Re: What do people believe when it comes to religion and or spirituality?
Whether or not we go to Heaven or Hell is determined by one single action: accepting Jesus Christ as lord and savior, and in doing so believing that he came in the flesh, as the son of God to offer forgiveness of sins. That is what I know. Is baptism necessary for repentance? I haven't figured that out yet. The bible seems to indicate it's important, and I certainly was baptized, but the criminal on the cross next to Jesus was not, and Jesus said that the man would be with him in paradise. That is beyond the scope of this post, however.
Just so we're clear. No good deed can earn you a place in heaven, whether you give a dollar to a hobo or donate your life's savings to an orphanage. No evil deed can lose you your place in heaven, whether you lie, kick puppies, kill jews or are in a homosexual relationship. Jesus is the only way, the truth and the life. Noone comes to the father except through him.
The old testament was given to us by God to show tha t man is evil through a divinely inspired recording of a series of historical events. After having eaten the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, man died to his own righteousness and became dead in sin. That is why God told Adam he would die if he ate of the fruit in the garden. We do not have God's righteousness to keep us from being evil. Therefore God spent thousands of years calling out to us, trying to get us to turn to him for help. Often times we would, only to spit in his face and say, now that you've put us on stable ground again, we don't need you. This has not ended today, as we can see by looking at the state of affairs in America, and in many other countries.
The new testament was given to us by God as a divinely inspired recording of his son walking the earth, teaching us how we should be living, making the old testament laws even harder, as if they weren't already impossible enough to follow. However, he then showed the ultimate act of m ercy by allowing his son to be killed by his creations, only to have him conquer death and create for us a singular, perfect path to heaven and freeing us from the bonds of the laws. As I said above, only one action is required to get on this path, an action so many are not willing to take, including myself up until about a year ago. The rest is simply guidelines for how we should be living and allowing God to change us. Even though to serve God is to serve your fellow man is not scripture, it is accurate, since that's basically what Jesus says when he tells us to love our neighbor as our self. Does this freedom give us license to do whatever we want in sin? No, Paul makes that perfectly clear. He calls into question your real, heartfelt acceptance of Jesus Christ's actions if you're still living in sin, hence his list of people he says will not inherit the kingdom of God. Same with James, when he says faith without works is dead, he's saying, do you really have faith if you're just going to sit around all day doing nothing, not serving the kingdom or helping your fellow man out? Neither are saying that any action other than walking through the narrow gate that Jesus opened is any other way to get to heaven. So to say that a follower of Christ dies having done all good, is simply inaccurate. Anyone who says they have never sinned is a liar. The laws are still important, as they are like guard rails, guidelines to keep us from falling into Satan's traps, but they are by no means how we get into heaven.
Both books are packed full of God's acts of mercy, and also the consequences for man's disobedience when we spit on them and tell God to stay out of our affairs. Nothing he can do to us on this earth compares to eternal punishment apart from him. Often times he uses consequences on this earth to try to get us to turn to him, because he sent his son, not to condemn the world, but so that all who believe in him would be saved. God is not an evil dictator, saying do this or be punished. He is a loving father who can tolerate no unrighteousness in his presence, being the most holy being all of existance. He gave us a free will choice to turn to him because he does not want mindless servants. He wants us to choose to love him, not to force us to love him or follow his laws. I have to respect IronCross32's post when he says, if what I'm doing lands me in Hell, so be it. Why anyone would make that choice, I have no idea, but it's far more honest than trying to build your own god.
Where do I get my evidence for all of this? Any number of places.
Http://www.carm.org
http://www.coldcasechristianity.com
Evidence demands a verdict by Josh McDowell
The Case for a Creator, The Case for Faith, and The Case for Christ, by Lee Strobel
God's not Dead, the movie
Just to
name a few.
As for why there are so many religions, it's very simple. Assuming that God really does exist and that the bible really is his inspired word, Satan must exist as well. Satan, being the god of this world and the god of this age, as God tells us himself, would create a veritable buffet of religions to choose from as the ultimate destraction tactic. And it's been working ever since Eve took that first bite of fruit.
What everyone needs to remember is that we are all sinners. Christians, or followers of Jesus Christ, the son of God, who died for our sins, are still sinners, but we are sinners saved by grace. You heard me right, we still sin. Again, anyone who says they do not is a liar. Even the apostle paul says in Romans that he finds himself sometimes doing the evil he does not want to do, and not doing the good that he wants to do. Any proclaimed Christian running around condemning homosexuals to hell, or anyone else for that matter, has a far larg er problem than the tongue lashing he will receive from the people around him.
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