I used to be christian, until my pastor began telling me how wrong everyone else in the world was. All i could think was, how can you be saying those people are wrong when they rely on faith just as you do? Does a buddist not have faith that his religion is true? And if someone who does not believe in jesus lives their life well, why should they be condemned? If a gay man is sweet and kind and thoughful, or just doesnt step on any toes, why should he burn in hell? Or a girl who made a mistake and in result chose to terminate her pregnancy, why must you all look down at her? I guess what I am asking is If your religion preachess love and truth why when good people do things that you disagree wiith, even when they hurt no one, do you feel the need to point and tell them how condemned they are. I thought god said, I give you the choice... why cant you people just let us choose.

miykle

G'Day ; If you are truly born again you cannot fall or fail, salvation is a GIFT, not earned or bestowed because of worthiness, but an unmerited gift and as such will never be taken back, He might chastise you but never reject you, and if you are not born again, by the spirit of God, then you are non of His, and so have no part in salvation no matter how good or bad one is.
Meditate on the flood, how many "good" people perished ??

Blessings Miykle

jillianleab

Some people of faith feel the need to bash their beliefs over the head of anyone and everyone they come in contact with. Some people of no faith feel the need to do the same. But there are members of each side who have great respect for others points of view, morals and beliefs. It's these people, the ones who respect people for their merit, not their belief in the afterlife, we should all strive to surround ourselves with.

But in the end you should do what makes you happy, feel complete, and feel satisfied. If you get those feelings without a belief in god, that's great; if you only get those feelings with a belief in god, that's great too. It's a personal thing, and there's no need to justify yourself to others.

talaniman

Its like the old tale of the blind men, who came upon an elephant. They could only see the elephant from where they touched him, so as they described the elephant, they were all right, because thats all they knew. But what they couldn't see was the true shape of the elephant. It is the nature of man, to believe only what he can see, but there is another view, that you cannot see at this time, so we are all right, yet have not seen the bigger picture, but rest assured, as we have better vision, we will see a more clearer picture. As you have said yourself you have studied the bible, so thats all you can see, but there are other views to study, and thats why I know what I do, we as humans are the same.

Fr_Chuck

I am sorry there has been few Christians giving you answers, it is obvoius that many non christians wish to speak for christians on here.

In Christianity, there is only ONE, way and only one way to be saved, if you don't beleive in Christ as your Lord and Savior you are not saved, PERIOD, no other way. There are large percentages of church members who do not meet that.

It is not how good you live, not how much you give to the poor, it is just one thing, accepting Christ as your Savior. If you don't do that you will not be saved and will not be in heaven.

That is what the bible teaches, it is not judging, it is not condemning, it is merely teaching what the bible says.

So while perhaps your pastor said, and how he said it, but no you can not be a Buddist ( nno matter how good) and be saved,
You can not be a member of Islam, and be saved,

If you have not accepted Christ as your Savior you are not saved.

It is plain and simple, anyone who says you can be saved some other way than by accepting Christ is not a Christian, can not speak for a Christian, and has no business trying to tell people what Christians believe.

As for the homosexual, have they accepted Christ, if they did, they are saved, they are still living in sin, but they are saved.

talaniman

Just to be clear, I thought I was speaking for myself, but your correct, I am a non Christian. How can that be wrong on a public forum? If we must be technical, Jesus was a non Christian.

Fr_Chuck

Yes, but I do not want a person who is asking on a Christian thread, about what christians have to say about a subject to be confused,
If the people do not say they are "heathens" ok non christians, the orginal poster may well beleive that a christian beleives you can be saved by budda, or you can be saved by doing good works,

I was only trying to make it clear to the orginal poster that most of the answers they had gotten about what a christian beleives was basicly from non christians.

Chrissyg89

I never meant to imply that your religion is not correct. In fact through the experiance i have come to believe that as long as you are a good person, if there is a God, he will except you for whoever you are... isnt that nicer than a Lord who banishes you to hell? What I was asking is why if your bible says we have rights to choose, why do so many ( not all but many) christians and catholics press their beliefs upon others who simply do not wish to hear it.

jrebel7

Hi there! I guess I misunderstood your first post. I missed when you asked why can't we (I assume you mean those who have asked Jesus into our hearts to be Lord and Savior) just let you choose. I thought you were asking the questions you did ask in your first post in light of what your pastor had been saying in your church. Perhaps that is part of most problems when people try to communicate, especially just in typing, we just don't get the whole picture of the post. My answer to that question is that I care about people. I have found that life with the Lord has been much better than without Him and because of that, just want to share that peace and caring with others. I do respect your right to choose. I know that with each choice we make, also comes responsibility for those choices. I thank you for reading my post. I leave you with the thought that God does not banish anyone to Hell. He gives us a choice. We make that choice. He has made provision and it is up to each individual to chose...accept or reject... that provision. God is a loving God but He is also a just God. Choose Well. Best to you Chrissyg89.

Goodness, it is surprising how well we all get along considering we don't really know each other and are typing to one another and cannot hear the inflection in one another's voice. We cannot hear compassion, fear, questioning, concern or love. But please understand this, I have enjoyed the sharing that has taken place on this thread you started. It has been a good experience for me and I hope you have not minded too much, my misunderstanding your first question.

jillianleab

Some Christians do believe this - just not the conservative ones such as yourself. But the original post wasn't asking how to be saved, it was asking why do many Christians judge and condemn those unlike them to hell.

EDIT TO ADD: I'm a heathen, so take my post how you wish. I still stand by it though.

Fr_Chuck

No, since the heathens stoped thowing the christians to the lions, they are still allowed to post on the Christian board ( joke intended)

But if they wanted to know why christans judge, I would challenge someone who is a non christian, how they know, they may agree some christians do, but they do not know really way they do.

And actually the person condemns thierself to hell, since it is thier choice to accept Christ or not. A christian or anyone can judge thier actions by the bible and see what is right or wrong

**** I do have a few openings to doom people to hell, comming up next week, but will leave that open for the people on the morning drive to work.