Originally posted by: DAGTA
Originally posted by: ruffilb
Originally posted by: DAGTA
Originally posted by: ruffilb
Originally posted by: DaShen
Christian, and absolute belief in Jesus Christ as Your Personal Lord and Savior is. It is very clear in the Bible. Everything else is secondary.
Why ask this, when the answer is very clear in the Bible for Christians.
Because I'm not religious... I don't read the Bible any more than you read Taoist texts. (Sorry if you read Taoist texts, but you know what I mean)
Isn't Jesus/God supposed to be compassionate, though? Would he really be OK with damning someone to hell eternally even though the person in question was a very good person who did great things for humanity?
This is one of the main questions and main mis-understandings almost everyone that does not know about Christianity has. I had it before I understood Christianity.
Salvation is a gift. God does not want anyone to be separated from him. He offers salvation, through Jesus, as a way for every person to be close to God. Each person has only to accept the gift of salvation. Those that refuse the gift, and refuse to get to know God and Jesus, will get the same in return at death... Jesus will say, "I don't know you." That will lead to eternal separation from God, which is the description of Hell.
If I were to offer you the opportunity to have a friendship with me, and I continued trying to be your friend your entire life, but you spent your life ignoring me and/or being rude to me, would you really be surprised if, at the end of your life, I decided I wanted nothing to do with you? Of course, God is much more complex than me, so that's not a perfect analogy.
Would a more appropriate analogy be this?
Lets say I have a guy who wants to be my friend. I'm a busy man, busy helping people: feeding the homeless, tutoring disadvanted children, building wheelchairs for the handicapped. This guy that wants to be my friend keeps telling me to do good for humanity, but he also wants me to talk to him and learn his teachings, which I know tell me how to be a good person and help people. I believe that, since this dude wants to help people, and I want to help people, even though we don't talk and I don't go to his lectures, I still think he'd be cool with me... and at the end of my life, he might not know me, but in His wisdom, he'd know of my good works and be OK with me anyway.
Why is that not appropriate?
Because good deeds do not earn Salvation. That's just the way it is. God wants a personal relationship with you. I didn't design the system. If you have a complaint , you'll have to take it up with God directly.
As for time, no one is so busy that they don't have time for God. You don't have to go to church every Sunday, or even once, to have faith in God and receive salvation through Jesus. Church is a support group, not a mandatory activity.
To further the analogy, imagine a friend that is fully telepathic, never sleeps, and is available to talk to you 24/7. You can pray to God at anytime: when you're driving, when you're standing in line, when you're waiting for your doctor appt, when you're waiting for your car work to be done, etc. You don't have to speak audibly to pray. I pray silently in my head many times a day.
Faith does not require following strict rules and regulations. Jesus ended that covenant and made the new covenant (the New Testament contains this). The old Jewish way was full of many rules and regulations. God knows humans are too imperfect and weak to stick to those rules all of the time so he made the new covenant. All that is needed is faith in God and Jesus and acceptance of salvation through Jesus. It really is that simple. Once you have that, you will start to see changes in your life where you feel the desire to do good deeds, help others, and have a stronger desire to know God more.
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