What About Other Religions?

[Isick]

Isik, you are free to reject the fact that the New Testament is God's Word, but for those who believe it is precious. So I will continue to quote it.
Now, should you not agree with the content of my post, then maybe you could repudiate it and give us what you purport to be the truth, as that would be genuine fellowship?
Thanks Isik!

I do not mean to question your devotion to Christ, but a true Christian recognizes that the Bible is not God's word. God neither wrote nor narrated the New Testament as He did with the Old Testament and it (the New Testament) was not written by a prophet - it was written by apostles of Christ.

How do I know this is true? It says so in the very book you are quoting to be God's word:
John 1:14 - The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
Jesus is the Word, the New Testament is a book about Jesus (written mostly by Paul and the apostles without divine intervention or narration). The New Testament is no more God's Word than my American History book is George Washington.

Now I am not suggesting that the New Testament lies in anyway nor that it was written with malicious intent, but you should not claim the teachings therein to be divine or timeless. I do not understand how Christians can say they "know" that Muslims and Jews are destined for Hell because they do not accept Jesus when it is a mortal telling them.

As for what I believe, I believe all people are destined for Heaven - you just need to learn how important God is before you can truly accept him. How do you realize how important He is? Well you must spend time without him (for separation from God is surely the definition of Hell) and I repeat my citation from my last post as my evidence:
(Deuteronomy 4:30) When you are distressed, and all these things happen upon you in the end of days, then you will return to the Lord your God and obey Him.
(Deuteronomy 4:31) For the Lord your God is a merciful God; He will not let you loose or destroy you; neither will He forget the covenant of your fathers, which He swore to them.

In other words, when you realize the mistakes you made and you turn back to God with all your heart and soul; surely then He will turn to you. This is a process everyone will undergo either in life or in death.

 

[jerryjohnson]

I do not mean to ...or in death.

I totally disagree with this post, but I do agree with your name if you believe this , "you are sick!"

 

[rob]

Isik

John 1:14 - The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
Jesus is the Word, the New Testament is a book about Jesus (written mostly by Paul and the apostles without divine intervention or narration). The New Testament is no more God's Word than my American History book is George Washington.


2 Timothy 3:16 ALL scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.


This indicates that the Scripture, the word of God, is the breathing out of God. God’s speaking is God’s breathing out. Hence, His word is spirit (John 6:63), or breath. Thus, the Scripture is the embodiment of God as the Spirit. The Spirit is therefore the very essence, the substance, of the Scripture, just as phosphorus is the essential substance in matches. We must strike the Spirit of the Scripture with our spirit to catch the divine fire.
As the embodiment of God the Spirit, the Scripture (God’s word) is also the embodiment of Christ. Christ is God’s living Word (Rev. 19:13), and the Scripture is God’s written word (Matt. 4:4).

 

[rob]

Isik said:

a true Christian recognizes that the Bible is not God's word. God neither wrote nor narrated the New Testament as He did with the Old Testament and it (the New Testament) was not written by a prophet - it was written by apostles of Christ.

How do I know this is true? It says so in the very book you are quoting to be God's word

John 1:14 - The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
Jesus is the Word, the New Testament is a book about Jesus (written mostly by Paul and the apostles without divine intervention or narration). The New Testament is no more God's Word than my American History book is George Washington.



The answer from the Word of God.

2 Timothy 3:16 ALL scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.


This indicates that the Scripture, the word of God, is the breathing out of God. God’s speaking is God’s breathing out. Hence, His word is spirit (John 6:63), or breath. Thus, the Scripture is the embodiment of God as the Spirit. The Spirit is therefore the very essence, the substance, of the Scripture, just as phosphorus is the essential substance in matches. We must strike the Spirit of the Scripture with our spirit to catch the divine fire.
As the embodiment of God the Spirit, the Scripture (God’s word) is also the embodiment of Christ. Christ is God’s living Word (Rev. 19:13), and the Scripture is God’s written word (Matt. 4:4).

 

[Miss Hepburn]

Isick,
I didn't realize you were still around and this thread was still going.
You said,

"I suppose I question the idea of "justification through faith alone". I believe that God loves all of his children and so Jesus would have died to pay the price for all of their sins because, after all, the purpose of Christ was to pay for the sins that are otherwise unpayable. Well, what better way to do that than to have Christ's death be entirely unconditional? And I cite Mathew 9:10 as my evidence. Christ served those that needed him most, and who needs Christ in their life more than he that is without Christ? Should we forget the price Christ payed? No! But we should realize that the gift remains, even if the recipient refuses to acknowledge from where it came. It is because of this I believe Christ's gift is all encompassing and that all man will have a seat at the table of God."

I am following your thinking and believe it is coming from not only a thinking man, but from a smart one.
Not only a smart thinking man - but someone who may have had a personal experience of God's All Encompassing Love and
has seen the following of the "letter", as Benoni likes to say so often, may not be exacly where it is at - for many reasons.

When a person has experienced profoundly the depth of the Father's Love - it is indeed impossible to imagine that we are not all going upstream
to the same place. Some may divert into a creek or end up temporarity in the sewer system - but we are eventually all going to the same place.

His mercy and love is too immense for me to think otherwise! I believe, if I am reading you correctly, this is where you are coming from.

Why, by reading your posts, it has made me think that it is like a" trap or test" - one must have heard of Jesus and then believe in Him and all in order to make it home to the Father!... why would the Father do such a thing to some African teenager in the depths of the back country ----"Sorry, I sent my Son - but, you were in some little non English speaking village -so, darn ---eternal hell is for you. Sorry, my child." Doesn't make sense to a "thinking" person with a brain and a heart for understandng the Creator.

Miss Hepburn

 

[Isick]

jerryjohnson wrote:
I totally disagree with this post, but I do agree with your name if you believe this , "you are sick!"


You're right, I am sick - I am sick of being told that my beliefs (knowledge revealed to me by God while reading His books) are false... I prayed before and after reading the Scripture, prayed for clarity and guidance, and my heart was solidified on its path. Now I attend church and am told the information God filled my bones with is wrong!? That I have yet to feel His grace?

You want to tell me I don't know my God? Hah!

The answer from the Word of God.

2 Timothy 3:16 ALL scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.


This indicates that the Scripture, the word of God, is the breathing out of God. God’s speaking is God’s breathing out. Hence, His word is spirit (John 6:63), or breath. Thus, the Scripture is the embodiment of God as the Spirit. The Spirit is therefore the very essence, the substance, of the Scripture, just as phosphorus is the essential substance in matches. We must strike the Spirit of the Scripture with our spirit to catch the divine fire.
As the embodiment of God the Spirit, the Scripture (God’s word) is also the embodiment of Christ. Christ is God’s living Word (Rev. 19:13), and the Scripture is God’s written word (Matt. 4:4).

If ALL scripture is God-breathed then I am again faced with the question of why are Jews and Muslims - men and women who follow the scripture of God (the ONE God) - destined to be punished in hell? Surely you see this.


Miss Hepburn, you do indeed see my point of view. Life is temporary and is a time for growing and educating the soul. The children of God that go astray in this life will be herded in the next - and will surely return wiser and more appreciative for having known a life without God than would be he who never left God's loving embrace.

 

[tengrits]

I attended a local christian outreach program and had the chance to ask some questions to some local Christians. Here is what I concluded:
- You must believe in Christ
- You must believe he died for your sins
- You must believe he was God.
That seemed easy enough, but when I asked them, "Will observant Jews and Muslims sit with God in heaven?" many of them found it hard to say no.

So now I pose my question to the Educated Christians at this forum. Keeping in mind that they prostrate before the same God as Christians, will an observant Jew or devout Muslim be invited into a Heaven?

Thanks

There is one God, and you must love Him and worship Him only.
To continue to be a Muslim or Jew, when you have accepted Christ into your heart, means that you deny Jesus; and God's commandments.
God is the only one that can judge weather or not you will be invited to heaven. As a christian, you are not to judge.
God is a just God, and His decisions are just and righteous. We are to love and trust in Him as Christians.
If a Christian has a difficult time trying to answer this question, maybe it is because they are unsure of their own knowledge of the word. If you have knowledge of the word that another christian or even non-christian does not, it is our duty as christians to point them in the right direction through scripture. It is up to the person as weather or not they will accept the word, but at least you did as the Lord commanded of us.

 

[TallMan]

Hi Isick, what you & yr friends call Christian, I and my friends call "other religions", or what Paul would call "another Jesus" (2 Cor. 11:3-4) since you have a different salvation message and experience to that of all Jesus' disciples (see Acts 2:4, 33-39), so your worship is not "true" because it is not "in Spirit and in truth" (John 4:23-24). I know that's "controvertial" so you can PM me if you prefer.

Here's one of many testimonies I could share to demonstrate the point. It's from an older brother who hails from another age (last century):


"I was born and raised in the Blue Mountains of NSW (Australia) where I frew up on the family farm. From about 6 years of age, I had a deep awareness of God and a desire to follow him. On our farm my grandparents had built a church and I took it upon myself to keep it clean, get rid of the mice that his in the organ and so on! I attended as many services as I could (It was a Church of England).

As I grew up I was never quite satisfied with the Church. I cvould see form the bible that God's children enjoyed a lot more closeness to him than I did. So, after 30 years, I joined the Mission arm of the C of E believing this would bring me closer to him.

I became a full-time church worker for 5 years in the Kimberleys of WA. Here I was a missionary - supposedly telling others how to find God - and yet I still did not feel any closer to him myself!

We left there and ended up in Geraldton. I decided to leave the C of E. The Salvation Army seemed pretty active to I joined them. I was very busy in their "outreach" but, again, after 10 years of this I was left feeling disillusioned.

When we moved down to Mandurah I was 63 and decided to give up looking for God in the churches. God would have to find me.

After 12 months of just praying at home and reading my Bible, someone from the Revival Fellowship put a leaflet in my letterbox. I went to the advertised meeting and was amazed to hear for the first time such a simple salvation message: repent, be baptised and receive the Holy Spirit". It seemed too easy but I was baptised soon after. I prayed for about 3 months (I must have said a million Hallelujahs!) until finally I was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. It was something that you can't explain to someone that hasn't experienced it. It was pure peace and joy."

 

[jiggyfly]

I attended a local christian outreach program and had the chance to ask some questions to some local Christians. Here is what I concluded:
- You must believe in Christ
- You must believe he died for your sins
- You must believe he was God.
That seemed easy enough, but when I asked them, "Will observant Jews and Muslims sit with God in heaven?" many of them found it hard to say no.

So now I pose my question to the Educated Christians at this forum. Keeping in mind that they prostrate before the same God as Christians, will an observant Jew or devout Muslim be invited into a Heaven?

Thanks

No.

 

[jos681]

No Jew believes that - if they do then they are Christians.


Muslims believe Jesus lived and was a prophet (he is quoted in the Qur'an), but they believe he did not die on the cross and therefore could not have died for their sins. They believe each man is responsible for his own actions and will be held accountable.


When you refer to god/deity does that include the father? IE: when Christ returns and you refuse to bow to him, but instead bow to the Father (the one who sent him) are you still destined to be condemned? Because I know both Jews and Muslim pray to the God of Abraham (Christ's father), but claim that he is One God. Jews say Shema and Muslims say Shahada, both of which refer to God as being One Deity. So does that still count as placing another before Christ?

I just don't see why the Father cannot be an equally valid way in this trouble world, why is the Son the only way?

Thank you for your patience as I question.

Isick, I don't think that you understand why Jesus came to this world. You asked why is the son the only way? I will attempt to explain. As we all know , the trouble started in the Garden of Eden. When Adam did not listen to God and partook of the fruit of the tree. From that point on, sin and everything connected to the works of sin, (lust, greed, lies, etc. etc. , ) became into being. God cast these people out of the Garden and into a land called Nod. A curse was placed upon them, Adam had to get their food by the sweat of his brow. (work) and Eve was cursed with the woman's monthly period and a travailing in child birth. Satan was put face down into the dust of the earth. "On thy belly thou shall go and dust of the earth thou shall eat." Man started being sinful upon the earth and it grew and grew. One day God could not look upon it any longer and brought a flood upon the earth and destroyed all mankind. (with the exception of Noah and his family). Noah was an upright and rightous man before God. When Adam was forced out of the Garden, mankind was placed under a bondage. In other words, people could not commune with God in the cool of the day any more. Man stayed under bondage until the day of Christ . While they were under a bondage, God would speak only to certain people called seerers or prophets. He would tell theses prophets what to tell the people. Their sins could only be covered once a year by the killing of animals (sacrifices upon the alter of Testimony) (Moses). Blood was sprinkled behind the curtain that contained the Holy of Holies. (The Golden Ark). Man had to have his sins covered once a year until the man called "Jesus" came on the scene. Jesus was the final sacrifice for mankind. Man no longer needed the blood of bulls and goats etc. to cleanse them of their sins. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Ghost. (Matt: 1-20) The only man in the world that could wash away a man's sins. Not just cover, but wash away.He was without spot or blemish. He who knew no sin took upon himself sin that all who believes in him and follows him is saved from sin. He took Adam's place. Adam was a perfect and upright man until he disobeyed. Jesus took up where he left off and got rid of the sin that Adam had brought into the world. If you believe on Jesus and follow him then sin can not come upon you. Now I have only highlighted these things that i have just said. There is much much more to it than i have said here. I am sure that i will get some kickbacks on this , but it is all in the Holy Bible. One must SEEK and ye shall find. KNOCK. and it shall be opened to you. ASK. and ye shall receive. God Bless you my friend, I hope that i have helped some way.

 

[logabe]

Isick,
I didn't realize you were still around and this thread was still going.
You said,


I am following your thinking and believe it is coming from not only a thinking man, but from a smart one.
Not only a smart thinking man - but someone who may have had a personal experience of God's All Encompassing Love and
has seen the following of the "letter", as Benoni likes to say so often, may not be exacly where it is at - for many reasons.

When a person has experienced profoundly the depth of the Father's Love - it is indeed impossible to imagine that we are not all going upstream
to the same place. Some may divert into a creek or end up temporarity in the sewer system - but we are eventually all going to the same place.

His mercy and love is too immense for me to think otherwise! I believe, if I am reading you correctly, this is where you are coming from.

Why, by reading your posts, it has made me think that it is like a" trap or test" - one must have heard of Jesus and then believe in Him and all in order to make it home to the Father!... why would the Father do such a thing to some African teenager in the depths of the back country ----"

Sorry, I sent my Son - but, you were in some little non English speaking village -so, darn ---eternal hell is for you. Sorry, my child." Doesn't make sense to a "thinking" person with a brain and a heart for understandng the Creator.

Miss Hepburn

Now that will knock some religion out of you...it's called reasoning. I agree
totally with Miss Hepburn and Isick... God is much bigger than what we can
comprehend. He will not leave His Creation in vanity. How can an all Loving,
and "All merciful " God leave one person that He died for in the pits of hell. I
think we are missing something if we believe that.

Logabe

 

[[email protected]]

I attended a local christian outreach program and had the chance to ask some questions to some local Christians. Here is what I concluded:
- You must believe in Christ
- You must believe he died for your sins
- You must believe he was God.
That seemed easy enough, but when I asked them, "Will observant Jews and Muslims sit with God in heaven?" many of them found it hard to say no.

So now I pose my question to the Educated Christians at this forum. Keeping in mind that they prostrate before the same God as Christians, will an observant Jew or devout Muslim be invited into a Heaven?

Thanks

The answer is and always will be NO.

Justification before God is not dependent upon human actions. All of the Bible teaches this.
Men are justified before God only by His blood shed upon the cross for us.

All of history is a sad reflection of humanity justifying its crimes to itself.
All of the Bible is a glorious declaration of the salvation that God offers to men.

Take it or leave it, but don't fool yourself with phony righteousness.
It is better to live like hell than to exist in pretended holiness.
God doesn't buy it, why should you?

 

[WhiteKnuckle]

Hey Delete!

Obviously you have some faith in some sort of "Higher Power" and you pray and are seeking answers. That's great! We're all familiar with the verse "Seek and ye shall find". I'm not sure if I can answer all your questions and I'm not trying to do "better" than anyone else here. My knowledge is limited compared to many who have already posted, but I do have some thoughts that might help understandings on some of your questions. If possible I'd like to address 1 or 2 at a time indepth before we keep moving on. (although I may give quick answers on this post, I'd still like to address starting from the top all of the questions indepth to avoid confusion)


You asked.

Why is Christianity the only Abrahamic religion that believes Heaven is reserved for them?
Why didn't Jesus die on the cross for all mankind; doesn't God loves all men equally? (Romans 3:29)
Why is man punished eternally for a finite time spent sinning?
If Jesus was the Messiah why are only a handful of prophecies fulfilled? Why didn't he fulfill them ALL?
What did Jesus do that made him different than any other prophet?
- He performed Miracles? So did Elijah!
- He Raised the dead? So did Elisha!
- He Was punished for the sins of His people? So was Moses!
Have you ever wondered why the only synoptic gospel that doesn't fit the other three is John - and it just happens to be the one most quoted by Christians as proof of Christ's divinity?
Why is Paul so willing to denounce those that ask for proof when he himself required divine intervention to "see the light."
Why do Christians believe some commandments are relevant and others are not? You no longer have to keep the Sabbath holy, but you DO have to void lust?
Why do Christians no longer follow the 613 Commandments when it clearly says "Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law." (Romans 3:31)

Why is Christianity the only Abrahamic religion that believes Heaven is reserved for them?
It's not. LOL, most religions believe they're the only ones going to heaven. Jews don't believe Christians will and I'm not sure what exactly Muslims think, but from what little I understand, they don't think so either.

Why didn't Jesus die on the cross for all mankind; doesn't God loves all men equally? (Romans 3:29)
The verse you quoted is dealing with a different subject. Salvation through works (observing the Law) vs Salvation through faith. (Believing in Jesus) This subject of Law vs Faith is very long and drawn out. But, for the context of your question I do believe that God loves all men. One verse 2 Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." This chapter is talking about the "last days" where people will scoff and ask where the return of Jesus is. And, it's letting us know that the Lord is not being slow, and that he will return, but he's giving time for everyone to repent. There are many more verses so this is one subject I'd like to address more indepth with you. But, I need to find some more verses that also explain this.

Why is man punished eternally for a finite time spent sinning?
This question will be addressed along with the previous. It seems to me to be tied into it. Admittedly, I often felt that eternal damnation was fairly harsh. But,t here's alot we don't understand and there's many viewpoints on this. One thing I'll add at this time is this. Hell and the Lake of Fire weren't created for man. It was created for Satan and his fallen angels. However, if it was created for them, and if we don't follow God the Bible claims that we follow Satan and therefore are condemned to his alotted place. But, in the same sense, God has provided a way for us to have Salvation and we didn't have to do anything at all. God knew what was going to happen and as He promised provided a way out for us. My next post I'll address this subject entertwined with the previous question.

He performed Miracles? So did Elijah!
So did all the apostles. So did moses and many others. But who exactly did they perform those miracles through? Could a mere man of his own lay hands on the sick or raise the dead? We don't even have the ablility to cure the common cold.

He Was punished for the sins of His people? So was Moses!
Moses was punished for his own sins and was banished from the promised land. He disobeyed God. However, Moses was also the High Priest. He was charged with the his people, it was his responsiblility to make attonement and to enforce the laws of God with his people.

Have you ever wondered why the only synoptic gospel that doesn't fit the other three is John - and it just happens to be the one most quoted by Christians as proof of Christ's divinity?
I never noticed it doesn't fit. But, now that you mention it, the Verse Romans 3:29, the verse that you quoted, also says Jesus is God, if you read the first few verses, you'll see in context. But, we'll come back to this too.

Why is Paul so willing to denounce those that ask for proof when he himself required divine intervention to "see the light."
Paul was a man of Faith devout to God. As far as he was concerned he was doing the will of God and killing those who were God's enemies. (sound familiar). Paul didn't seek a sign from God. God chose Paul and revealed Himself to Paul. And, if you notice Paul obeyed what the Lord said with no question. He was blinded, told to do certain things and He did. The people Paul referred to are the People that should've believed but rejected Jesus because of their supposed lack of proof.

Why do Christians believe some commandments are relevant and others are not? You no longer have to keep the Sabbath holy, but you DO have to void lust?
Why do Christians no longer follow the 613 Commandments when it clearly says "Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law." (Romans 3:31) [/quote]
Kind of just one question here. There's a huge debate over this with alot of Christians. Some actually do follow all of the laws except for the Law of Sacrifice which they believe that Jesus has fullfilled that Law so it's not needed. And, this also goes alone with the Romans 3:29 verse.

As I said, I'll come back to the first 2 questions later this weekend. These are just some of my immediate thoughts reading these questions. My answers aren't indepth by anymeans I appologize for this. I'm not good a remembering exactly what verse and chapter or book says what in the Bible, my mind doesn't work that way for some reason. It will take me a little time to find them so I can give you something tangeable. Another thing, I'm not meaning to speak for every believer these will be just what I understand and what I feel the Lord has explained to me (either by revealing wisdom to myself personally or by revealing wisdom through others whith greater understanding)

 

[WhiteKnuckle]

Sorry, I forgot to reply this weekend like I said I would. However,,, since this is over a year old,,,,, I'll finish this later.

 

[brionne]

I attended a local christian outreach program and had the chance to ask some questions to some local Christians. Here is what I concluded:
- You must believe in Christ
- You must believe he died for your sins
- You must believe he was God.
That seemed easy enough, but when I asked them, "Will observant Jews and Muslims sit with God in heaven?" many of them found it hard to say no.

So now I pose my question to the Educated Christians at this forum. Keeping in mind that they prostrate before the same God as Christians, will an observant Jew or devout Muslim be invited into a Heaven?

Thanks

there is a really simple answer to this question and its found in the conversation that Jesus had with the Samaritan woman at the well. He indicated that the days of the 'formal worship' of God were coming to an end and the only way to worship God would be with spirit and truth.

John 4:14 Whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty at all, but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water bubbling up to impart everlasting life.” ...19 The woman said to him: “Sir, I perceive you are a prophet. 20 Our forefathers worshiped in this mountain; but YOU people say that in Jerusalem is the place where persons ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her: “Believe me, woman, The hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will YOU people worship the Father. ...23 Nevertheless, the hour is coming, and it is now, when the true worshipers will worship the Father with spirit and truth, for, indeed, the Father is looking for suchlike ones to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit, and those worshiping him must worship with spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him: “I know that Mes‧si′ah is coming, who is called Christ. Whenever that one arrives, he will declare all things to us openly.” 26 Jesus said to her: “I who am speaking to you am he.”

The spirit and truth that Jesus spoke of came through himself therefore the only way to be considered for heavenly life with Christ is to worship God through Christ....therefore, Christianity is the 'spirit and truth' that Jesus said was coming into the world.

But in saying that, there is plenty of room on this earth for people to inherit everlasting salvation and its that hope which the majority of mankind have held out to them through Christ.

 

[aspen]

I attended a local christian outreach program and had the chance to ask some questions to some local Christians. Here is what I concluded:
- You must believe in Christ
- You must believe he died for your sins
- You must believe he was God.
That seemed easy enough, but when I asked them, "Will observant Jews and Muslims sit with God in heaven?" many of them found it hard to say no.

So now I pose my question to the Educated Christians at this forum. Keeping in mind that they prostrate before the same God as Christians, will an observant Jew or devout Muslim be invited into a Heaven?

Thanks

This is an important question. God is a merciful God and it would seem to me that the condition of the heart is what He is interested in. Indeed, doctrine does not save. Yet, entering into a loving relationship with Christ is the only way to salvation. I agree with CS Lewis, that other religions are almost right. So I tend to lean on God's mercy to answer this question for myself - I believe that people who are sanctified in love - no matter which doctrinal background they are immersed in, have the capacity to love Christ, even if they are not aware of it. God maybe sanctifying their hearts and preparing them for eternal life through His Grace and mercy and the work of His Son on the Cross. Of course, we cannot know for sure, but I will always lean on the side of mercy and grace

 

[[email protected]]

I attended a local christian outreach program and had the chance to ask some questions to some local Christians. Here is what I concluded:
- You must believe in Christ
- You must believe he died for your sins
- You must believe he was God.
That seemed easy enough, but when I asked them, "Will observant Jews and Muslims sit with God in heaven?" many of them found it hard to say no.

So now I pose my question to the Educated Christians at this forum. Keeping in mind that they prostrate before the same God as Christians, will an observant Jew or devout Muslim be invited into a Heaven?

Thanks

Much has been debated elsewhere about Jesus being the only way to salvation. I'll not belabor that point here.

One part of your question appears to have remained unanswered and I'll try to address that now.
You said that you attended a local outreach program during which you said some there found it hard to affirm that Christianity is the only way to God.

"Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God." -James 4:4

The problem with many church folk today is that they think simply being a good example, or being a friendly fellow is sufficient to advance the gospel.

It isn't.

This is the root problem with the social gospel. It has no backbone.
As Christians we are called to warn others of the judgment which is to come and especially of the love of God which is available.

A personal relationship with God is NOT automatic. It requires a personal encounter with God and a personal decision to surrender to His Lordship in our lives.

Anything else is just thin soup.

Complicated theological concepts and passing acknowledgment do not a relationship make.

It doesn't work with men and women and it certainly doesn't work with God.

God is a jealous god. He will not allow the mingling of the gospel with wordly wisdom and neither will He honor the efforts of those who try to enter heaven by a side door.