his actions here in regards to what the Lord has commanded men to be, the breaking of even one of those commandments is grounds for punishment, yet that punishment is stayed for many until the day of their death.
Evil men will rule, Satan is unhindered in many ways, though not all, but God is in control, always. The way out of hell does not exist, the only way to escape it does, through Jesus Christ. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
