Posted on 12/16/2009 7:16:21 PM PST by Silly
Rather, I am comforted by the following:
Salvation-
John 3:5
Titus 3:5
Eph 4:23
I Cor 9:27 & 10:12
Hebrews 10:26
Philippians 2:12
2 Cor 5:10
Rom 2:6, 5:12, 8:24, 11:22
Col 2:23
2 Macabees 12:44-46 (not in KJV)
Penance-
Luke 3:8, 13:3, 24:47
Acts 2:38, 3:19, 8:21-22, 17:30
2 Cor 7:10
Matt 3:8
Ps 6:7
Jer 7:3
Confession-
John 20:23
Matt 16:19 & 18:18
2 Cor 5:18-20
Have you read enough of it to have a point? It is described several ways. A place where you are separated from God, a place of torment, a place where the worm dieth not, a deep fiery pit.
The Bibles point (on hell) is that you don’t want to go there.
Sophomoric reply. Fear is to respect, to know that someone is more powerful. Should you ‘fear’ your Creator, I would say a resounding ‘Yes!’. He is loving, and also just. It is just that should you fall short, that you not spend eternity with Him.
Yet you say that needing to have ‘fear and trembling’ makes God sound like his opposite number?
That opposite number requires nothing from you at all, except that you ignore God, refuse His Son. Is that you? I pray not. That opposite number HATES you, wishes you to die, not only here, but for eternity. He requires no ‘fear’ from you at all.
Accept Christ and work out your salvation wiith fear and trembling. He desires to lose not one.
God WILL keep after you, but He also says that eventually He will let your heart harden and turn you over to a reprobate mind. That’s why it is so important to listen, to have the ears to hear, when He knocks on your heart.
That is the time to let Him in! Even a parent will eventually write off a prodigal. Allow the child to reap ALL that he has sown. Consider it a learning experience. Maybe that is what it takes, a broken, bottomed-out life, where there is no where else to look but up, to God and His Son, and ask for help and forgiveness.
Yes, God will let you run and eventually ruin your life. Be thankful for that.
Amen presently. He has so many lies that are twisted around things that would be nice to believe, lies twisted around what we want, and just twisted lies.
Prayer is a great weapon. Jesus used it during His 40 days in the wilderness.
As a fun aside, we should bear witness of Christ to others. Not only do I use prayer during temptations, but since those temptations are from satan, I will also withness to him. “Let me tell you of my Saviour!” I enjoy the visuals I get of him leaving mad.
Morals have naught to do with it, that is the point. It is only through the sacrifice, the Perfect Sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God, that Salvation can be received.
Live a good life, it is for naught for eternity.
With Christ, there is no slip up, Salvation is given, not removed. Having said that, it is not a green light to live as you would. A Saved person, born again in Christ, will WANT to live as it is written in the Bible.
“Slip-ups” happen, repentence happens, forgiveness asked and given. No loss of Salvation.
It is ONLY through the refusal of belief in Gods Son, who died to remove your sins, that you will be granted the access you deserve to hell.
Since we are missing the point of all of Scripture, why don't you humor us and explain what it is we are missing?
But He won't force you. It's gotta be your decision--not His.
Once your life ends, that's it. The time for decisions is over. The time for sentencing begins.
Fear is a word. A word that can have many uses, meanings, depending upon context and intent. Fear is the English word used. Go back to the Greek or Hebrew, which can be very rich in meanings, compared to our poorer language.
LOL at your analysis.
It’s a place and it is real.
Absolutely. The Bible is 100% accurate and cannot be questioned. Simple logic leads one to that conclusion. Anyone who thinks that the Bible is NOT 100% accurate isn't using logic.
Hell is where those who stand by man's logic, instead of the Bible's (and God's) logic go.
Thank you for the exchange.
What I ALWAYS find amusing is that when it comes to HEAVEN, well that is a REAL PLACE. But misleading clergy and others will do their dammest, to have you believe that ONLY HELL is a “state of mind”. LOL!
BOTH are real places!
You either go to hell or you go to heaven.
When you exhale your last breathe, your destination is determined. No one on earth can change that after you are dead. To be absent from th ebody is to be PRESENT with the Lord and the converse is true as well if you are an unbeliever. The assumption for this verse below is that you are a believer:
2Cor.5:8
[8] We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
There is nothing in between.
My whole point is, how could you reject God if you actually met him in person. You couldn’t. That is my point.
I understand we are called upon to embrace God by our faith. Doubting Thomas was lesser because he could only embrace Christ after experiencing him first hand in person, and not on faith. And I understand how crucial it is we have faith.
But I am not prepared to believe that hell is for people who reject Christ out of hand from pure ignorance. And most are in that category. There isn’t a single person on this earth who would not embrace Christ with violent vigor if they met him in person. It would be impossible to do otherwise after feeling his love in person. Adolph Hitler would be actively saving Jewish People after he met Christ.
You can’t reject chocolate you have never eaten, because you don’t know how good it is.
That is my point. You can’t truly reject Christ from ignorance, because you have no 1st hand experience to do so.
I am not asking others to believe what I believe. All I am saying is, NOBODY would reject Christ if they met him. It would be flat impossible. People who reject Christ do so from complete and utter ignorance. And it is inconceivable to me that God could do such a thing.
I understand that my beliefs are not in accord with my Catholic religion and teaching whereby you must acccept Christ as your Savior by your faith and you have free will to reject him, and condemn yourself to hell. This is what the article says and what all of you also believe. I am saying I find it hard to believe. As my parents would never let me make a grievous error born our of supreme ignorance, I find it hard to believe that God would even be capable of such a thing.
This is my enigma.
Judas Iscariot did.
Pharisees did
The rich young ruler did
Romans did
While I (think I) understand your argument, I also do not believe it holds much water as there are plenty of examples of the exact opposite.
Lucifer was 2nd in command and he rejected God the Father. He was actually in the courts, and Lucifer rejected God.
In terms of what happens to people who have never heard of Christ, or of God, I honestly do not know. However, I also know that (luckily for me) that decision is not up to me. It's up to God. He will make the correct decision with regard to them.
Since I have heard of Christ, and of God, I do believe that I will be judged by Him based on what I do know. It is not my place to judge God, but His to judge me.
You are probably correct, yet, when told of the Gospel, many people will refuse it. There is no ignorance there, but willful refusal.
Missionary work is important for that reason, spreading the Gospel. Radio, TV, the interwebz are important. It is my own humble belief that, at the core you are right, BUT, when all present on the planet have had the opportunity to hear of Jesus and decide, He will come again.
Oh, that all would realize their need for a Saviour when presented with the Gospel for the first time. Would that that had been true of me. It was not.
We are not priviledged to see the Lord, as the 12 Disciples did (not yet anyway). But we are to believe, try to live and behave as He would, so others may perhaps catch just a poor glimpse of Him through us. We should, to all extent and purpose BE that ‘First Hand Experience’, telling of His Love and our need for Salvation.
You need have no enigma if you understand that without Jesus, there is no Salvation, we are ALL sinners, bound for Hell. The Law given to live by offers Condemnation for any lapse. Break one, just once, you have broken them all. Knowingly tell a lie as a young person, you’ve sinned. And you could offer sacrifice, whereby the death of a ‘perfect’, ‘innocent’ lamb or goat-kid could be killed to cover your sin. Not erase it, but cover.
God knew we would need to have a way to Salvation, and sent His Son. Jesus came to earth, took on fleash, lived as a man, endured temptations, hunger, pain, ridicule, offenses to his person, and ultimately was crucified and died on the cross at Calvary. Through it all, He never sinned, He was the Perfect Sacrifice God demanded to erase our sins and allow us to come to Him.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth would not perish but have everlasting life.
Imagine loving people that have no love for you at all, and loving them so much that you allow your own son to die at their hands so that they may live. Astonishing!! Perhaps that explains that, should you choose to turn awy from Jesus and His sacrifice, that Heaven will not be part of your eternal itinerary.
What are the thoughts of the posters here regarding “Conditionalism?” I understand the doctrine to teach, in part, that the damned will be punished for a period warranted by the seriousness of their sins then annihilated. This doctrine seems to satisfy both justice and mercy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.