What happens after death, Let's discuss Heaven and Hell!!! (believe, dogma, sin)

[spm62]

I also wanted to add my opinion about what I think happens when we die. Again, I used to believe we went to heaven(in a conscious state) the second we breathed our last. Now I believe that our spirit goes back to God who gave it but it is not in a conscious state. I believe it is akin to a sleep state or state of rest until we get our glorified bodies at Christ return.Many times in the bible death is referred to as a person sleeping. But I believe your next conscious thought will be Christ second coming and your resurrection. So it will be as if no time had elapsed at all. I will admit that I am still studying on this but it seems to be what I believe the most scripturally correct. I`m not absolutely dogmatic about it but either way,after I die,it will be as if no time had passed.

[ministers]

Once a person dies judgement is set. You will either die and go to Hell, or die and go to Heaven. There are no second chances once a person dies. For all of you who think that Hell is only temporary, you really need to study the Bible. Hell is forever, and so is Heaven.

[I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA]

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 "And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from Heaven. He will come with His mighty angles, in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don't know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from His glorious power".
The everlasting destruction that Paul describes is the lake of fire (Rev 20:14) the place of eternal separation from God. Those people who are separated from God in eternity no longer have any hope for salvation.

[Marks]

The believer goes into the very presence of Christ. The non-believer goes to hell.

[spm62]

Originally Posted by ministers

Once a person dies judgement is set. You will either die and go to Hell, or die and go to Heaven. There are no second chances once a person dies. For all of you who think that Hell is only temporary, you really need to study the Bible. Hell is forever, and so is Heaven.

It`s really not a matter of second chances. A lot of christians have this feeling that people are getting second chances.Almost as if they don`t want everyone to be saved. Do you believe that Jesus is the savior of all men? That is what my bible says. Perhaps you believe that satan will win out over God and drag the overwhelming majority of his creation to hell forever.My bible says Jesus will be victorious. Or maybe you believe God created humanity only to watch 99% of it be destroyed thus making satan victorious. I believe that God knows what he is doing and he is in control of his creation. I believe that God is more powerful than satan..maybe you believe satan is more powerful. Maybe you`r e stuck on the word eternal in the bible and don`t really understand what the original text says.Maybe you just go along with the traditions of men because that just happens to be what is taught from the money pulpits today. These are some of the reasons people want to believe that just about all of humanity will burn forever in a literal lake of fire. You were born with original sin passed down from Adam..you had nothing to do with it and you didn`t ask to be born. My bible says Jesus is the second Adam and likewise he does the saving not you,you have nothing to do with it. God will open all men`s eyes to his truth in his due time. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess. Why do you think the first Adam has more power than the second Adam? If what the first Adam did encompasses everyone with no effort on their part but what the second Adam (Jesus) did only helps a few and with some action on their part then you are admitting that the first is greater. My bible says no one is greater than God. No offense to you my friend but perhaps you are the one who should go back and study your bible with a greek concordance and ask God to reveal his love and truth to you and not be blinded by the doctrine of men. We need to stop trying to scare people away from God and help them understand God`s love,grace,and mercy. These doctrines get taught in seminary schools by men and then drilled into each generation. But you do not need formal training or teaching to understand God`s word. All you need is a tender heart and open mind to understand God`s word and he will reveal his truth to you. Please don`t be hard hearted and arrogant like the learned pharisees of Jesus`s day who thought only they had the truth. They had their formal training and their doctrines handed down but they were in the dark. Open your heart and let the light in! In love...

[ShanaBrown]

Hi I also wanted to share that since the early days of Christianity there have been many Christians who did not believe that hell was eternal.

, "In the first five or six centuries of Christianity there were six theological schools, of which four (Alexandria, Antioch, Caesarea, and Edessa, or Nisibis) were Universalist, one (Ephesus) accepted conditional immortality; one (Carthage or Rome) taught endless punishment of the wicked. Other theological schools are mentioned as founded by Universalists, but their actual doctrine on this subject is not known."



The number of schools in the early church that taught ultimate reconciliation is an embarrassment to many modern church historians. Therefore, they often do whatever they can to hide these facts. I mention again that these Christian Universalists who were clearly the majority of the early Church, believed that all mankind through Christ would be restored. They believed and taught and many laid down their lives for the belief that Jesus Christ was truly the Savior of the whole world

Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge/G. Amirault


I use to believe in eternal hell until I realized that God is agape love and that no purpose of His can be defeated. If someone remains in hell for all of eternity then God's intention and plan to reconcile all to Himself will have been defeated and I don't believe that satan is greater than God or that darkness is greater than light. God bless.

[Tricky D]

I still can't see why people bother themselves so much with a (possible) afterlife.
Is it not far better to try to make this world a paradise by helping the needy and unfortunate?
Take care of the now, instead of being worried about the future.

[kaykay]

I believe the Bible teaches that heaven and hell are eternal and that a person's spirit goes to immediately either to be with God or to hell immediately after death.

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by ministers

I believe one way a christian can share his or her faith is the discussion of what happens after we die.

One way, yes, but I think too many Christians put WAY too much focus on this. Read the Gospels and the epistles. The emphasis was seldom upon, "Repent or burn!" Salvation is now. Christ is now. It's so much more than simply a Holy Fire Insurance Policy.

[ministers]

Originally Posted by Mark S.

One way, yes, but I think too many Christians put WAY too much focus on this. Read the Gospels and the epistles. The emphasis was seldom upon, "Repent or burn!" Salvation is now. Christ is now. It's so much more than simply a Holy Fire Insurance Policy.

Heaven and Hell must be discussed it is an excellent way to witness. I want the world to know that tomorrow is not promised to any of us. Some people think because they are young they will live forever, not true. I want to tell the world about the love of Christ, and how he took all of our sins upon himself, and justified us. What we could not do, he did. I also want people to know that Heaven and Hell are real. You can not witness effectively without telling people the consequences of not getting saved. Our choices have consequences. If you kill someone you will have to pay the consequences of possibly spending life in prison, that's our idea of justice. It is the same with God. God sent his only begotten Son to be the Savior of the world, rejecting him will have it's consequences. An eternity spent in Hell. As Christians we need to spend more time focusing on the eternal and not this short, temporary earth.

"Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this city or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." (James 2:13-14)