This is truth
There have been some good discussion in this thread by many of us. Some questions may still exist and I will attempt to answer them as best I can. The following is all biblically based. I have attended Calvary Chapel Bible College in Costa Mesa where I formally studied the word of God. In addition I have been a student of the Bible on my own for the past nine years. Anyone who does not know the scripture verses that support what I have written can PM me and I will provide them. Keep in mind that I am not infallible, and nothing I have written should be taken as Gospel, only the Holy Bible can provide that. But what I have written is a good and accurate commentary of what I believe to be true regarding the gospel message. The only truly safe bet is to read the Bible for yourself, as I have done every day for the past nine years of my life. I recommend you start with the gospel of John.
**************************************************************
Do people go to hell simply because they do not believe in Jesus Christ? I do not believe that the Bible teaches that at all, in fact I believe it is an insult to God to teach such heresy. Let us first examine man from God’s perspective and find out why any one would go to hell.
Man is sinful. All have sinned. What is sin? Well to answer that we first must examine what is Holy. God is holy, that means he always acts in accordance with His divine nature. He is always just, always light and always love. There is no injustice with God, no darkness, and nothing evil. God’s standard for righteousness is Himself. In order to be considered righteous by God, man has to be exactly like God in all that man does, or in the example given to us 2000 years ago, exactly like Jesus. The Ten Commandments are summed up in two. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. God knows that unless we love Him with all our strength, we will never be able to love our neighbor perfectly. For God is love, and in order to be loving, we must know the source of love, God.
Not a single one of us has ever kept all of the Ten Commandments, and most of us, myself included have broken everyone of them either literally, or in his heart. The Lord Jesus said that if we are angry with our brother without a cause, we are in danger of the same judgment as murder, or if we look at a woman to lust, we have already committed adultery in our hearts. And who among us can say he has never lied, or fudged on his taxes even a little. Who can say he has never stolen anything, ever?
So my point is made. We have all broken the law of God, whether we believe in Him or not, whether we live in some remote village, or grew up in some family with no religion at all, we all fall short of God’s standard of righteousness. One of God’s attributes is justice, and God has said that the soul that sins must die. So we all will die, and be eternally separated from a holy God. Since God is holy, he can have no fellowship with the unholy. Though man was created in the image and likeness of God, man chose to disobey God and was separated from Him.
God has the right to set the standard, since He is the creator. Who are we to say to God, why did you make me like this? Can the creature really find fault with the creator who gave to him his very breath. The answer is no. When we chose to disobey God, our fate was sealed. We had a death sentence on our head. This fact alone should cause one to tremble before God in fear. The Bible says the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.
So no one destined for hell (a place created by God that has no light, only darkness, and no joy, only weeping and gnashing of teeth, because it is a place separated from God who is light) can say that God has sent them there because they simply chose the wrong religion or no religion at all. They are sent there because they have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And no one in hell right now will say that God is unfair. Every soul in hell knows they deserve to be there, for God is a just God, or He is no God at all.
But now the Good News. God is also a forgiving and very loving God. But He can not be a God of justice and simply forgive us just because His nature is forgiving and loving, that would contradict His nature as a God of justice who rightly judges sin. The Bible says that the penalty for sin, be it murder, or a white lie, is the same; eternal death and separation from God in a place called Hell. The Bible says that if we have broken one of God’s commandments, we have broken them all.
So God sent His one and only Son, Jesus the Christ. Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life in the flesh, was tempted in every way any man has ever been tempted, but Jesus never gave in, He never sinned. Instead, he healed the sick and lame, He raised the dead to life, he fed the hungry, and he associated with all men, but did not partake of the sins of any. He was not sent here to send anyone to Hell, but to live a perfect life, and to give us a perfect example of His Father in heaven.
When it came time for Him to lay down His life, He pleaded with His Father that this death would escape Him, the shame of the cross was before Him, the mockery that would follow Him to the grave and the insults, but most of all the separation from His Father in the hour of His death was before Him. A separation He had never known in all eternity! But Jesus was obedient even unto death. Why? Because you and I have sinned, and because He loved us and knew there was no other way.
Our sin must be judged, and after that we are eternally separated from God in a place called Hell for all eternity. There was no other way for mankind to stand before God and escape judgment, apart from that judgment falling on God’s one and only Son. If there was any other way, any other religion, any man that could truly live a sin free life, then God would not have sacrificed His own Son.
Now listen very carefully to what I am about to reveal. God’s love was demonstrated in that while we were still sinners, Christ took our sin upon Himself and died. The death that was meant for us, was upon Him who knew no sin. Three days later He rose from the dead, and He lives forever more. That is a true demonstration of God’s love, and the only demonstration we need. When people say how could a loving God allow this, or allow that (you fill in the blank), I look to the cross and see a loving God taking the sins of the world upon Himself, it is at the cross of Jesus Christ that my eyes see the God of love. The evil in this world is a demonstration of all that is apposed to God, not a demonstration of His lack of love. He promises to return, and make all things new, in that day the faithful will rejoice together, and every tear wiped from our eyes.
God took our sin and our punishment upon Himself so He remains a God of justice who rightly judges sin. No one can say to God he is unjust and allows murders, and thieves to go to heaven without judgment. He took the punishment of our sin upon Himself, and then said that whoever believes in this divine act of love will be forgiven. And this faith is a living faith, and only God knows if a man is truly repentful. God can judge if a man about to die is truly coming to a saving faith in his last hour of life, and if given another chance to live would live rightly and faithfully. But the Bible also warns us that every time we hear the Gospel message and reject it, our hearts get harder, and harder. The man who spends his entire life rejecting Christ (as apposed to the one who hears of Christ for the first time in His last hour of life), will more likely die in his sins, self righteous in his own eyes, and eternally separated from God. Prayer and fasting is a means available to the believer for the friend, or family member with a heart that has rejected Christ. Through prayer, God can soften a man's heart.
So the God I preach is a forgiving God, and this forgiveness is found through the death of His Son, and through no one else, and nothing else. There is no other way for man to escape eternal death, apart from a real and living faith in Christ. No religion, and no amount of good works can earn man his pardon. God has provided the only way, the only truth, and the only real life, and that life is found in faith in Jesus Christ alone. Christians like me make that way known. The choice to accept it is yours, as are the consequences for rejecting it. Rejecting the payment for your sins means you accept the consequences for them instead.
No one who has read this will be able to stand before God and claim he did not know. And those who never knew will simply be rightly judged for their sins. This is why Christ commanded those of us who believe in Him to go into all the world and preach the Gospel message; because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
Romans 10:14-15:
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
"How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!"
There have been some good discussion in this thread by many of us. Some questions may still exist and I will attempt to answer them as best I can. The following is all biblically based. I have attended Calvary Chapel Bible College in Costa Mesa where I formally studied the word of God. In addition I have been a student of the Bible on my own for the past nine years. Anyone who does not know the scripture verses that support what I have written can PM me and I will provide them. Keep in mind that I am not infallible, and nothing I have written should be taken as Gospel, only the Holy Bible can provide that. But what I have written is a good and accurate commentary of what I believe to be true regarding the gospel message. The only truly safe bet is to read the Bible for yourself, as I have done every day for the past nine years of my life. I recommend you start with the gospel of John.
**************************************************************
Do people go to hell simply because they do not believe in Jesus Christ? I do not believe that the Bible teaches that at all, in fact I believe it is an insult to God to teach such heresy. Let us first examine man from God’s perspective and find out why any one would go to hell.
Man is sinful. All have sinned. What is sin? Well to answer that we first must examine what is Holy. God is holy, that means he always acts in accordance with His divine nature. He is always just, always light and always love. There is no injustice with God, no darkness, and nothing evil. God’s standard for righteousness is Himself. In order to be considered righteous by God, man has to be exactly like God in all that man does, or in the example given to us 2000 years ago, exactly like Jesus. The Ten Commandments are summed up in two. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. God knows that unless we love Him with all our strength, we will never be able to love our neighbor perfectly. For God is love, and in order to be loving, we must know the source of love, God.
Not a single one of us has ever kept all of the Ten Commandments, and most of us, myself included have broken everyone of them either literally, or in his heart. The Lord Jesus said that if we are angry with our brother without a cause, we are in danger of the same judgment as murder, or if we look at a woman to lust, we have already committed adultery in our hearts. And who among us can say he has never lied, or fudged on his taxes even a little. Who can say he has never stolen anything, ever?
So my point is made. We have all broken the law of God, whether we believe in Him or not, whether we live in some remote village, or grew up in some family with no religion at all, we all fall short of God’s standard of righteousness. One of God’s attributes is justice, and God has said that the soul that sins must die. So we all will die, and be eternally separated from a holy God. Since God is holy, he can have no fellowship with the unholy. Though man was created in the image and likeness of God, man chose to disobey God and was separated from Him.
God has the right to set the standard, since He is the creator. Who are we to say to God, why did you make me like this? Can the creature really find fault with the creator who gave to him his very breath. The answer is no. When we chose to disobey God, our fate was sealed. We had a death sentence on our head. This fact alone should cause one to tremble before God in fear. The Bible says the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.
So no one destined for hell (a place created by God that has no light, only darkness, and no joy, only weeping and gnashing of teeth, because it is a place separated from God who is light) can say that God has sent them there because they simply chose the wrong religion or no religion at all. They are sent there because they have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And no one in hell right now will say that God is unfair. Every soul in hell knows they deserve to be there, for God is a just God, or He is no God at all.
But now the Good News. God is also a forgiving and very loving God. But He can not be a God of justice and simply forgive us just because His nature is forgiving and loving, that would contradict His nature as a God of justice who rightly judges sin. The Bible says that the penalty for sin, be it murder, or a white lie, is the same; eternal death and separation from God in a place called Hell. The Bible says that if we have broken one of God’s commandments, we have broken them all.
So God sent His one and only Son, Jesus the Christ. Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life in the flesh, was tempted in every way any man has ever been tempted, but Jesus never gave in, He never sinned. Instead, he healed the sick and lame, He raised the dead to life, he fed the hungry, and he associated with all men, but did not partake of the sins of any. He was not sent here to send anyone to Hell, but to live a perfect life, and to give us a perfect example of His Father in heaven.
When it came time for Him to lay down His life, He pleaded with His Father that this death would escape Him, the shame of the cross was before Him, the mockery that would follow Him to the grave and the insults, but most of all the separation from His Father in the hour of His death was before Him. A separation He had never known in all eternity! But Jesus was obedient even unto death. Why? Because you and I have sinned, and because He loved us and knew there was no other way.
Our sin must be judged, and after that we are eternally separated from God in a place called Hell for all eternity. There was no other way for mankind to stand before God and escape judgment, apart from that judgment falling on God’s one and only Son. If there was any other way, any other religion, any man that could truly live a sin free life, then God would not have sacrificed His own Son.
Now listen very carefully to what I am about to reveal. God’s love was demonstrated in that while we were still sinners, Christ took our sin upon Himself and died. The death that was meant for us, was upon Him who knew no sin. Three days later He rose from the dead, and He lives forever more. That is a true demonstration of God’s love, and the only demonstration we need. When people say how could a loving God allow this, or allow that (you fill in the blank), I look to the cross and see a loving God taking the sins of the world upon Himself, it is at the cross of Jesus Christ that my eyes see the God of love. The evil in this world is a demonstration of all that is apposed to God, not a demonstration of His lack of love. He promises to return, and make all things new, in that day the faithful will rejoice together, and every tear wiped from our eyes.
God took our sin and our punishment upon Himself so He remains a God of justice who rightly judges sin. No one can say to God he is unjust and allows murders, and thieves to go to heaven without judgment. He took the punishment of our sin upon Himself, and then said that whoever believes in this divine act of love will be forgiven. And this faith is a living faith, and only God knows if a man is truly repentful. God can judge if a man about to die is truly coming to a saving faith in his last hour of life, and if given another chance to live would live rightly and faithfully. But the Bible also warns us that every time we hear the Gospel message and reject it, our hearts get harder, and harder. The man who spends his entire life rejecting Christ (as apposed to the one who hears of Christ for the first time in His last hour of life), will more likely die in his sins, self righteous in his own eyes, and eternally separated from God. Prayer and fasting is a means available to the believer for the friend, or family member with a heart that has rejected Christ. Through prayer, God can soften a man's heart.
So the God I preach is a forgiving God, and this forgiveness is found through the death of His Son, and through no one else, and nothing else. There is no other way for man to escape eternal death, apart from a real and living faith in Christ. No religion, and no amount of good works can earn man his pardon. God has provided the only way, the only truth, and the only real life, and that life is found in faith in Jesus Christ alone. Christians like me make that way known. The choice to accept it is yours, as are the consequences for rejecting it. Rejecting the payment for your sins means you accept the consequences for them instead.
No one who has read this will be able to stand before God and claim he did not know. And those who never knew will simply be rightly judged for their sins. This is why Christ commanded those of us who believe in Him to go into all the world and preach the Gospel message; because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
Romans 10:14-15:
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
"How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!"
iratefla:
