Being a very, very nervous flyer I think about death a lot whenever I fly and having matured a lot mentally since the last time I flew, which was quite a long time ago when I was a young teenager, I have started to think about death a lot lately.I was wondering, does it matter if you do not practice the Christian faith and die? If heaven and hell were to exist, would you go straight to hell for being a non believer?
Death In Christianity?
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I think we all think about death at some point or another.I'll answer your questions truthfully and bluntly.
I was wondering, does it matter if you do not practice the Christian faith and die? If heaven and hell were to exist, would you go straight to hell for being a non believer?
Yes, it does matter.2 Timothy 2:10Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.John 14:6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.There is no other way. No other religion, no other Gods, and certainly no other salvation for us.As far as the fate of nonbelievers, yes you can summarize it as going to Hell if you'd like. It gets a bit more complicated than that but those who are not with God will not see salvation. There are no second chances. You're either with God or against God.One last account from Jesus:Luke 13:23-2823 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
I was wondering, does it matter if you do not practice the Christian faith and die? If heaven and hell were to exist, would you go straight to hell for being a non believer?
Yes, it does matter.2 Timothy 2:10Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.John 14:6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.There is no other way. No other religion, no other Gods, and certainly no other salvation for us.As far as the fate of nonbelievers, yes you can summarize it as going to Hell if you'd like. It gets a bit more complicated than that but those who are not with God will not see salvation. There are no second chances. You're either with God or against God.One last account from Jesus:Luke 13:23-2823 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
(Sabre)
Being a very, very nervous flyer I think about death a lot whenever I fly and having matured a lot mentally since the last time I flew, which was quite a long time ago when I was a young teenager, I have started to think about death a lot lately.I was wondering, does it matter if you do not practice the Christian faith and die? If heaven and hell were to exist, would you go straight to hell for being a non believer?
Sabrefirst lets define Christain faith:Christianity is not a religion it is simply a belief in the reality of One God,the God of the bible,and accept an believe Jesus Christ as the only begotten son of God.If you accept the above statements to be true,than you try to live your life by following Gods Laws,better known as the "ten commandments". if you fail and sin ( break the law ) and are truly sorry in your heart youneed only ask God in the name of Christ (who already paid the price for you sins) to forgive you and the sin is forgotten.If you beleive all the above with your whole mind and heart you are a Christain....there are no other requirements.This is why you can become a Christain seconds before you die as the criminals that were crusified along side Jesus did.That being said if you want to know God better you can read the bible,think of it as a letter he wrote you,you can still love him without reading his letter but reading it might make you love him more.Religion is when you decide to follow certain rules to show your faith in him outwardly,such as going to church every Sunday.This can be helpful in better getting to understand God and seeing how he works in the lifes of others, but is not required to be a Christain.This is also why there is no so called right religion if a religion teaches the above truth it is a right religion it is the man made rules(interpitations of scripture) of any particular church that people argue about.Hope this answers some questions for you God Blesskriss
Being a very, very nervous flyer I think about death a lot whenever I fly and having matured a lot mentally since the last time I flew, which was quite a long time ago when I was a young teenager, I have started to think about death a lot lately.I was wondering, does it matter if you do not practice the Christian faith and die? If heaven and hell were to exist, would you go straight to hell for being a non believer?
Sabrefirst lets define Christain faith:Christianity is not a religion it is simply a belief in the reality of One God,the God of the bible,and accept an believe Jesus Christ as the only begotten son of God.If you accept the above statements to be true,than you try to live your life by following Gods Laws,better known as the "ten commandments". if you fail and sin ( break the law ) and are truly sorry in your heart youneed only ask God in the name of Christ (who already paid the price for you sins) to forgive you and the sin is forgotten.If you beleive all the above with your whole mind and heart you are a Christain....there are no other requirements.This is why you can become a Christain seconds before you die as the criminals that were crusified along side Jesus did.That being said if you want to know God better you can read the bible,think of it as a letter he wrote you,you can still love him without reading his letter but reading it might make you love him more.Religion is when you decide to follow certain rules to show your faith in him outwardly,such as going to church every Sunday.This can be helpful in better getting to understand God and seeing how he works in the lifes of others, but is not required to be a Christain.This is also why there is no so called right religion if a religion teaches the above truth it is a right religion it is the man made rules(interpitations of scripture) of any particular church that people argue about.Hope this answers some questions for you God Blesskriss
(Sabre)
Being a very, very nervous flyer I think about death a lot whenever I fly and having matured a lot mentally since the last time I flew, which was quite a long time ago when I was a young teenager, I have started to think about death a lot lately.I was wondering, does it matter if you do not practice the Christian faith and die? If heaven and hell were to exist, would you go straight to hell for being a non believer?
NOW THAT YOU KNOW THE TRUTH...............WHY NOT INVITE JESUS INTO YOUR HEART..........? TODAY?ITS EASY THE THIEF ON THE CROSS SAID 9 WORDS............LUKE 23: 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.SALVATION IS FREE ONLY ASK..............TO RECIEVE....JESUS PAID THE COST...............1 Corinthians 7:23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.GOD BLESS
Being a very, very nervous flyer I think about death a lot whenever I fly and having matured a lot mentally since the last time I flew, which was quite a long time ago when I was a young teenager, I have started to think about death a lot lately.I was wondering, does it matter if you do not practice the Christian faith and die? If heaven and hell were to exist, would you go straight to hell for being a non believer?
NOW THAT YOU KNOW THE TRUTH...............WHY NOT INVITE JESUS INTO YOUR HEART..........? TODAY?ITS EASY THE THIEF ON THE CROSS SAID 9 WORDS............LUKE 23: 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.SALVATION IS FREE ONLY ASK..............TO RECIEVE....JESUS PAID THE COST...............1 Corinthians 7:23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.GOD BLESS
Hey all, first time poster. Saw this thread and thought I might chime in. First off, I agree with above posts.On the subject of what happens when you die, mainstream modern Evangelicals still hold to the theological (and Biblical) concept of the "intermediate state" between death and the Resurrection. It's just that your average believer has never heard of it from the pulpit and it's glossed over in most eschatalogical teaching. This theology is based on the old Hebrew "sheol" or "the grave" and on the Greek "hades" often incorrectly translated as "hell". So, unless you died right at the moment of the Rapture, you would find yourself in "hades" or "paradise" experiencing a foretaste of your final destination (Heaven or Hell - See Luke 16, the rich man and Lazarus) while you await the Resurrection. This is not "limbo" or Purgatory, nor is it "soul sleep".
(Phronesis)
Hey all, first time poster. Saw this thread and thought I might chime in. First off, I agree with above posts.On the subject of what happens when you die, mainstream modern Evangelicals still hold to the theological (and Biblical) concept of the "intermediate state" between death and the Resurrection. It's just that your average believer has never heard of it from the pulpit and it's glossed over in most eschatalogical teaching. This theology is based on the old Hebrew "sheol" or "the grave" and on the Greek "hades" often incorrectly translated as "hell". So, unless you died right at the moment of the Rapture, you would find yourself in "hades" or "paradise" experiencing a foretaste of your final destination (Heaven or Hell - See Luke 16, the rich man and Lazarus) while you await the Resurrection. This is not "limbo" or Purgatory, nor is it "soul sleep".
PhoronesisGlad to have on our boardkriss
Hey all, first time poster. Saw this thread and thought I might chime in. First off, I agree with above posts.On the subject of what happens when you die, mainstream modern Evangelicals still hold to the theological (and Biblical) concept of the "intermediate state" between death and the Resurrection. It's just that your average believer has never heard of it from the pulpit and it's glossed over in most eschatalogical teaching. This theology is based on the old Hebrew "sheol" or "the grave" and on the Greek "hades" often incorrectly translated as "hell". So, unless you died right at the moment of the Rapture, you would find yourself in "hades" or "paradise" experiencing a foretaste of your final destination (Heaven or Hell - See Luke 16, the rich man and Lazarus) while you await the Resurrection. This is not "limbo" or Purgatory, nor is it "soul sleep".
PhoronesisGlad to have on our boardkriss
Phronesis you've hit the nail on the head, and welcome aboard!Here's my best attempt at an explanation for this. Number one, we have to first recognize that God exists outside of our time. He's not constrained by seconds, minutes, hours, years, and so on. Hence the reason Peter told us:2 Peter 3:8But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.Now, this is where things get difficult to put words around, so please bare with me. We've established that God "lives" (exists) outside of our own timeframe. Well here's the kicker. When people die now as well as in the past and even in the future, they're going to rise first as we all know:1 Thessalonians 4:16For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:We also were told by the same author:2 Corinthians 5:8We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.To be absent from the body (death) results in being present with the Lord. There is indeed no purgatory or place of limbo. Our bodies return to dust, but our soul goes to the Lord to whom it belongs in the first place.This is to say, that when we die, we are no longer subject to the time - I believe with all my heart that when we die, our souls go right to God's judgement which exists outside of this world and its time constraints. This means that these dead in Christ go to the Final Judgement because God is timeless! It's an incredibly hard concept to grasp, but so is God's awesome power.
Thanks SwampFox. Great board!As one of my close brothers in Christ says to me sometimes, "I agree with you completely, except for the part where I disgree."I agree it is clear that God transcends time and as author of it, is able to interact in past, present and future where he wishes. I would like to believe that we are ushered immediately to the Resurrection and subsequent Judgement if it weren't for a few places in Scripture that I can't reconcile with that theology. First is back to Luke 16. In every parable in the NT, Jesus let's his audience know he is about to speak a parable. He doesn't do this in this one story about the rich man and Lazarus, which increases the likelihood that it's not a parable. The story indicates that these two characters are in an intermediate state and could interact with their family members on earth in present time, if it were allowed.The second is Revelation 6:9-11. "9When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" 11Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed. "The last reason I struggle with the idea that time "fast forwards" to the Resurrection is that I can't find any place in Scripture to support it.So I get asked about how I reconcile death, God and time and my answer is, "who knows?" All I know is what he's told us and the rest is a mystery, right?
Thank you.First off, fair enough. Anyone who knows me knows that I want the person to make the ultimate decision and listen to God as much as possible on it. That truly gladdens my heart.As I said, this is a truly difficult concept to explain. Much of it relies on my own beliefs and it's admittedly impossible to absolutely prove by Scripture at this point; though I do believe God's Word to hint at it. That's why I'm putting it forth as simply an idea and not some doctrine or lesson. I agree that we don't quite know and I think we'll both agree that this is no major issue about being a Christian. It's just one of those little perks a few blessed individuals might have.I guess what I'm trying to say in order for it to fit in with Revelation 6 there (and by the way I do believe we're on that 5th seal spoken of there but that's another topic for another day) I'm trying to convey this idea of no time outside of our own in that these people are ushered ahead (to fit our understanding though that's not quite how it works) to the time but in a way they are not. I don't believe we all magically arrive there at the same time (as in poof) but that it fits the description of 1 Thessalonians 4:16 where the dead do get there first.It's also interesting to note a tiny passage by Paul:2 Corinthians 12:2I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth
such an one caught up to the third heaven.This is a prime example of God's abilities here that often gets overlooked. It's obvious here that God pulled back the covers and let Paul see that new heaven and new earth spoken of in Revelation 21:1.Revelation 21:1And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
such an one caught up to the third heaven.This is a prime example of God's abilities here that often gets overlooked. It's obvious here that God pulled back the covers and let Paul see that new heaven and new earth spoken of in Revelation 21:1.Revelation 21:1And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.Well said SF.
(SwampFox;2001)
I think we'll both agree that this is no major issue about being a Christian. [/I]
I completely agree, this thread just caught my eye b/c I'd spent a lot of time on the subject back when I was in school.My family (sans me) is driving on a trip toGrandma's house in Nashville, TN today. I'm staying back to work (NC) for a few days. One of my 5 year old girls asked me why I couldn't drive to work from Grandma's house each day so we could all be together. Despite my best explanation, I could tell she didn't really get that it would involve 18 hours a day of driving and there would be no time left for me to work or sleep. I think that's how it is with us and God's mysteries. We just can't get them. Our minds can't get around the concepts and even if they could, our language couldn't describe them.Ecc. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.We know it exists, we just can't explain it.
I think we'll both agree that this is no major issue about being a Christian. [/I]
I completely agree, this thread just caught my eye b/c I'd spent a lot of time on the subject back when I was in school.My family (sans me) is driving on a trip toGrandma's house in Nashville, TN today. I'm staying back to work (NC) for a few days. One of my 5 year old girls asked me why I couldn't drive to work from Grandma's house each day so we could all be together. Despite my best explanation, I could tell she didn't really get that it would involve 18 hours a day of driving and there would be no time left for me to work or sleep. I think that's how it is with us and God's mysteries. We just can't get them. Our minds can't get around the concepts and even if they could, our language couldn't describe them.Ecc. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.We know it exists, we just can't explain it.
No, you will not straightaway go to hell Sabre, rather as a non believer you will go straight to Hades where Abraham and the rich man are! (Luke 16:19-31).
Should you read this passage carefully you will realize that it is not as some say a parable; because it mentions names such as Abrahm, Lazarus and Hades, it is a story used by the Saviour as an illustrative answer to the money-loving and self-justifying Pharisees (v v. 14-15); it is a warning to them, unveiling that their future will be miserable, like that of the rich man, as a result of their rejecting of the Saviour's gospel because of their love for money.
In verse 26 we see a gulf divides Hades into two sections: the pleasant section, where Abraham, Lazarus, and all the saved saints are (v. 22), and the second of torment, where the rich man and all the perished sinners are (v v. 23a, 28), The two sections are cut off from each other and have no bridge between them for passaage. Yet those in the two sections can see and even talk to one another (v v. 23-25).
Abraham, refers to the law of Moses and the prophets in verse 19 (cf.v. 16) which are the word of God (Matt. 4:4). Whether one hears the word of God or not determines whether one is saved or perishes. The poor man was saved not because he was poor but because he heard the word of God (John 5:24; Eph. 1:13). The rich man perished not because he was rich but because he rejected the word of God (Acts 13:46). In verse 31 we see that if one does not hear what the word of God says, they will not be persuaded even if someone miraculously rises from the dead. The Saviours words here implied that if we do not hear the word as spoken through Moses and the prophers in the Old Testament, they would not believe even if He should rise from the dead. This tragedy occurred after the Lord's resurrection. Matt. 28:11-15; Acts 13:30-40), 44-45)
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