Somehow you and others think that we as Christians blindly follow. For my crowd, nothing could be further than the truth. We closley examine the beliefs that we have, and question them ourselves.
You're right, deciding who gets to go to Heaven and Hell is God's job, and not man's. However, judgement (not condemnation) upon the actions of others is a thing for men to do. The laws of God are written in the Bible. It should be pretty obvious that if you believe what the Bible has to say, then you should be able to detemine the rightness and wrongness of any action. It's Law, like anything else. Let's read what Jesus said about judgement: Matthew 7:1-2 1) Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2) For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. This is a discourse on being a hypocrit, not suggesting that we may not hold opinions on the rightousness of a person's actions. John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. Now Jesus says we should judge righteously and fair. None of us Christians limit salvation to a particular few (except maybe the Jevohah's Witnesses, who limit salvation to 144,000 people). Salvation is available to everybody, you just have to accept the salvation. Whether or not a child who has never heard of the word of Jesus will go to Hell is a matter for Jesus alone to debate. However, it's pretty certain that a person who intentionally refuses to follow will in fact burn. You can say that it's my judgement, but really, it's not. I can't send you to Hell. Going on the assumption that God is real, and that Jesus is real, and that what they say in the Bible is real, then my belief in the matter is irrelevant, and so is everybody's elses. It simply will happen as predicted. If none of this is real, then it won't matter, will it? People who call you a heretic probably have some basis for doing so. How is it that your personal 40 years of what I am sure is devoted study would override the collective thousands of years of wisdom obtain by thousands, if not millions, of people? > "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that > whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life" > does not have a coda that says "and everyone else will burn in hell" Here's why Jesus is the only way to Heaven: John 14:8 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. Now let me give you some Biblical perspective on the subject of Hell: Matthew 10:28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Rev. 21:8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." Yes, this says that the unbelieving will go to Hell. So you should look at the whole of the Bible rather than selectively choosing your phrases to suit your needs. If you don't think that the Bible is right, why quote it? - Matt ----- Original Message ----- From: "Maureen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "CF-Community" <cf-community@houseoffusion.com> Sent: Saturday, September 16, 2006 2:04 PM Subject: Re: My Convictions have a Price! >I think there is a world of difference between faith and blind belief. > We are asked to have faith, not follow blindly as sheep. I think that > those who would demand proof of God are looking for physical evidence > of a spiritual phenomenon. Those who would limit salvation to a > chosen few have never experienced the limitless love and mercy of the > Creator, but would reduce him instead to the pettiness of man. > > I also think deciding who goes to heaven and who goes to hell is God's > job and not that of any brand of religion, and that God in his wisdom > will weigh each heart, and not look at ethnicity or dogma, but at the > purity of the soul. > > The concept that a child of non-Christian background, who has never > heard of Jesus, would burn in hell because of the lack of a Christian > belief, is what caused me to sever my ties with organized Christianity > 40 years ago. The members of the governing body called me a heretic > for even suggesting that their teachings on this subject might be > wrong. I've been studying theology for most of those 40 years, and > they are still wrong. > > "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that > whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life" > does not have a coda that says "and everyone else will burn in hell" > > Rev. Maureen > > On 9/16/06, Chesty Puller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> And where are your thoughts on the matter, or did you just assume his >> doctrine was true? > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Introducing the Fusion Authority Quarterly Update. 80 pages of hard-hitting, up-to-date ColdFusion information by your peers, delivered to your door four times a year. http://www.fusionauthority.com/quarterly Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:215535 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
