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I mean you don't even need the bible to have a relationship with God, so why would you have needed to know JC?
You are not damned for rejecting Jesus, you are damned for blaspheming against the Holy Spirit; that is the Unforgivable Sin.
The Holy Spirit and Jesus are one and the same, blaspheming against the Holy Spirit or rejecting Jesus is the same basic thing
Originally posted by jakyll
Only to some Christians.
There is no concrete evidence in the Bible to say that the Holy Trinity is real.
Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done.
Originally posted by TheStev
dr strangecraft, I always thought the book of life was something that was written before time, and it was just a question of whether or not your name was written in the book.
What they 'had done' may contribute to whether their name was in the book or not, but that would seem like salvation through works, which I thought most Christians (catholics excluded) disagreed with. But ultimately I thought the book was about 'Is your name on the list' rather than a detailing of your life's works.
In terms of the OP's question, it's certainly one of the bigger flaws of Christianity.
All religions claim to be the one true religion,
all religions require faith because there is no proof of what they claim. A decision made with no proof is a guess, ultimately no different from a random selection.
So if you either get into heaven, or don't, based on a random selection - how is it any different to a lottery? Making tickets to heaven only available through a raffle is fair if there is somehow limited space in heaven I suppose, but otherwise it's just ridiculous.
That must have been your private inference, rather than anything from the book of revelation says.
based on nothing more than hearsay
Not true. The Greeks didn't believe their religion was utimately true...
I had no "proof" that she really did love me---only the faith
As I've said three times now, many Christians believe that, absent faith, you will be judged on your works alone.
Originally posted by TheStev
Actually, it's really not:
The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world...
Revelation 17:7-9
The names have been written since the beginning of time.
The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world...
Revelation 17:7-9
May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous.
Psalm 69:27-29
If your name's not in the book you're screwed.
There you go, very straightforward and quoted from scripture. Any questions?
What do those christians say of Ephesians 2:8 & 9:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
And indeed, as others have posted, if one can be saved through good works, why does the religion of Christianity even exist? Surely a rulebook would suffice?
You're kidding, right? I mean, you did see the word "not" in the verse you just quoted, right???
If their names CAN be blotted out of the book, then it looks like it varies according to how non-believers live their life. Or in other words, they 'll be judged by . . . works.
how you can confuse the first judgment with the second judgment?
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
On what happens after death and before the Last Judgment, there is little agreement among Christian denominations.
And if he is actually a voice in your head, then congratulations, you've either a closer relationship with God than any Christian I've ever known, or a mental illness. I genuinely hope it is the former.
Originally posted by TheStev
After all, doesn't the bible say the wages of sin is death? Aren't we all sinners? Isn't the death they're referring to eternal death ie hell? Isn't Jesus the only way around that sentence? How could anyone not subscribing to Jesus be judged as worthy of eternal life?
I'm going by what I've learned from my time as a Christian, and I understand if you believe something different to the above, but those were always the laws of dogma as I was taught and most of them are pretty central to the Christian faith. Do you agree with the above statements?
Originally posted by andre18
The Holy Spirit and Jesus are one and the same