Prove/Disprove my theory

[Guest NewPilgrim]

At the end of the day, God is the way he is. You know what he teaches, its up to you to accept or reject him. Just dont grumble on Judgement day if you reject him.

[AFaceInTheCrowd]

((((((((((((((((((((((Agnog))))))))))))))))we do love you

[Guest tsauder]

Grace to you,

I don't view this metaphor the same way you do in two important regards:

1) The "burning" metaphor harkens back to the perceived literal "lake of fire" language that John uses in Revelation. If I saw a human being literally consumed by fire or in danger of being consumed by fire (burning building) and I was the nearest person to them to offer assistance of COURSE I would help them.

a) But I don't believe that a person's soul is in peril of imminent destruction in this way, therefore I don't feel compelled to react with urgency when I perceive them to be "in peril". If this person is anxious about their condition or willing to talk about spiritual matters then I would happily engage them, not because of urgency but out of genuine compassion for them and interest in sharing my faith which I find works well for me. However, if they were not willing to talk about their so-called "peril" I would leave them alone because -

b) I am not the person able to lead them out of this "burning building", God is. I can no more rescue a soul than I could come back from the dead under my own power. I believe that even if a person rejects Christ in this life that they will be given a second, third, fourth (eternal) chance to accept Him. Whether they will or won't or what that time frame is, I cannot say, all I know is that however it looks it is not under my control or my responsibility.

I could never "convince" anyone to accept Christ unless they wanted to be convinced. So, my approach is to love everyone I come into contact with and develop a relationship, if possible, because I'd rather be known as a good friend than as a Jesus Salesman. I just let the cards fall where they may as far as their eternal destiny is concerned. I'm not concerned or worried about those who insist they are OK.

Mt

Edited June 24, 2005 by tsauder

[Matthitjah]

Grace to you,

Why the Gospel if there is no hell? In the above reference to your original post you stated that there are second, third, maybe even fourth chances?

I do not agree. The Gospel is plain all men are called to Repentance and Salvation in Christ Jesus during this life. Faith in God's very Word. It is appointed for all men once to die and then the Judgment.

Heb

[jc49]

I read JESUS WHO IS GOD..100% GOD,100%MAN...and I DON'T CARE not alittle bit,zero,nicht,nada de nada if ANYONE that posts on worthyboards doesn't agree with this,because UNLESS I preach THE GOSPEL as IT IS I would be a FALSE PROPHET and I would be responsible not to anyone but TO GOD!

The BIBLE is HIS WORD, and nobody should even try to TAMPER with it!

THE LORD JESUS CHRIST,in the days of His incarnation,talked MORE about HELL than HEAVEN!!

WHY?...because GOD IS GOOD that's why!!!

GOD takes NO PLEASURE in the death and perdition of the wicked.

GOD IS HOLY and RIGHTEOUS in a way that we,corrupt and wicked human beings,CANNOT EVEN CONCEIVE!JESUS,being GOD,WARNED OVER and OVER and OVER again humanity about the HORRIFYING consequences of REJECTING HIM .

HE doesn't want man ending up in HELL for ETERNITY!!!!

Now,if JESUS says that,LETS NOT BE FOOLS!!!

Lets NOT try to WATER DOWN or ADULTERATE or CHANGE THE WORD of GOD,trying to be philosophical or use various sophisms TRYING to say that HELL is not REAL or is not A DEFINITE PLACE of ETERNAL( I mean FOR EVER!!!!!) TORMENT and SUFFERENCE!!!

JESUS was NOT lunatik no mad man...HE was not on some pischedelic mushrooms neither He was an "ESSENE" as somebody dares to say,HE WAS and IS THE ETERNAL SON,THE ETERNAL GOD,HE IS THE TRUTH,and so only a BLIND PHARISEE or A HELLBENT MAD SINNER would try to attribute lying to JESUS,to what avail,but his own PERDITION FOR ETERNITY?>??

WHY in the world GOD would send HIS OWN BELOVED SON to DIE the atrocious death of a criminal on a Roman cross...UNLESS there is an horrible HELL to avoid and a beautiful wonderful HEAVEN to gain for those that repent and RECEIVE CHRIST?

What a foolish thing to reduce CHRIST and HIS GOSPEL to ISRAEL only....JESUS CAME to SAVE HIS OWN,ISRAEL and the REST of the people of ALL the nations that would TURN from their WICKED WAYS and TURN TO HIM!!!

YES,my message is to EVERYBODY: WE are living on BORROWED TIME,individually and globally...IT IS TIME TO REPENT and GO BACK TO GOD and BELIEVE INTEGRALLY HIS GOSPEL and BOW our HEARTS and KNEES to THE KING of GLORY ,THE LORD JESUS CHRIST,WHO IS COMING BACK TO TAKE WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY HIS!!!

JESUS CHRIST IS NOT a sloppy wet RELIGIOUS LEADER of some perverted religion of which the world is full,JESUS CHRIST IS ALMIGHTY GOD and on this side of ETERNITY we can still APPEAL to HIS GRACE and MERCY and BE FORGIVEN and ACCEPTED and SAVED ETERNALLY because of HIS BLOOD and HIS RESURRECTION...but...if we live this life WITHOUT having been RECONCILED to GOD through HIS SON......WE ARE GOING BE ETERNALLY LOST!!!

HELL,FIRE and BRIMSTONE? Our refined and perverted ears don't want HEAR what THE SPIRIT says?

Well,we BETTER REPENT before it is TOO LATE.....

Who has an ear to hear...let him/her HEAR and REPENT and BELIEVE JESUS CHRIST and RECEIVE FORGIVENESS and ETERNAL LIFE and HIS HOLY GLORIOUS SPIRIT!!

AMEN and AMEN,GLORY BE TO THE ETERNAL LIVING GOD!!!!!

[Arthur Durnan]

The fact that Jehovah God is omniscient does not in any wise render Him as sinful or at fault for decisions made by free-will humans. Individual responsibility and individual obligation cannot be left at curbside. Each one of us is responsible for the decisions we render.....we live, we choose, we move forward & upward OR we falter & fall by the wayside. "Each man will give an account OF HIMSELF to God." Sounds wholeheartedly practical to this particular observer. Much too often we tend to get ourselves all tied-up in our own inane illogic.

http://arthurdurnan.freeyellow.com

[AgnosticFront84]

I read JESUS WHO IS GOD..100% GOD,100%MAN...and I DON'T CARE not alittle bit,zero,nicht,nada de nada if ANYONE that posts on worthyboards doesn't agree with this,because UNLESS I preach THE GOSPEL as IT IS I would be a FALSE PROPHET and I would be responsible not to anyone but TO GOD!

The BIBLE is HIS WORD, and nobody should even try to TAMPER with it!

THE LORD JESUS CHRIST,in the days of His incarnation,talked MORE about HELL than HEAVEN!!

WHY?...because GOD IS GOOD that's why!!!

GOD takes NO PLEASURE in the death and perdition of the wicked.

GOD IS HOLY and RIGHTEOUS in a way that we,corrupt and wicked human beings,CANNOT EVEN CONCEIVE!JESUS,being GOD,WARNED OVER and OVER and OVER again humanity about the HORRIFYING consequences of REJECTING HIM .

HE doesn't want man ending up in HELL for ETERNITY!!!!

Now,if JESUS says that,LETS NOT BE FOOLS!!!

Lets NOT try to WATER DOWN or ADULTERATE or CHANGE THE WORD of GOD,trying to be philosophical or use various sophisms TRYING to say that HELL is not REAL or is not A DEFINITE PLACE of ETERNAL( I  mean FOR EVER!!!!!) TORMENT and SUFFERENCE!!!

JESUS was NOT lunatik no mad man...HE was not on some pischedelic mushrooms neither He was an "ESSENE" as somebody dares to say,HE WAS and IS THE ETERNAL SON,THE ETERNAL GOD,HE IS THE TRUTH,and so only a BLIND PHARISEE or A HELLBENT MAD SINNER would try to attribute lying to JESUS,to what avail,but his own PERDITION FOR ETERNITY?>??

WHY in the world GOD would send HIS OWN BELOVED SON to DIE the atrocious death of a criminal on a Roman cross...UNLESS there is an horrible HELL to avoid and a beautiful wonderful HEAVEN to gain for those that repent and RECEIVE CHRIST?

What a foolish thing to reduce CHRIST and HIS GOSPEL to ISRAEL only....JESUS CAME to SAVE HIS OWN,ISRAEL and the REST of the people of ALL the nations that would TURN from their WICKED WAYS and TURN TO HIM!!!

YES,my message is to EVERYBODY: WE are living on BORROWED TIME,individually and globally...IT IS TIME TO REPENT and GO BACK TO GOD and BELIEVE INTEGRALLY HIS GOSPEL and BOW our HEARTS and KNEES to THE KING of GLORY ,THE LORD JESUS CHRIST,WHO IS COMING BACK TO TAKE WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY HIS!!!

JESUS CHRIST IS NOT a sloppy wet RELIGIOUS LEADER of some perverted religion of which the world is full,JESUS CHRIST IS ALMIGHTY GOD and on this side of ETERNITY we can still APPEAL to HIS GRACE and MERCY and BE FORGIVEN and ACCEPTED and SAVED ETERNALLY because of HIS BLOOD and HIS RESURRECTION...but...if we live this life WITHOUT having been RECONCILED to GOD through HIS SON......WE ARE GOING BE ETERNALLY LOST!!!

HELL,FIRE and BRIMSTONE? Our refined and perverted ears don't want HEAR what THE SPIRIT says?

Well,we BETTER REPENT before it is TOO LATE.....

Who has an ear to hear...let him/her HEAR and REPENT and BELIEVE JESUS CHRIST and RECEIVE FORGIVENESS and ETERNAL LIFE and HIS HOLY GLORIOUS SPIRIT!!

AMEN and AMEN,GLORY BE TO THE ETERNAL LIVING GOD!!!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You are the epitome of accepting the bible as a child...

[jc49]

I read JESUS WHO IS GOD..100% GOD,100%MAN...and I DON'T CARE not alittle bit,zero,nicht,nada de nada if ANYONE that posts on worthyboards doesn't agree with this,because UNLESS I preach THE GOSPEL as IT IS I would be a FALSE PROPHET and I would be responsible not to anyone but TO GOD!

The BIBLE is HIS WORD, and nobody should even try to TAMPER with it!

THE LORD JESUS CHRIST,in the days of His incarnation,talked MORE about HELL than HEAVEN!!

WHY?...because GOD IS GOOD that's why!!!

GOD takes NO PLEASURE in the death and perdition of the wicked.

GOD IS HOLY and RIGHTEOUS in a way that we,corrupt and wicked human beings,CANNOT EVEN CONCEIVE!JESUS,being GOD,WARNED OVER and OVER and OVER again humanity about the HORRIFYING consequences of REJECTING HIM .

HE doesn't want man ending up in HELL for ETERNITY!!!!

Now,if JESUS says that,LETS NOT BE FOOLS!!!

Lets NOT try to WATER DOWN or ADULTERATE or CHANGE THE WORD of GOD,trying to be philosophical or use various sophisms TRYING to say that HELL is not REAL or is not A DEFINITE PLACE of ETERNAL( I

[jc49]

Grace to you,

Why the Gospel if there is no hell? In the above reference to your original post you stated that there are second, third, maybe even fourth chances?

I do not agree. The Gospel is plain all men are called to Repentance and Salvation in Christ Jesus during this life. Faith in God's very Word. It is appointed for all men once to die and then the Judgment.

Heb

[Guest tsauder]

Grace to you,

Why the Gospel if there is no hell? In the above reference to your original post you stated that there are second, third, maybe even fourth chances?

Holy run-on-sentences, Batman! I debated even getting into this because you threw SO MUCH material out there the issues can quickly get clouded and lost. My aim here is not to prove I am right and you are wrong but to show that it is possible to have a different interpretation on the verses which you quote.

Ok, let's go. You ask "Why the Gospel if there is no Hell?". Even that question is LOADED with assumptions, and I unfortunately have to assume what these are, but I think I will be pretty close. You believe the Good News is this: believe that Jesus died for your sins, repent of your sins and try to live a better life the best way you can. If you do this you will go to Heaven, if not you will go to Hell. Right? Well, I don't believe that is the Gospel at all, in fact that interpretation would have sounded very much like the recipe the Pharisees followed even in Jesus day (follow our rules or else burn in Hell). If that message and Jesus' message weren't different, then the Good News wasn't either Good or News at all. I believe the Good News is: in Jesus, God has forgiven the World and has dropped dead on the issue of sin causing a rift between Him and us. He saved the world and reconciled humankind to Himself. If you accept this truth, if you place your faith in Christ who did this for you then you will be saved. If not, if you try to please God or reconcile yourself to Him through some other means, He will not accept it. You either allow Him to save you or you resist it. The issue of Hell then becomes a red herring, irrelevant. Unless you see the punishment of Hell as a motivator for one to accept Christ. So, there will be those in Heaven who didn't want to accept Christ but only did so out of fear? Doesn't sound reasonable.

I do not agree. The Gospel is plain all men are called to Repentance and Salvation in Christ Jesus during this life. Faith in God's very Word. It is appointed for all men once to die and then the Judgment.

Heb