I'm kinda new on here but these guys are steering you in the right direction. Total separation from God is going to be as bad as it gets. But a personal relationship with Him is where it at!! Jesus said: "there is no way to the Father except by me"!
Romans 6: 23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord".
Romans 3: 23, "For ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God".
That means me and you, but all you have to do is ask!!!
This really may not mean a hill of beans but you guys on this forum don't know me yet so I just want to share a very short testimony with you and I'm not trying tohi-jack the thread.
My mom was a so called "hard shell Baptist". By this and some may already know what that is!! She was right down the line. It was either black or white no gray areas!! A tee-totler and hard as a rock. The Lord took her at age 45 and she told me within three weeks of her death! So, I may come off with some strong convictions and seem unyielding sometimes but thats the way it was for me growing up.
God bless all of you and may He bless these threads and we'll giveHim the glory!! Thanks for reading and my apologies for being off subject. Benny.
MGH pA, it's good that you and your finacee try to live good lives. The only way to heaven is through Christ as in accepting him as our savior and his sacrafice to pay for our sins. Accepting Christ as our savior doesn't give us a license or free pass to sin but it does mean that we will go to heaven. Many are posting good scriptures for you to read and consider. Welcome ot the forum.
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I've never been in this forum before, and was just reading around and noticed some things that concern me, mainly references that imply only a "select few" will enter heaven. My question to everyone here is this:
Let's say a person has good intentions for mankind (helps others, is kind to others, feels sorrow for those suffering, etc), but still sins (sometimes greed, sometimes lust, foul language, etc). This person would never harm another person, would never commit a crime, and overall lives a pretty good life (good is not used in this situation to indicate materialistic/monetary items)...not perfect, and not free of sin, but he/she is an overall good person (at least in my eyes), does this mean they will still not enter heaven? I was always under the impression that we must try not to sin, and must ask forgiveness when we fail, but what if a person sins, but still has good intentions for his/her fellow human beings?
I suppose in a nutshell, what I'm getting at is, from what I gathered from reading on here (citing scripture as well as personal opinions) that generally being a "good" person who believes in Jesus is not enough to get in heaven. What is everyone's take on this?
Jesus says that I am the way the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the father except but by me.
I know I have used this scripture reading a lot lateley but it says a lot.
"Beloved let us love one another; for love is of God; and everyone who loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested (made known) the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son to be the propitiation (the act of atonement) of our sins. (If we believe in Him and love as He has loved our sins our paid for) Beloved if God so loved us we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at anytime. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His (not ours) love is perfected in us. Hereby we know that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit. (notice the of) And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. (We all have the choice to accept His gift, He will not force one soul to take His gift of Salvation) Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in Him. (This is telling us that we should live on the fouldation of the love of God. It tells us that our purpose -maybe not the right word- is to love, to mirror His example. If we love God He is in us and we will confess the name of Jesus and we will love others. Love is best expressed by loving another.)
1John 4:7-16
I cannot say who will go to heaven and who will not. I am not God so I don't know what is in others hearts. Here is the best way I can explain it. I am married and have been for 7 years now. I made quite a few mistakes when we were first married. Despite my best efforts my female nature shown through and I thought my husband should be able to read my mind and know what I wanted or needed. My husband was wonderful and he wanted me to feel special and know that he loved me so he would do something and I was dissapointed because it wasn't what I was looking for. But his intention was what mattered. I can't honestly say it only happened once but I have grown and have learned that it is a certain part of the flesh that I need to keep under control.) I guess what I am saying is only God truelly knows what our intentions are. There are some that you can certainly tell have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them, but it's not at first glance that you see it, it becomes apparent as you get to know someone, which is why you hear the saying it is such a blessing and a joy to see the Holy Spirit working through you.
Somewhat. I am reading more scriptures (mostly from other's posts throughout the internet on similar subjects), and I'm compiling a slew of questions I want to ask our priest when we begin pre-marital counseling. Even though many of the answers are hinted at through biblical scripture, much of it seems to be so open to interpretation, it's frustrating. Basically, my whole life I felt I was a pretty good person (not without sin and flaws of course), but now I feel more miserable, because through readind scripture, although it's been enlightening, it seems that I'm really not that good of a person...which makes me wonder...how much of the world really is "good?"
but now I feel more miserable, because through readind scripture, although it's been enlightening, it seems that I'm really not that good of a person...which makes me wonder...how much of the world really is "good?"
Too deep?[8D]
Matt..
Beleive it or not that is a wonderful reply..that is the Word's job..to bring us to our knees and showing us our helplessness and need for Christ Jesus..you are certainly on the right track my friend. C7
The world isn't good, and no man is good.... Gods Word tells us that.
But even if we were " good " we would be nothing without the Love of our Savior, Jesus CHrist. For without Him we are nothing, and no one comes unto the Father but by Him.
His Words not mine....
So trust not in yourself nor any man, but only in Jesus, who is always good and faithful.
so theoretically u could get into heaven without being christian ever, you would just have to evade sin...your whole life, which in practice is impossible, because we are all born with "original sin" (sin passed on thru the generations since adam and eve) and to be christian means to be baptized, so in my interpretation, it is physically impossible to get to heaven without being christian... meaning it is, in my interpretation, more likely that that christian jerk will get into heaven b4 the all around good non christian...but how am i to know, He is the only one that knows who will make it and who wont, all we can do is speculate and read His Word...
You've had some good advice so far, but something occurred to me and I felt I should share it.
Take just the New Testament part of your bible and read what it says. You mentioned how you felt you were a good person and you tried to help folks when they needed it, tried to live a good life etc.
What I would suggest is to look specifically at the passages of the bible, mainly Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and focus solely on the the parts where Jesus was preaching and teaching.I don't think you'llbe surprised to find all the things you mentioned are things Jesus taught us were the things we should strive to do with our lives. Youare having doubts about how "good" the bible is, yet you seem to havealready made the choice, somewhere along the line, to try and do the things it teaches.
If that's the case, why discard the rest of it? Once you have really explored the Word, you will start to see deeper meanings in it.
GH
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RE: Here's a little question...
