Steve_S Posted September 6, 2012 Group: Servant Followers: 25 Topic Count: 275 Topics Per Day: 0.05 Content Count: 5,208 Content Per Day: 0.99 Reputation: 1,893 Days Won: 0 Joined: 01/02/2010 Status: Offline Share Posted September 6, 2012 When you say mercy, what do you mean? Do you mean that you pray that He will allow nonbelievers whom haven't accepted Jesus into eternal life? Mercy means compassion. I leave the salvation up to God. Well, what does compassion mean? There are two options for eternity, right? What would compassion mean for a nonbeliever, in your eyes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_S Posted September 6, 2012 Group: Servant Followers: 25 Topic Count: 275 Topics Per Day: 0.05 Content Count: 5,208 Content Per Day: 0.99 Reputation: 1,893 Days Won: 0 Joined: 01/02/2010 Status: Offline Share Posted September 6, 2012 When you say mercy, what do you mean? Do you mean that you pray that He will allow nonbelievers whom haven't accepted Jesus into eternal life? Mercy means compassion. I leave the salvation up to God. Well, what does compassion mean? There are two options for eternity, right? What would compassion mean for a nonbeliever, in your eyes? For a non-believer, he/she would interpret that as a kindness and love towards them. As Christians, we are to show love and kindness toward all people. Praying is only one way we show love to people. Whether God will grant them salvation is another story. That does not come from me, but from God Himself. This is the thing that confuses me. I'm asking you what you mean by mercy from God for a nonbeliever. Kindness and love from us is one thing. But with regard to eternity, what do you mean by mercy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_S Posted September 6, 2012 Group: Servant Followers: 25 Topic Count: 275 Topics Per Day: 0.05 Content Count: 5,208 Content Per Day: 0.99 Reputation: 1,893 Days Won: 0 Joined: 01/02/2010 Status: Offline Share Posted September 6, 2012 When you say mercy, what do you mean? Do you mean that you pray that He will allow nonbelievers whom haven't accepted Jesus into eternal life? Mercy means compassion. I leave the salvation up to God. Well, what does compassion mean? There are two options for eternity, right? What would compassion mean for a nonbeliever, in your eyes? For a non-believer, he/she would interpret that as a kindness and love towards them. As Christians, we are to show love and kindness toward all people. Praying is only one way we show love to people. Whether God will grant them salvation is another story. That does not come from me, but from God Himself. This is the thing that confuses me. I'm asking you what you mean by mercy from God for a nonbeliever. Kindness and love from us is one thing. But with regard to eternity, what do you mean by mercy? We believe that to have eternal life, one must have the grace of God to follow Christ. Praying for mercy is a good thing and counted only as good works. For example, Christopher Hitchens is an atheist who hates believers. In his book, he criticized all believers. As Christians, we pray for him anyway. But because he deliberately and knowingly rejected God and Heaven, it would be his fault if he finds himself with no salvation. Does that make it more clear? God is righteous and just. He will judge all people accordingly under His divine judgement. What about those who have never heard the Gospel? Do you believe that mercy would equate to eternal life for them? What other option is there for mercy? That's my main question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomas t Posted September 6, 2012 Group: Senior Member Followers: 8 Topic Count: 46 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 944 Content Per Day: 0.22 Reputation: 170 Days Won: 0 Joined: 05/05/2012 Status: Offline Birthday: 04/20/1980 Share Posted September 6, 2012 We believe that [...] Hello Selene, please, don't speak on my behalf. Instead of using the word "we", You could also write "I", e.g. "I believe that....". Furthermore I think you misinterpreted the word "creature" in the verse you've cited (Mark 16,15). In NIV it says "creation". I have the feeling that this is what is meant by "creature" in KJV. And in the versions I read in German, it also says "creation". Blessings Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_S Posted September 6, 2012 Group: Servant Followers: 25 Topic Count: 275 Topics Per Day: 0.05 Content Count: 5,208 Content Per Day: 0.99 Reputation: 1,893 Days Won: 0 Joined: 01/02/2010 Status: Offline Share Posted September 6, 2012 When you say mercy, what do you mean? Do you mean that you pray that He will allow nonbelievers whom haven't accepted Jesus into eternal life? Mercy means compassion. I leave the salvation up to God. Well, what does compassion mean? There are two options for eternity, right? What would compassion mean for a nonbeliever, in your eyes? For a non-believer, he/she would interpret that as a kindness and love towards them. As Christians, we are to show love and kindness toward all people. Praying is only one way we show love to people. Whether God will grant them salvation is another story. That does not come from me, but from God Himself. This is the thing that confuses me. I'm asking you what you mean by mercy from God for a nonbeliever. Kindness and love from us is one thing. But with regard to eternity, what do you mean by mercy? We believe that to have eternal life, one must have the grace of God to follow Christ. Praying for mercy is a good thing and counted only as good works. For example, Christopher Hitchens is an atheist who hates believers. In his book, he criticized all believers. As Christians, we pray for him anyway. But because he deliberately and knowingly rejected God and Heaven, it would be his fault if he finds himself with no salvation. Does that make it more clear? God is righteous and just. He will judge all people accordingly under His divine judgement. What about those who have never heard the Gospel? Do you believe that mercy would equate to eternal life for them? What other option is there for mercy? That's my main question. This is why the Church feels it is necessary to spread the Gospel to all people so that all who hear it and come to believe will be saved. However, those adults who die without ever hearing the Gospel....we don't know what happens to them. We can't condemn these people to Hell because we don't know. Only God knows. It's His decision to decide what to do with them. It was never our decision anyway. We DO know what happens for ANYONE who doesn't have Jesus. This isn't about it being our decision at all. This is about the simple fact of the matter which is a nonstop recurring message of hope in the New Testament of the Bible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bible_Gazer Posted September 6, 2012 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 2 Topic Count: 8 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 450 Content Per Day: 0.11 Reputation: 152 Days Won: 1 Joined: 09/05/2012 Status: Offline Share Posted September 6, 2012 Did the firstborn of Egypt end up in heaven, despite that they were born of the oppressive Egyptians? And since they're firstborn, does that mean that they could have been any age, and were of the age of accountablity? Here a thought, those who die under the wrath of God would be eternally judged. ???? Since they would be ungodly Psalms 1 says 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_S Posted September 6, 2012 Group: Servant Followers: 25 Topic Count: 275 Topics Per Day: 0.05 Content Count: 5,208 Content Per Day: 0.99 Reputation: 1,893 Days Won: 0 Joined: 01/02/2010 Status: Offline Share Posted September 6, 2012 When you say mercy, what do you mean? Do you mean that you pray that He will allow nonbelievers whom haven't accepted Jesus into eternal life? Mercy means compassion. I leave the salvation up to God. Well, what does compassion mean? There are two options for eternity, right? What would compassion mean for a nonbeliever, in your eyes? For a non-believer, he/she would interpret that as a kindness and love towards them. As Christians, we are to show love and kindness toward all people. Praying is only one way we show love to people. Whether God will grant them salvation is another story. That does not come from me, but from God Himself. This is the thing that confuses me. I'm asking you what you mean by mercy from God for a nonbeliever. Kindness and love from us is one thing. But with regard to eternity, what do you mean by mercy? We believe that to have eternal life, one must have the grace of God to follow Christ. Praying for mercy is a good thing and counted only as good works. For example, Christopher Hitchens is an atheist who hates believers. In his book, he criticized all believers. As Christians, we pray for him anyway. But because he deliberately and knowingly rejected God and Heaven, it would be his fault if he finds himself with no salvation. Does that make it more clear? God is righteous and just. He will judge all people accordingly under His divine judgement. What about those who have never heard the Gospel? Do you believe that mercy would equate to eternal life for them? What other option is there for mercy? That's my main question. This is why the Church feels it is necessary to spread the Gospel to all people so that all who hear it and come to believe will be saved. However, those adults who die without ever hearing the Gospel....we don't know what happens to them. We can't condemn these people to Hell because we don't know. Only God knows. It's His decision to decide what to do with them. It was never our decision anyway. We DO know what happens for ANYONE who doesn't have Jesus. This isn't about it being our decision at all. This is about the simple fact of the matter which is a nonstop recurring message of hope in the New Testament of the Bible. In order for anyone to ACCEPT or REJECT Jesus, they must first heard about Jesus. So, you ask about those who have never heard about the Gospel or Christ? Those who die never hearing about the Gospel or Christ....we don't know, and that is God's decision to make. We DO know, the Bible doesn't have a caveat with respect to those who haven't heard the gospel, this is VERY clear. If Jesus died to wash away our sins and be our High Priest and intercessor with the Father, how on earth can you get there without Him in any way, shape, or form? The nature of man is sinful and without the cleansing blood of Jesus none can be saved, this is why evangelism is important in and of itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_S Posted September 6, 2012 Group: Servant Followers: 25 Topic Count: 275 Topics Per Day: 0.05 Content Count: 5,208 Content Per Day: 0.99 Reputation: 1,893 Days Won: 0 Joined: 01/02/2010 Status: Offline Share Posted September 6, 2012 We DO know, the Bible doesn't have a caveat with respect to those who haven't heard the gospel, this is VERY clear. If Jesus died to wash away our sins and be our High Priest and intercessor with the Father, how on earth can you get there without Him in any way, shape, or form? The nature of man is sinful and without the cleansing blood of Jesus none can be saved, this is why evangelism is important in and of itself. If you look back at my post, I DID say that the Church feels it necessary to spread the Gospel so that all would hear it and come to believe and be saved. However, in the event that the Gospel did not reach some people, we do not know where they will be at. Only God knows. We only know that those who hear the Gospel and reject Jesus Christ becomes the unbelievers of the Truth and will not be saved. There are billions of people who died before Christ was incarnated into the world as a man....and all of them never knew of Jesus Christ, including Abraham. Abraham and all those who lived before Christ never heard of Jesus. Are they ALL condemned to Hell because they were born in a time before Christ came incarnated as a man? I would be very careful of playing God by making such a judgement because it is ONLY God who is the judge. We are not called to judge anyone to Hell. That alone belongs to God. First off, I'm not playing God, and I don't appreciate you accusing me of it, it's unwarranted. This is a textual discussion and it was quite inappropriate on your part. Secondly, I never said it wasn't God who isn't the judge. But, God left us His word and in His word He reveals the path to salvation: Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me." It does NOT say "no man who has heard of me cometh unto the father, but by me." It says no man, period. Are you saying this scripture is incorrect? Your implication is that it is. "No man" is BLANKET. That includes all of humanity, clearly. Otherwise, what does His sacrifice mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bornagain2011 Posted September 6, 2012 Group: Senior Member Followers: 6 Topic Count: 82 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 602 Content Per Day: 0.14 Reputation: 233 Days Won: 0 Joined: 04/15/2012 Status: Offline Share Posted September 6, 2012 the Bible clearly says that we become His adopted children when we accept Jesus' sacrifice and believe in Him, God only shows mercy for His children. The people who live in very remote locations where they never heard the gospel are without excuse as well, nature shows them the work of God, and they have the moral law written on their hearts. They can try and claim ignorance like people here in the US do and say that there is no God and that evolution created everything, then I think they would go to hell. You don't have to reject Christ to go to hell, you just have to do nothing! But to go to heaven you must accept the free gift. God doesn't show mercy for the damned, does He lovingly throw them into hell?! LOL, no! I believe in predestination, so I believe God has chosen us before we were even created, and the people who are damned to hell are predestined to be damned to hell, doesn't mean we don't make desciples of the nations, because you never know who is meant to be saved or not. just my 2 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bornagain2011 Posted September 6, 2012 Group: Senior Member Followers: 6 Topic Count: 82 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 602 Content Per Day: 0.14 Reputation: 233 Days Won: 0 Joined: 04/15/2012 Status: Offline Share Posted September 6, 2012 Oh, I pray for unbelievers all the time...I pray they find salvation through Jesus Christ. What would God's mercy/love for an unbeliever look like? A bit less burning in hell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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