In response to a question from a dear friend
asking if other religions go to Heaven.
When I heard that not all religions go to Heaven
I was angry and put off, I turned my back on God
I said He did not Exist.
But when I came to realize that He DOES Exist
then I had to accept all that the Bible says as HIS Word
His Truth.
Whether I like it or Not
Whether I agree with it or Not.
God does not Lie
His Truth is right there for us to read, in His Word, The Bible.
It is His World
We are His Creation.
And it is His Rules.
(doesn't that very statement make you want to rebel? oh our sinful hearts!)
He loves us and wants us to be with Him.
(so why do we hate Him?)
Forever
In Heaven.
And all we have to do is say YES
and accept him.
AND, if you accept God
And His Word, the Bible as the One and Only Truth
Then you have to accept that Satan is Real.
And that Satan is the Prince of this World
And that Satan seeks to Deceive us.
Even if it means posing as peace and love in other "religions"
and deceive us and lead us away from God.
Personally, I find it very hard to believe in Satan.
And Satan loves it that way!
He gets so much more accomplished if we do not believe in him!!
Satan tells us: "All Roads will lead to God, if you are a good person, you will go to Heaven"
It tells us so in the Bible:
Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way that seemed right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."
1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 Corinthians 11:13-14 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
But the Bible says only One Road leads to God
And you are called to be more than just a good person.
You are called to Follow Christ.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 3:3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Who will you believe?
Hmm...but for this to be the truth, God would have to be unfair - unfair to those people who haven't even heard of Christianity.
ReplyDeleteI don't know, but I believe He is fair. I have heard from one pastor that God is written into everyone's heart, everyone knows the difference between what is right and what is wrong, even if society tells them it is ok to do. And that a person who has never heard of Him will be judged accordingly.
DeleteSo I take that to mean, if you are in some tribe in the middle of the jungle and your tribe does infant sacrifices, you should know in your heart that something is wrong with that, and God will judge you based on if you listen to that, or do you participate in sacrificing a baby.
Hey, forgive me in advance if this is disorganized. I read your post and it kept me up, ruminating about things. Please take the time to read it all before responding. It takes less time to read it then I probably took to type (technically, text) it out.
ReplyDeleteFor one thing, there are many people who will not have the same experience and availability of religion. There are people in poor countries who will not be given the chance to learn about religions other than the ones they were born into. I do not believe those people will be condemned to Hell.
There are people who are in mental states that cause them to be unable to exactly identify these things. There are people with severe mental retardation (not saying that word in a degoratory way, but as a serious thing, look it up) and there are also people who may seem normal yet may be unable to be your idea of religiously pure due to not having an accurate grasp with reality (schizophrenia, psychosis, delusional disorders). I do not believe that these people are condemned to Hell.
One thing to keep in mind is that all religious books were written by humans in attempt to make meaning of life and spirituality. I believe in God. I believe in the devil. I do not think that someone could accurately have the knowledge of what God wants, but merely an estimate. You have to take into consideration the time that the Bible was written, how things were socially, and remember that things were typically unjust. There were religions before Christianity and Judaism. Everyone believes that their religion is right. I believe that God's judgement is more complicated, like a difficult math equation that only He can solve. Man tried to write out what he believes God wants. God's truth is found within science. Medicine is science. Psychology is science. This phone that I am using right now, is science that exists because of God's Creation.
Whoever goes wherever will be up to God. We can only guess what this means, but we shouldn't confidently claim to know the truth as things go into the abstract.
I believe God takes into consideration everything about a person before choosing where they go, and you can only promote the kindness of religion, but not wholeheartedly say that "if it's not how I see it, it's straight to Hell."
I hope that didn't come across as harsh. I have a lot on my mind right now, and yes, I believe in God but throughout my life seeing religion in black and white has caused me more problems, especially pertaining to those that come along with my high levels of anxiety (which I have had throughout my life). Once again, I apologize if that sounded rude or disorganized.
-Stacie/Ilovemypets8
Love your comment, it is so thought provoking and that is what I want my posts to do, make people think and hopefully help firm up their beliefs. Here are my lengthy thoughts on your points that are well made:
DeleteYou are right that there are many people who will not have the same experience and availability of religion. And Paul addressed this in Romans 1:19 and it is spoke of in Hebrews 8:11 where it says that God has inscribed His law into everyone’s hearts. What this means is that everyone in all places and times know Him, because they know right from wrong. If a person follows this moral code placed within us then they will be following God. Organized religion as we know it helps us to understand this on a deeper level, but for those who have absolutely no experience, they know rapes is wrong, infanticide is wrong, lying is wrong, etc. And if they repent of those wrongs and try to be God then on that day that they are judged, God will judge fairly and lovingly.
He doesn’t hold all of us up to the same expectations. Somewhere in the Bible it says it is worse if you know God (for example you are a preacher) and you don’t follow Him then if you don’t know God, but have always been kind and loving to others. I can simplify it to this, in school a person with Down’s syndrome, mental retardation, or severe autism should not be held to the same standard as the kid with the genius IQ.
And you said of these people who are not be given the chance to learn about religions other than the ones they were born into it is the same. If you were raised and only knew Buddhism then again God will judge fairly. I too do not believe those people will be condemned to Hell. I actually don’t believe in Hell, not in the way it is portrayed as a firey pit---but that is for another discussion.
So I think we agree on those points. And I agree that no one, not even the Pope can know God. Look at all the confusion in the time of Jesus. The devout jews “knew” the messiah would be a conquering hero---and they “knew” he would free them from oppression---but they thought it would be freedom from the oppression of the Romans---when instead He was freeing them (us) from the oppression of sin and death.
I really like the point you make about keeping in mind that the time that the Bible was written, how things were socially, (and culturally) and things were typically unjust. Bingo---you hit it on the nose. And this is why there are is so much confusion and twisted scriptures. If we view scriptures through modern, western lenses, we will get most of it wrong. I like to read from scholars who speak of what it was like historically and culturally and place scripture in that context. I find scripture deeper and more meaningful that way.
In terms of other religions----let’s look at Islam. They say Allah is God. And they say that Jesus is not God, nor is He the son of God. They dismiss the trinity. We can’t both be right. One of them has to be rejected. If you or I choose to follow Islam and reject Christ, we could be in big trouble. But if we were raised in Islam and only know Islam, then I think God will judge them on their actions. Did they blow up people, beat and rape their wives, rape boys, and commit “honor killings”? Then I think they will be judged unworthy of eternal life in Heaven with God. Did they practice their religion peacefully, loving and helping others. Then I believe they will be judged fairly---and invited into Heaven…..that’s my twist on this. I believe when that portal of space time rips open upon every human’s death, those non-believers who are evil will be denied entry into Heaven. Non-believers who behaved the best they could within their circumstances and their knowledge of Christ will be invited into the Kingdom. I think believers will be judged more harshly than non-believers based on our acceptance or rejection of God. If we are repentant in our hearts we will be embraced. If we are not, we will be turned away.