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I'm not talking about youth that die and go straight to Hell,if you believe in that sort of thing , but about the children/teens/young adults that either say they are a christian because it is the least controversial religion to claim in this country but live a very "un-christlike" lifestyle (partying, fighting, orgies, listening to death-metal music or other anti-christian bands) or about the children/teens/young adults that claim their religion is something along the lines of wiccan, paganism, satanism etc.
The examples I gave above are, for the most part related to youth.
How many 60-70 year old people listen to death-metal or other genres of music which is performed mostly by anti-christian bands?
How many 70 year old satanists are there?
If these youth were to die today would they be judged for Hell or would God realize that they would most likely have grown out of the anti-christian behavior and accepted into Heaven?
If they die at the ripe old age of 100, would they be accountable for their "un-christlike" behavior as youth, which they've grown out of (but may not have repented of) or would God look at who they have become once they matured and judge them based on that?
I don't have any scripture to back this up, but I recall a concept "the age of reason" whereby youths become responsible for their faith or lack there of.
I do know that Jesus clearly said "I am the way, the truth, and the life, NO one comes to the Father except through me". So with this statement, I would imagine if a youth was worshiping the devil, and hence rejecting Christ, than Jesus would reject the youth.
But from a doctrinal view, our faith in God (and in Jesus, for those who have been presented with the Gospel) is what saves us. Abraham's faith saved him. David's faith saved him. Both of them never heard the name of Jesus, yet they were saved (from eternal torment).
So what about the "guilty" (not innocent) native in the jungle, who has never heard the name of Jesus or the Gospel message? This person can be saved if they themselves have a saving faith, like Abraham or David. (you may ask, but what about the innocent native in the jungle...well... there is no innocent native or for that matter, anyone who is innocent... except Jesus himself, yet he took our punishment on our behalf, if we are willing to accept this gift.)
Now the real question is... how does one come to have this saving faith?
Do we on our own decide for ourselves to believe and have faith in God and Jesus? or is our faith a gift from God? whereby God himself chooses to give us this faith and allow us to be saved? This is another big argument in itself...
I don't know,but just b/c older ppl don't do these things does not mean they will make it to heaven.My late mil didn't do them,but her comments were that she thought God/religion was a bunch of bs...I don't have to guess that she won't end up in heaven.
There is no pardon for a person who dies in unbelief.
Continual rejection of the Holy Spirit’s promptings to trust in Jesus Christ is the unpardonable blasphemy.
I'm not talking about youth that die and go straight to Hell,if you believe in that sort of thing , but about the children/teens/young adults that either say they are a christian because it is the least controversial religion to claim in this country but live a very "un-christlike" lifestyle (partying, fighting, orgies, listening to death-metal music or other anti-christian bands) or about the children/teens/young adults that claim their religion is something along the lines of wiccan, paganism, satanism etc.
The examples I gave above are, for the most part related to youth.
How many 60-70 year old people listen to death-metal or other genres of music which is performed mostly by anti-christian bands?
How many 70 year old satanists are there?
If these youth were to die today would they be judged for Hell or would God realize that they would most likely have grown out of the anti-christian behavior and accepted into Heaven?
If they die at the ripe old age of 100, would they be accountable for their "un-christlike" behavior as youth, which they've grown out of (but may not have repented of) or would God look at who they have become once they matured and judge them based on that?
I like to hear your thoughts
The whole post misses the whole point for being a Christian. First before you feel insulted by this statement take a step back and ask yourself what you are missing in your assessment and question?
Take it from a former listener to all types of "death metal" music. This is the answer in its most basic form.
To be a Christian one must accept Christ and all that it entails. What age you die does not matter as what matters is that you accept Christ. You can do this when you are 10, 20, 30...... 100 in the very day before you die. Once you truly accept Christ in contrite repentance and sorrow for your sins there is nothing more you can do, but grow in Christ in the time you have left. Many Christians accept Christ, but not many continue to grow.
Which brings up the questions of this post. Christians are not saved by works of any fashion. Christians are saved by Christ who died for the redemption of all men. The works of Christians only count so much as they are done in Christ and not for the glory of man. Many Christians lose sight of this and delight in the pats on the back of men in their actions. This can be very dangerous territory. In short God does not value the works of man if they are not works of Christ to the glory of God.
Also the age of accountablity is to be considered. I encourage you to study it a bit as it would clear up alot of your thoughts. However, to understand being a Christian you must first understand accepting Christ.
Im sorry for the short answer and the general blunt nature of the response, but as one who has done some of the very things you allude to I must give a honest answer.
Explaining the age of accountability when responding to a question such as this is understandable but not exactly what I was looking for.
If "God" is all-knowing, wouldn't he know who will eventually accept and who will eventually reject him?
Let me try to take it out of the "religious sense" and put it into "real life"
Most schoolyard bullies (you know, the kids that like to pick on other kids, beat them up and steal their lunch money etc) are late elementary/middle school age. By the time they get to high school they start maturing and growing out of those type of behaviors. When they become 40-50 year-old adults, they are probably not going to be beating up 10 year-old kids are they???
Let's say that I am a judge and actually witness some 12 year-old kid starting a fight. Would it be right for me to ignore it or even reward that behavior because I know that he/she is going to "grow out of it"?
Let's look at the reverse. Would it be fair for me, as a judge to just randomly pull some 40-50 year old adult, minding their own business off the street and throw them in jail because of a fight he/she started at 12 years old? Possibly one that they don't even remember.
If God is all-knowing then wouldn't he know who would eventually accept/reject him before they actually make that decision. (Same concept of Calvinism???) Why would a 16 year-old be allowed to perish in unbelief if God knows that they will become "saved" at 20?
"I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born again." John 3:3 NIV
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." John 3:16-18 NIV
From the scriptures: We must believe, not think about believing or plan on believing later.
All people who have ever lived, and even the fallen angels themselves including Satan, will be saved and will come to a knowledge of the truth in the fullness of times. God will restore all things and he will reconcile all to himself through Christ our lord. All things and all people will be gathered together in one in Christ and all will bow and worship before him praising and singing his name to the glory of the father. Then God the father will be all, and he will be in all.
Rest assured, our lord truly is the savior of the world(kosmos - all creation).
All people who have ever lived, and even the fallen angels themselves including Satan, will be saved and will come to a knowledge of the truth in the fullness of times. God will restore all things and he will reconcile all to himself through Christ our lord. All things and all people will be gathered together in one in Christ and all will bow and worship before him praising and singing his name to the glory of the father. Then God the father will be all, and he will be in all.
Rest assured, our lord truly is the savior of the world(kosmos - all creation).
I'm sorry but I have to respond to this. First of all, I'm beginning to feel that no one here actually believes Hell exists. There is too many Scriptures on Hell being described, including by Jesus himself! (Matthew 5:22; Matthew 16:18; Matthew 23:33; Mark 9:43-48).
Secondly, both Heaven and Hell are eternal dwelling places - once you're there, that's it! The Bible says that when the Lord comes again, no one will be able to deny that he is God. It does NOT say that Satan and his followers will be saved and live with the believers in the new creation that God will make - read Revelation 20 to see what happens to Satan's army! If people who were unbelievers automatically become saved in the end, then what's the point of salvation? Why let Christ die? Where's the urgency? This belief is not the Gospel!
Finally, the Bible says that ALL must give an account of their life on Earth (Matthew 12:36; Romans 14:10-12); this includes youth, and yes it does mean that we will have to look back to when we were young and give an account for the things we did then. BUT - here's the good bit - if we have faith in Christ and are truly saved, then despite our past mistakes we will NOT be judged guiltily by God (Rimans 8:1). Your sins have been paid for! The key to this is SALVATION. Everyone must truly repent of their ways, accept Christ and begin to live in His ways.
I'm saddened by the lack of the Word being used here. Don't you understand how powerful it is? It's the only truth we need! And if you're not sure about that, then chances are that you're not even sure what it means to make Jesus as your Lord.
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, but about the children/teens/young adults that either say they are a christian because it is the least controversial religion to claim in this country but live a very "un-christlike" lifestyle (partying, fighting, orgies, listening to death-metal music or other anti-christian bands) or about the children/teens/young adults that claim their religion is something along the lines of wiccan, paganism, satanism etc.
