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I am just wondering if you have actually pondered what you said in the bold? If so, how then, does "love conquer all"? Is love too weak? Are some hearts stronger than God? How can that be?
For me, "love conquers all" means that there is nothing we have done that separates us from God's love. But we have to, in our nature to the best of our ability, accept God's love. If people blaspheme the Holy Spirit by having such a hardness of heart that they are unable to accept God's love, then they have chosen to reject heaven and hence, have chosen hell.
It would be like if two people accumulated a million dollars in debt. Forgiveness for this debt was offered to both of them (God's all-conquering love.) The first person was super grateful for the debt forgiveness. The second person refused to listen, openly mocked the prospect, and was stuck with the debt.
In my understanding, if we don't have at least a prospect for hell, then sin doesn't matter. Sin does matter though. There are a lot of injustices in this world that as Christians, we need to work towards to improve everybody's lives.
Jesus said Repent or perish , as Jesus came to save people from falling into rejecting God and being lost ...So being saved with Lord Jesus is a good thing
I don't believe in a fiery hell (or any hell for that matter), but even if it existed, why would someone "choose" to go there? Unless, of course, by "choose" to go to hell you really mean to not accept Christ before they die. I can't say I've ever met anyone that wants to go to hell (although I'm sure that somewhere, some exist). Just because someone may not be a born again Christian doesn't mean they want to spend eternity in flames. Can you see why there may be a little bit of an issue there?
Many fundamentalists I know believe that God knows where you're headed long before you ever pop out of the womb. If He wants you to go to Heaven to be with Him, He'll let the Holy Spirit win you over. If His plan for you is eternal torment, He will harden your heart so you will never find the way. As sick and disturbing as this may sound, it is not an uncommon belief among many Christians. To take it a step further, many believe He not only knows the way you're going to die, but He sanctions it as well. I've always found this to be particularly disturbing, especially when I hear about a child on the news that was kidnapped, raped, and murdered. I'm always reminded of this when I hear someone say "God is in control".
Romans 1:18-20 (NIV, sorry for those who don't like it)
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plan to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
These verses imply that for Christians and non-Christians alike, the qualities of God are known to all. People choose to "accept" (humility, love) or "reject" (prideful, arrogant, oppressive) these qualities. People who have truly accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior should show qualities in the "acceptance" category. There are a lot of people who may not know Christ very well (maybe they weren't told, or so-called Christians abused them, or people from other traditions were very loving to them) but to the best of their ability, are open to the Gospel. Likewise, there are many people who call themselves Christian but clearly do not follow the Gospel (for example, look at how many Christians are quick to point out so-called sexual sins but excuse any greed and pride in their lives.) So by accepting Christ as your savior, you accept yourself as fallible and in need of constant, unending forgiveness.
I don't agree with the doctrine of double predestination. God knows whether you will be saved or not, but He does not choose it. Everybody has the possibility to be saved, but some people decide not to be.
I don't agree with the doctrine of double predestination. God knows whether you will be saved or not, but He does not choose it. Everybody has the possibility to be saved, but some people decide not to be.
Agreed. God, by definition of being timeless, knows everything that will happen, but this doesn't mean we don't have a choice, because we do.
The Scripture clearly teaches that those who reject God will perish, and those that accept and follow God will not. It boggles my mind how people can ignore so much of God's Word and think that everyone is going to be with God after they die.
Hi, there are many scriptures which reveal that God's purpose is to reconcile all to Himself, and not to consign the majority or even one person to an eternal hell. Jesus has been made heir of all things. Some will perish in this age and in the next but according to many scriptures, God will return all to Himself.
Psalm 22
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations will worship before [u]You.
28
For the kingdom is the Lord’s
And He rules over the nations.
29
All the [v]prosperous of the earth will eat and worship,
All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him,
Even he who [w]cannot keep his soul alive.
Hi, there are many scriptures which reveal that God's purpose is to reconcile all to Himself, and not to consign the majority or even one person to an eternal hell. Jesus has been made heir of all things. Some will perish in this age and in the next but according to many scriptures, God will return all to Himself.
Psalm 22
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations will worship before [u]You.
28
For the kingdom is the Lord’s
And He rules over the nations.
29
All the [v]prosperous of the earth will eat and worship,
All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him,
Even he who [w]cannot keep his soul alive.
God bless.
But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for
fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the
ungodly.
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord
one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not
slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass
away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and
the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed
Thank you for sharing, JJ_Maxx. Destruction is necessary for reconciliation. I do believe that man will perish in this age and in the next, but I don't believe that this is permanent because the scriptures speak of a time when all will be restored to God.
Psalm 90:3Young's Literal Translation (YLT)
3 Thou turnest man unto a bruised thing, And sayest, Turn back, ye sons of men.
Psalm 90:3New American Standard Bible (NASB)
3
You turn man back into dust
And say, “Return, O children of men.”
Psalm 90:3New King James Version (NKJV)
3
You turn man to destruction,
And say, “Return, O children of men.”
Thank you for sharing, JJ_Maxx. Destruction is necessary for reconciliation. I do believe that man will perish in this age and in the next, but I don't believe that this is permanent because the scriptures speak of a time when all will be restored to God.
Psalm 90:3Young's Literal Translation (YLT)
3 Thou turnest man unto a bruised thing, And sayest, Turn back, ye sons of men.
Psalm 90:3New American Standard Bible (NASB)
3
You turn man back into dust
And say, “Return, O children of men.”
"And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the eternal fire." (Matt. 18:8)
The greek word is aiónios which means eternal, or age-less. Jesus speaks of hell quite a bit actually, I would reccomend reading through the Gospels entirely and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you into the truth that Christ speaks of.
Last edited by june 7th; 08-09-2014 at 06:11 AM..
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JJ_Maxx, I understand that the word "aionios" means of or relating to an age, meaning that it is not eternal. I don't believe that Jesus spoke about an eternal hell, but He did speak of Gehenna and fire and punishment/correction relating to an age. God bless.
JJ_Maxx, I understand that the word "aionios" means of or relating to an age, meaning that it is not eternal. I don't believe that Jesus spoke about an eternal hell, but He did speak of Gehenna and fire and punishment/correction relating to an age. God bless.
I'm sorry Shana, but you're incorrect regarding your Greek. Aiónios does indeed mean 'eternal' or 'unending'. There are many things we can discuss, but this is not one of them. The definition is clear.
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