No. If we truly love God, we will obey Him. And only truly believing and loving God will set you free.
1 John 2:3
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.
1 John 2:4-6
The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
All sins are equal in God's eye.
All Christians sin because they are not perfect.
So they're all not going to heaven?
They claim to know Jesus, but they sin anyway. So where is line, isn't purposely lying as bad as killing someone then? A lie slipping out wouldn't be as bad, because it's not intentional, right?
Every person on death row who has picked up a Bible and claimed to know Jesus after that is still not going to heaven?
People often ask why good people will still not go to Heaven or why doing our best is not good enough. Here's what I've found.
It is not enough to be good and help people, or even to do the best you can, because the best you can is not good enough. It is because even a little imperfection makes it impossible for us to live with God. And none of us is perfect. That's why the only way to get to Heaven is to accept Christ.
It's all summed up in John 14:6 "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
His blood cleanses us of our imperfections and makes it able for us to go to Heaven. Psalm 5:4 says, " You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell." (We being wicked. Romans 3:10 says, "As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one;"). We can see this because of the law... which includes the 10 commandments. (See Exodus 20). Did you know that if you look at someone with lust, you have broken one of the ten commandments by committing adultery in your heart? It is also possible to commit murder in your heart. Do you always keep the Sabbath? Have you ever, even once told a lie, stolen, or said God's name in vain? I know I have. That makes us sinners, and imperfect, and unworthy.
Hebrews 9:14 says, "How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!" (Showing that Christ's blood cleanses us.)
This is all to say: we siners can be cleaned and then accepted into Heaven. It is up to us, though. It is our choice, and ours alone. 2 Peter 2:9 says, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." God does not want anyone to die!
Following human rules will not help us, either. Colossians 2:20-23 says "Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence."
Under those same beliefs, it's a waste to spend most of your life doing your best.
You can go on a killing spree. As long as you see the err of your ways afterward and accept Christ into your heart, you're a good person. You go to heaven. Isn't that right?
No. You take everything and twist it around. That's not what is said at all.
It is simply thus:
Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Thus even people who have previously murdered will be saved if they truly repent and turn to Christ. But if you truly repent and turn to Christ, you will not continue to murder on purpose. You will try your best to do God's will. You will not always do His will, but you will try your best because you love Him and want to please Him. Were it not for the blood of Christ, though, we would not go to Heaven for we do all sin. Christ's blood has saved us and washed us clean of our sin. As we grow in Him we sin less and less because we are becoming more and more like Him. Will we ever stop sinning completely? Not on this earth. But we will naturally become better people because of our salvation.
Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
So, once you've repented and turned to Christ you will try your best and thus slowly improve. (Though beating someone up is an improvement over murdering. Still wouldn't want people doing that.) But before that it's still a free-for-all? I still don't get how "not always doing His will" as a devout Christian makes a difference between using His name in vain and blowing up a house. Couldn't sinning "less and less" just mean shooting people less often? Ok, so your simple statement isn't so simple for me. Someone who is very belligerent could be "trying their best" but still hurting people every day.
Gah! That seems so messed up to me to believe that hurtful people should be rewarded but kind people should be punished cuz they're not buddies with Jesus.
And the Romans quote, if it's eternal life with Jesus or simply death, does that mean there's no **** ?
When they say "death" they mean **** ...er...Hades.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Sorry if I'm not explaining this right. Let me try again.Gah! That seems so messed up to me to believe that hurtful people should be rewarded but kind people should be punished cuz they're not buddies with Jesus.
THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY INTO HEAVEN. John 14:6...that way is Jesus. That is because of Psalm 5:4...no evil can dwell with God. We're all evil. Even the best person in the world is just not good enough. No one...Christian or not...deserves to go to Heaven. But God loves us. He does not want anyone to die (2 Peter 2:9). So He sent His Son for everyone. It is up to them to choose the one way to Heaven. Many people blame God for not letting the "good" into Heaven while letting the "bad" in or for not just letting everyone in. There is no one who is good. (Romans 3:10). There is no one worthy of Heaven. Psalm 5:4 says You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell." It does not say God does not want the wicked to dwell with Him, but that the Holiness of God demands that all who stand before Him are perfect. We cannot be perfect. It is impossible for us to be perfect and have free will. So... God died for us.
It is like this: God does not stop us from going to Heaven...we stop ourselves. God has flung the gates open wide, but we will not let ourselves go in. We will not accept the gateway so we will not go in. This is not God's fault. It is our own. Anyone who does not go to Heaven makes the choice not to go to Heaven. Of course, they have a little help...Satan is constantly working to convince you not to believe in Jesus. Satan wants us to die (go to **** ...Hades). God wants us to live. There are only two options here, and we must choose between the two. It is ultimately OUR choice.
Becoming a Christian does not mean we stop sinning, just that our sins are washed clean. It does mean we try our best not to sin and to do God's will. We are to bear fruit. Good works do not lead to salvation; salvation leads to good works. Why don't good works lead to salvation? Because all of our good works are not good enough. Isaiah 64:6 says, "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away."
No one is being "punished" if they don't deserve it. We all deserve it. The "reward" you are talking about is what is undeserved...but it is a free gift given to all. Some people return the gift unopened. Is that the fault of the One who gives it? Of course not!
As my Study Bible says: why are we angry about there being only one way into Heaven? We should be grateful that this way is sure.
And how are we saved? Romans 10:9-10 says, "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."
I think what you've posted justifies but does not explain the problem I see. Someone who gets into fights and otherwise makes life miserable for those around them can truly believe all the God stuff and go to heaven. Someone who devotes their life to building houses for the homeless but is not Christian is going to hades. What you've said tells me that this is the Christian belief. You're saying that because there's anyway of anyone going to heaven I should see this arrangement as a good thing. You're saying the alternatives is now who choose God go to heaven, or no one goes to heaven. I still think it's messed up. I think both those alternatives **** . I think for the most part, people are different and have their reasons for doing many things. I don't think anyone deserves either fate, really. But I especially don't think someone who does mostly good should go to hades.
I think that a true Christian is not going to always go around starting fights like you said. Even if they did, though, they would still go to gHeaven if they accepted Jesus...truly accepted Jesus...and tried to do His will. That is because their sins are washed clean. And all those good works anyone does are the filthy rags before God. Anyone who does "mostly" good things must also be doing some bad things. This means they are not perfect, thus they cannot dwell with God.
The point is: we all deserve to go to Hades. You, me, Mother Teresa, etc. But God lovingly gave us eternal life. So...it's really all up to us. No one has a reason for not believing in God that is legitimate. Likely the think they have a reason or they think that reason is legitimate, but in all likelyhood it was put there by the devil. The devil lies. Satan is evil. He wants us to go to Hades. God wants us to go to Heaven. God's system is perfect and is not at all messed up. It is more than we deserve. It is good.
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 16, 2006 12:28 AM: Message edited by: Tra ]</font>
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