Originally Posted by shatteredsoul
IT scares me a little bit when someone writes verbatum what they are being preached with such reverance.
I know the feeling, shatteredsoul, how well I know the feeling! It scares me too, but more than just a little bit when someone writes questioning the word of God and trying to redirect souls who are searching for Jesus to another way of life totally devoid of Him. It is indeed pretty scary!
I am curious how you explain your personal relationship with God, other than what is in the bible. What do you believe in your heart SKYGEM, separate from sinning and being SAVED?
What I Believe, shatteredsoul, are the things I write about passionately, brought about both through Scripture and through God's personal enlightenment in my life. Absent that, I would not at all be the strong Born Again Christian that I am but rather one who would foolishly believe that the sea made me, or an animal, or perhaps the forest or the wind. I also Believe that we are being given a grand opportunity, a true Blessing to help those who are lost and do not realize that Salvation is as important as life itself, because everyone, literally everyone, will be entering another life when this physical life ceases to be and if they are not prepared and have listened only to non-Believers their soul and spirit is in real DANGER and true Christians simply cannot let that happen just to try to appease infidels.The cost of a fellow human being's soul not entering Heaven is simply too high!
I guess I am asking because I see God a lot different and I don't think you realize that not everyone views God EXACTLY as you, but I am not confused, nor is the subject too deep for me to ponder or explain my perception.
While there can be no doubt that you do indeed see God a lot different than I, shatteredsoul, the very fact that many across the world who had a less than sterling view of God at one time, have started listening to those who spoke or wrote about God's word, those who took their time to introduce them to God to tell them who He is and what He can do in their life, caused many to change their viewpoint and they became Christians and even Born Again! That is what makes it all worthwhile, shatteredsoul. If even ONE person who comes to visit here reads what I have to say in these forums and then decides to become Saved, then it would have all been worth the effort! If Scripture does not personally resonate with you, then it should be simply a process of not wanting to visit a RELIGIOUS forum that you do not gravitate towards or that would offend your personal beliefs in some way. But don't try to distract others from hearing the word of God as they may be very hungry for the word even if you personally aren't.
I feel that God is within me and within all of us. The punishment or reward that you think happens when you believe, I don't think has anything to do with God.
It has everything to do with God. God certainly does not reward an infidel with Salvation who chooses to never change their viewpoint, for example. Scripture is most clear about that and I would be most happy to quote Scripture to you on that. He does reward a Born Again Christian who has personally accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior! That is the distinction that simply has to be made each and every time we enter into these kinds of discussions. The word of God is very clear that nobody can enter Heaven (thus, be Saved) without acknowledging Jesus Christ and Accepting Him before they make their transition from this Earthly life. And if you were to ask me about what happens to those of other faiths, I can only say that they may indeed not want to go to Heaven, since there is only ONE true God, that is, why would they want to be in Heaven with Jesus Christ, since they don't believe in Him in the first place. So, why go to be with someone for Eternity that you don't Believe in? For those who do not Believe, that is their own personal choice. But many others do Believe or are "warming up" to Jesus, perhaps on the brink of accepting Him as their Lord and Savior and may very well come to Believe before their time comes up if God is merciful in not calling them to judgment before they have reached the conclusion that they were made by God and need Jesus His only Begotten Son, so they can enter Heaven. Scripture is very exact on this. This is not me making this up, shatteredsoul. But I know that some un-Believers (fortunately, not all of them) may never grasp what we Christians are saying and why we say it. Let me show you the exact Biblical verses so you will know (and incidentally, why so many others have decided, after reading these very Scriptures, that they willfully want to give their life to Christ and Accept Him).
"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be Born Again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." -- JOHN 3:3 (KJV). One is "Born Again" in *Spirit*, as the flesh is born only of flesh.
"He that Believeth on Him (Jesus Christ) is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not Believed in the name of the Only Begotten Son of God." -- JOHN 3:18 (KJV)
"Jesus saith unto him, I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." -- JOHN 14:6 (KJV)
Again, shatteredsoul, Many People Are Listening! They understand what the above three Scriptures are saying and what they signify and indicate and how it can affect them Personally not only in this life but especially in the Hereafter or Afterlife. It is those people we are trying to reach.
I think it has to do with people throughout history who believed that is what God wanted us to think. We don't have to be SAVED to be loved by God, we are loved because we exist.
We can indeed all be Loved by God and we are as we are all His creations, and yes, that includes even you, shatteredsoul, like it or not. Therefore, quite plainly, God Loves You also! But we would not be able to be *Saved* unless we accept Jesus, God's ONLY Begotten Son. And it simply cannot be a hard thing to do to Accept Jesus if one truly cares about Saving their soul. We can be Loved by God but not Saved by Him and that is a Very Important Difference! Of course, if one doesn't accept Jesus (due to their free will), then that is something to contend with when one passes on and sees that they are not admitted or permitted into the Holy place reserved only for those who Believed in Jesus and Accepted Him while incarnate on Earth. But again, why in the world would anyone want to go to Heaven who does not first Believe in Jesus? For instance, if you are not a Believer, you would not want to go to spend the rest of your eternal spiritual life in tranquility, Peace and Love with Jesus, now would you! Of course not. Why would you! And those who do not Believe in Him will certainly get their wish by not going to Heaven, according to Scripture, so that should settle the matter most succinctly once and for all. Remember, there is no other way to Heaven but through Jesus.
Some people need specific rules to follow to feel safe and secure in their relationship with God, others don't. That doesn't mean your perception is the only one, or the correct one for me.
Obviously not, shatteredsoul. But remember, you are only one of MANY. Many others are Still Searching!
Jesus explains it this way.
"For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. For our conversation is in Heaven; from whense also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto himself." -- PHILIPPIANS 3:18-21 (KJV)
If your perception of God is that you don't want to have anything to do with Him and it has been this long a time that you have kept on denying Him, then your own free will will obviously keep you from entering Heaven and that would give you the true freedom you apparently yearn for so much. And more Great News for you personally, It's a Done Deal, with no arm-twisting, if you do not choose to amend your ways! But Scripture strongly warns people about this. It then becomes their own Personal Choice! If you feel and know you are secure without Jesus in your life right now, then you obviously do not need to go to Heaven to be with Jesus after you die that much is certain, as that would certainly be sheer hypocrisy if you still wanted to go and of course, you wouldn't be able to anyway according to Scripture, shatteredsoul. That should be clear enough for your understanding.
I don't need to visit a ministry website for my faith but maybe that is what you need. All of us have the ability to choose to believe what we want.
Except that many still don't know what they want because others have told them it is alright for them to not Believe and they are therefore confused into thinking that they will still enter Heaven and be Saved even if they don't Believe in Jesus. Nothing could be further from the Truth and we have to correct that and make that crystal clear for those people, shatteredsoul, not for people like you that shun Christ and wish all others would also. Many others still very much need the word of God and we are here to provide it to them in these RELIGIOUS forums. Praise Be To God!
God would not have given us free will, if we were going to be punished for using it in the end.
God gives one free will to help them make the RIGHT choice in order to gain Salvation. However, even though He would be very much disappointed in a person rejecting His Only Begotten Son Jesus, He does not absolutely insist that non-Believers be Saved if they choose not to be. But by His grace, mercy and compassion He offers you and others the *chance* to be Saved. If you, however, choose not to be, then the punishment you receive is virtually Your Own, inflicted only by You, and not Him since He first gave you a Fair Chance through your free will to join Him. You will have no one else to blame for that but yourself, shatteredsoul. The simple truth is that you dig your own grave, then you lie in it. But then that would have been due to your own personal choice. And no, you won't be forced to enter Heaven and be with God when you choose not to be. No way that's ever going to happen! That's the beautiful part about God giving us Free Will in this matter. We can literally choose His Light along with All of His Love in Heaven, or complete and total darkness! But you can't have it both ways, Biblically speaking.
Through our mistakes and failures is where the real spiritual growth begins. So if we never sinned, how we would we ever learn? I think we were made flawed human beings because we were meant to make mistakes, sin and learn to be better on our own. NOt because we might be punished in the end. That is my view anyway.
