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Rev 20:13 "The sea gave up the dead who were in it and death and hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged each on according to his works".
What a person does in this life determine WHERE he will go when he dies, but it does determine what it will be like when he gets there. The Bible does not elaborate on exactly how punishment in hell with differ from one person to the next. Neither does it outline which sins will incur a greater punishment. All we know is that Christ will take into account the type of life each person lived before He hands down the sentence. The fact that hell will not be same for everybody in no way implies that it will be a good place for anybody. People in hell will be separated from God FOREVER. I believe there will be good people in hell because Jesus believed it because of the price He paid to provide the way to escape it. Christ desire and love for us motivated Him to die for us.
There is only one way to gain Heaven (reward) and that is to accept God's only Son Yeshua as your savior, there is one way to Hell (punishment), and that is to reject Christ. All sins are equal in the eyes of God, except for sin against the Holy Spirit.
I'm asking this question because of a recent post I did and it got me to thinking about how God supposedly deals with sinners. In our justice system we have a punishment or sentence that is based on the crime that's been committed. A parking ticket gets a small fine, a drunk driver will get a much larger fine and possibly a little jail time, an armed robber will likely get a few years in prison and a murderer will possibly get a life sentence or even the death penalty in some cases. Ok, that all makes sense to me, the punishment fits the crime. However the Bible only describes two possible outcomes for my life, heaven or hell. As an atheist I've been told that I'll be getting a one way ticket to the lake of fire to suffer for eternity. My crime? I simply don't think that God exists. I'll be getting the exact punishment that Stalin and Hitler will get even though I've never hurt anyone in my life and I've tried to be a decent human being. Now we've all been told what a loving and merciful God we have and how he values each and every one of us and yet the Bible says I'll suffer more torment than the most depraved human being has ever inflicted on another human being. What kind of a God would do that and does this belief even make any sense?
My thinking is that if your have to go to hell does it really matter which part of it your in???? Aren't the "good areas" of it really bad anyway?
"Yes, this is the coolest part of the underworld."
"Oh sure, the location isn't the greatest right now. But I hear we're getting Howard Stern down here soon. Should up the surrounding property values TREMENDOUSLY!"
"Oh sure, the location isn't the greatest right now. But I hear we're getting Howard Stern down here soon. Should up the surrounding property values TREMENDOUSLY!"
"Yes and during the tri-millenial equinox, you can actually see the shadow of the path that you could have taken. PRICELESS!"
Somehow, I just don't think it will be quite like that....and for those reading...I'm not trying to make light of the topic...dncngrl just sounded like me...I am a Realtor. (Ps That's not a plug, that's just an explanation)
"Yes, this is the coolest part of the underworld."
Oh Alpha you are such a goof
but if you were interested I hear there are great Condos there
Oh but i see you already have representation in God so i guess you won't need that condo after all
Rev 20:13 "The sea gave up the dead who were in it and death and hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged each on according to his works".
What a person does in this life determine WHERE he will go when he dies, but it does determine what it will be like when he gets there. The Bible does not elaborate on exactly how punishment in hell with differ from one person to the next. Neither does it outline which sins will incur a greater punishment. All we know is that Christ will take into account the type of life each person lived before He hands down the sentence. The fact that hell will not be same for everybody in no way implies that it will be a good place for anybody. People in hell will be separated from God FOREVER. I believe there will be good people in hell because Jesus believed it because of the price He paid to provide the way to escape it. Christ desire and love for us motivated Him to die for us.
Doesn't get much clearer than that. Sin is sin and is punished. Christ accepted total resposibility for our sin on the condition that we permit that transferrence through our faith in his promise. There are suggestions as to how we demostrate that and guidlines as to how we should think and act to be in accord with God's intent for our lives, but the acceptance is the key factor in getting a not guilty verdict in the long run. The scripture mention is with respect to the degree of punishment/reward of our works, not of our sins. There is only one punishment for sin; death, and only one reward for acceptance; life. This means that without transferrence of sin via acceptance of Christ's sacrifice, the verdict is always death regardless of the insignificance of the level of sin.
I do not understand why this is so, nor do I expect anyone else to. I do not agree with the concept of many of our laws on the books, but I accept that I will be held accountable for them regardless of my opinion of them. I do not see how my feelings toward the rules of the universe decreed by the creator of that universe should be of any importance in the grand scheme of things.
I likewise am comfortable with the bible not being a perfect instruction book or indisputable authority for all things because it was delivered through imperfect messengers. Each of the authors of the manuscripts included in our bible was subject to their own understanding of God's message to them. By the very text of those documents, these men had personal problems and their own vested intrests in recording those messages. We compound that with our impersonal intrepretations of those manuscripts with our own perspectives. We say "he couldn't really mean what he wrote, he must have been trying to say this instead" and that becomes our written authority on what someone else wrote earlier. I understand that this is how seemingly conflicting scripture occurs and why people fight over the meaning of words and intentions. I can listen and read these things and decide for myself what seems to be the most in agreement and consistent across all the teachings and take that as the core of my belief.
Some like to point to a single scripture and state "This is how things are suposed to be", I would challenge them to be more holistic in their approach and look at all scriptures in their context and decide if any other scriptures affect that interpretation. Chances are they will. Then they need to decide if there is "a" correct way. The only directly attributable set of laws of behavior and description of sin given in the bible is very limited. Most of what we describe as sin comes from man's attempt to clarify those vague descriptions. Since those clarifications are always in the context of time and culture, how can we determine what degree of "acceptiblity" a sin should have? Are any of our moralities today consistent with what was moral 50 or 100 years ago? 100 years ago it was not uncommon for a 30 yr old man to marry and have children by a 13 yr old, or younger, girl. Today that is automatically a criminal act in almost any jurisdiction and is certainly considered immoral and thus very sinful. Our perceptions change and we demand that God's change in accordance. Why should that be? Should we demand that God accept our will, or should we be forced to accept God's will? If we accept God's will, can we insist that it remain constant so that we know what is a little sin and what is a really bad sin, or should we accept that God might change "his" mind about that and yesterday's little sin may become a really big deal next week. Give that some thought.
Our perceptions change and we demand that God's change in accordance. Why should that be? Should we demand that God accept our will, or should we be forced to accept God's will?
It's true that society's ideas of right and wrong are gradually changing but you really can't deny that there are certainly different categories of what we view as sin and there always have been because certain acts are just worse than others. Stealing a loaf of bread is always going to be a lesser offense than killing a child. My whole point is that the one punishment fits all sinners is obviously unjust. I would be put into the same category as Josef Stalin who probably killed more people than Hitler and spread fear and misery all over the Soviet Union for a very long time. My crime of not believing that God exists seems pretty tame in comparison to what Stalin did. If there really is a God who's will is to torture all sinners for eternity regardless of what kind of lives they led then the Bible needs to be rewritten and the parts about a loving and merciful God need to be removed.
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