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So my school had some events for homecoming, and while walking in the bar district, my friends and I came across a Unified Christian block party. We got some free food and were ambushed by a young fellow who wanted to talk about sinning and hell. I like hearing various views, and I ended up in conversation with him.
(For the record, I believe in God and I'm "officially" Christian, but I don't go to church, haven't been baptized, etc.)
I was quite disturbed by several things he said (mind you, he didn't seem like the extremist fundamentalist type either):
1.) All religions are NOT the path to God; if you don't embrace Jesus you will go to hell.
So good people like Buddhist monks are gonna burn?
2.) If you are a good person for all intensive purposes, and follow the commandants on your own accord, but you don't go to church and embrace Jesus, you will still go to hell.
I am a moral person (other than my wandering eye- hey I'm young ), but because I'm not devout, I'm gonna burn?
What....? I mean, he is entitled to his beliefs, but this bothered me.
(For the record, I believe in God and I'm "officially" Christian, but I don't go to church, haven't been baptized, etc.)
I was quite disturbed by several things he said (mind you, he didn't seem like the extremist fundamentalist type either):
1.) All religions are NOT the path to God; if you don't embrace Jesus you will go to hell.
So good people like Buddhist monks are gonna burn?
2.) If you are a good person for all intensive purposes, and follow the commandants on your own accord, but you don't go to church and embrace Jesus, you will still go to hell.
I am a moral person (other than my wandering eye- hey I'm young ), but because I'm not devout, I'm gonna burn?
What....? I mean, he is entitled to his beliefs, but this bothered me.
Can someone shed some more light about this?
I believe that you're honest with yourself in self-identifying as good moral person. People don't "burn" because they are not devout, at least not in Christianity.
Christians do not believe that all religions point to God. Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6
We believe that Buddhists that do not embrace Jesus as their Lord and Savior will, in fact, be condemned to the same fate as other sinners. No one of his/her own accord can ever earn his/her way into Heaven. As Christians, we believe we are only saved by the grace of Jesus Christ.
It has nothing to do with going to church.
It has everything to do with having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
And the hypocrisy of some individuals is astounding. This guy claimed to have been a rampant sinner, with lots of drugs, alcohol abuse, and casual sex. I haven't done any of that, out of my own will and morals, not because of the Bible. He has repented and found Jesus... however I am still viewed as sinner...?
Having a personal relationship with God is sufficient to cleanse a soul from a lifetime of debauchery and doing wrong? So then why not have your cake and eat it too. Sinning is far easier and more fun, so why not sin to your content and then change your ways and become a true Christian later in life?
I am a moral person (other than my wandering eye- hey I'm young ), but because I'm not devout, I'm gonna burn?
Like Jesus I do not judge a book by its cover. Nor will I say that stealing is always a sin.
So you could say that I do not believe that Robin Hood is evil or will go to hell. I see nothing wrong with stealing from the rich to give to the poor.
The law and justice are not always the same thing. Most of the time the law is used so things are only being done in an orderly fashion. Whenever there is injustice, I'm a firm believer of civil disobedience.
Originally Posted by jinxor
Quote:
It has everything to do with having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Like jinxor I believe that there is a distinct difference between having faith and being religious.
Having faith is more a personal attitude, while being religious is more the desire to be socially accepted (by the majority).
So my school had some events for homecoming, and while walking in the bar district, my friends and I came across a Unified Christian block party. We got some free food and were ambushed by a young fellow who wanted to talk about sinning and hell. I like hearing various views, and I ended up in conversation with him.
(For the record, I believe in God and I'm "officially" Christian, but I don't go to church, haven't been baptized, etc.)
I was quite disturbed by several things he said (mind you, he didn't seem like the extremist fundamentalist type either):
1.) All religions are NOT the path to God; if you don't embrace Jesus you will go to hell.
So good people like Buddhist monks are gonna burn?
2.) If you are a good person for all intensive purposes, and follow the commandants on your own accord, but you don't go to church and embrace Jesus, you will still go to hell.
I am a moral person (other than my wandering eye- hey I'm young ), but because I'm not devout, I'm gonna burn?
What....? I mean, he is entitled to his beliefs, but this bothered me.
Can someone shed some more light about this
Hi, my beliefs are that Jesus stated that He was the only way to the Father and that no one could come to the Father but through Him (John 14:6) He stated that He was the light of the world that that he who followed him would not walk in darkness, but would have the light of life (John 8:12) Paul states that God is declaring that all repent because God has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed (Jesus) (Acts 17:31) God bless.
I believe that you're honest with yourself in self-identifying as good moral person. People don't "burn" because they are not devout, at least not in Christianity.
Christians do not believe that all religions point to God. Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6
We believe that Buddhists that do not embrace Jesus as their Lord and Savior will, in fact, be condemned to the same fate as other sinners. No one of his/her own accord can ever earn his/her way into Heaven. As Christians, we believe we are only saved by the grace of Jesus Christ.
It has nothing to do with going to church.
It has everything to do with having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
I would agree with everything you said, jinxor. This is the essence of what Christianity teaches in a nutshell. The thing is this--- what Christianity teaches is that NOBODY and I mean NOBODY has lived totally without sin. That is the standard you would have to achieve to make heaven "on your own." For example, say 3 men decided to swim out to a small island. Let's say two of them only made it a half-mile out and then drowned and the third one made it two miles out but not all the way before he drowned. Well, obviously the third man did much better than the first two but he still didn't make it. He fell short. Trying to get to heaven by our own righteousness is kinda like that. We may not be murderers or rapists etc etc. so we may be more moral than some people, but still we sin and we fall short. But Christ shed His blood on the cross for all men. He took the punishment for all mankind's sin in order that a holy God can justly forgive them. God then attribute Christ's righteousness to us, not our own (or our lack of it.) This is called in the Bible being justified by our faith in Christ. They do have to decide they want to avail themselves of Him though. They have to choose Him to be their savior and Lord. Doesn't mean you won't sin after that, but you have made a decision to give your life to Christ and walk in His ways.
This is what is called by many Christians "being born again." After this intial decision, it's essentially a growth process. You will stumble and sin but you repent, ask forgiveness and keep on going. Does this make sense?
As for just living like you want and depending on a "deathbed" confession to save you, I would just say that's pretty risky. Also, it is God who grants the ability to repent and the Bible tells us that God is not mocked. He knows the heart.
And the hypocrisy of some individuals is astounding. This guy claimed to have been a rampant sinner, with lots of drugs, alcohol abuse, and casual sex. I haven't done any of that, out of my own will and morals, not because of the Bible. He has repented and found Jesus... however I am still viewed as sinner...?
Quote:
Having a personal relationship with God is sufficient to cleanse a soul from a lifetime of debauchery and doing wrong? So then why not have your cake and eat it too. Sinning is far easier and more fun, so why not sin to your content and then change your ways and become a true Christian later in life?
Sounds like cheating to me!
No it's more like taking a risk; since no one knows the time that they will die.
Originally Posted by NSX1990;1900743
And the hypocrisy of some individuals is astounding. This guy claimed to have been a rampant sinner, with lots of drugs, alcohol abuse, and casual sex. I haven't done any of that, out of my own will and morals, not because of the Bible. He has repented and found Jesus... however [B
I[/b] am still viewed as sinner...?
What you call hypocrisy, others would call grace, NSX1990. And that grace is freely given. The choice is ultimately yours.
They do have to decide they want to avail themselves of Him though. They have to choose Him to be their savior and Lord.
God said he chose us,we didn`t choose him. We are not smarter or wiser than our neighbor and choose to follow Christ. He opens up our spiritual eyes and draws us to himself. There is nothing we do or can do. Just like the Jewish nation are the people God chose to reveal himself through. He chose them, they did not choose him. God always does the choosing in his own time. I know this goes against the traditional doctrine of men,but we have no part in it whatsoever.He is the potter,we are the clay. Our human minds just cannot grasp the idea that we don`t somehow play a part in God`s salvation plan. No matter how small of a part we think we play,such as accepting God`s call,being wise enough to accept his gift, knowing something our neighbor doesn`t know about the bible,etc. God chose us through his grace and mercy,more the reason we should love and want to be with him. It would be like if those 3 people who drowned swimming to that island were drowning in a lake. Jesus is standing on the shore and reaching out to save the 3 but nobody takes his hand to be saved. Jesus in his infinite grace and mercy reaches out and grabs them and pulls them out eventhough they refused to take his hand. After they were pulled on shore and saw they were saved they were thankful, grateful,and humbled because they knew they rejected him and were not worthy. Oh,thank God for his mercy. Where would we be without it. Praise God.
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), but because I'm not devout, I'm gonna burn?
Whenever there is injustice, I'm a firm believer of civil disobedience.
Also, it is God who grants the ability to repent and the Bible tells us that God is not mocked. He knows the heart.
