Do Christians believe that by virtue of their Christianity they will be granted access to the kingdom of heaven? (Jehovah's Witnesses, hell)

[DontH8Me]

I have to ask this from those who post on this forum. I will preface this to say that my parents didn't take us to church because they were each raised in a different faith (both based in Christianity) and neither one practiced their faith formally, but they did speak to us regularly about God, Jesus, heaven, etc. Briefly, while living on the east coast as a child, my parents allowed our uncle to take us to an Apostolic Christian church regularly for about a year. The hypocracy of the followers I observed even as a mere 10 year old was astounding. I will not get into the details but would never accept the tenets of that faith. So basically, that is my religious groundwork.

My parents each told me things as a child that still stick with me today - my dad told me that God is good and that if I need something I should pray for it and it would be granted. So far in my life, I believe this has worked. (He's also very big on that camel and eye of the needle thing, as well as other notable bible stories.) My mother, who was raised Catholic and whose own mother (my grandmother) condemned all to h-e-double-hockey-sticks that didn't see things exactly as she did, told me that those who who did not love every single thing and person God created, that there was no room for them in heaven, because it is a place of love and that all who are there have pure hearts. Basically, that ruled out my over-the-top pious grandmother and any other Christians that judge or condemn others.

Lately I have observed that there are people who call themselves Christians but they are so obviously harboring resentment and hatred of others that I wonder if what my mom told me is true? Can someone still get automatic access to the pearly gates if they accept Christ as their savior, but still have contempt and hate in their hearts for any other?

Thanks in advance to all who can give me some insight on this. And please don't just tell me to "read the bible and figure it out for yourself" - I have tried several times to do just that, but I always got stuck at the part where they describe what color cloths have to be used for which side of the temple, etc. My favorite book is Matthew because it has the pearls to swine reference, and the part about proselytizing (which is why I don't get Jehovah's Witnesses, or do they use a different bible?).

[kaykay]

Well, in a nutshell, I believe that we are granted salvation based on our faith in Christ. "Not by works of righteousness but by our faith alone" as Ephesians states it. That said, I think we can walk away from a position of grace by knowingly refusing, (not just stumbling) to walk in the way we know Christ would have us walk. And then finally, I would say 1 John states that "if you hate your brother, how can the life of Christ be in you" so to speak. (My paraphrase because I don't have my Bible in front of me!) The take I get from that is that if you hate, actually hate your brother, you may have reason to doubt that you were ever saved in the first place. (And that, said, we are human and may just be in a place of anger right now. But if a person unrepentantly walks there, I think there may be a problem.)

This forum represents a lot of different views so I'm sure you'll get many different answers, but this is what I believe the Bible teaches.

[johnrex62]

Originally Posted by DontH8Me

Lately I have observed that there are people who call themselves Christians but they are so obviously harboring resentment and hatred of others that I wonder if what my mom told me is true? Can someone still get automatic access to the pearly gates if they accept Christ as their savior, but still have contempt and hate in their hearts for any other?

I cannot reconcile accepting Jesus as savior and harboring contempt and hatred in my heart. I see those two things as polar opposites and mutually exclusive. Anyone who claims to have accepted Jesus as savior and still demonstrates those characteristics are being self deceptive. A true acceptance of Jesus will result in a heart with no room for such feelings.

I won't tell you to go read your bible, and I won't push a lot of bible verses at you either. The upshot is that God is Judgement, discipline and vengence. Jesus is Love, forgiveness and compassion. The Holy Spirit is comfort, understanding and peace. Combined they provide a complete spritual cocoon for you to grow in. Without the unforgiving nature of God there can be no justice because as we can see in our own imperfect society, too much compassion is just as bad as too little. So God must be vengeful in order to deliver punishment to the unrepentant. Jesus provides the way to redemption of our sins through his sacrifice and thus buys our salvation with his own life. Since he has already died and been sent to damnation for our sins, we cannot be punished for them again. This, of course, requires a true acceptance. A token, "fake" expression of acceptance wont fool Jesus or God, only ourselves and those that want to believe it. Once that acceptance is made, God sends the Holy spirit to fill our souls with understanding and peace.

Before anyone jumps in to ask why there is dissention among christians if God has sent the Holy spirit to us with understanding, it is not an intellectual understanding of the mechanics of God, Jesus and Heaven. It is a self realization of our own faults, weaknesses, stregnths and potentials. It is a knowledge of our own inherent value and worth in God's eyes.

You know how some people can fall in love and first sight and remain together for a lifetime? Sometimes a parent knows when the child is not entirely truthful, even without evidence? It is a deep comprehension not easily explained but instantly recognized. The Holy spirit is like that. It has often been said about many things, but you will know it when you see it.

[Trebek]

I don't think most Christians harbor much "hatred" for non-christians (or those whom they percieve as non-christians). They just believe that 3/4ths of the world are going to hell because the bible says that. I don't thing the going to hell thing even appeared in the bible until the 300's in Constantinople.

[alicenevada]

No, I don't believe that. We are granted everlasting life based on God's mercy, not our Christianity.

[Pathwalker]

Not all who say "Lord, Lord" will be saved. Jesus said there would be some to whom He would say "Depart from me, you workers of sin - for I never knew you." So the general idea is that there will be people who claim to be Christians, but they really aren't in the true sense.

[DontH8Me]

Originally Posted by WCRob

Not all who say "Lord, Lord" will be saved. Jesus said there would be some to whom He would say "Depart from me, you workers of sin - for I never knew you." So the general idea is that there will be people who claim to be Christians, but they really aren't in the true sense.

Does this mean that the multitudes of people who never heard of Jesus as Lord until the Europeans came and conquered their land in the 1400s and beyond didn't get their salvation because they didn't know of Jesus as Lord? Are they workers of sin too, despite not having known of Christ? I guess what I am getting at is, as an example, the Incas, who would be described as pagan and new nothing of Jesus yet lived a very repectable and advanced way of life and worshipped their sun god Inti - are their souls roasting over some fire pit in hell because they didn't know any better?

[DontH8Me]

Originally Posted by alicenavada

No, I don't believe that. We are granted everlasting life based on God's mercy, not our Christianity.

That makes sense and it's to the point - I will remember that line whenever this subject comes up in social gatherings!

[Pathwalker]

Originally Posted by DontH8Me

Does this mean that the multitudes of people who never heard of Jesus as Lord until the Europeans came and conquered their land in the 1400s and beyond didn't get their salvation because they didn't know of Jesus as Lord? Are they workers of sin too, despite not having known of Christ? I guess what I am getting at is, as an example, the Incas, who would be described as pagan and new nothing of Jesus yet lived a very repectable and advanced way of life and worshipped their sun god Inti - are their souls roasting over some fire pit in hell because they didn't know any better?

I have no idea. I thought you were basically asking if all Christians were going to get into Heaven. I simply pointed out that the Bible would indicate that isn't so. I didn't know you were looking for answers about people who had never heard of Jesus. I don't know how to answer that question. I apologize for not being able to help you better.

[Trebek]

Originally Posted by DontH8Me

Does this mean that the multitudes of people who never heard of Jesus as Lord until the Europeans came and conquered their land in the 1400s and beyond didn't get their salvation because they didn't know of Jesus as Lord? Are they workers of sin too, despite not having known of Christ? I guess what I am getting at is, as an example, the Incas, who would be described as pagan and new nothing of Jesus yet lived a very repectable and advanced way of life and worshipped their sun god Inti - are their souls roasting over some fire pit in hell because they didn't know any better?

I brought that up yesterday concerning the Buddhist's that existed 600 years before Christianity. One poster thought they all went to the underground warm ghetto o' death.