How do you stop being so scared of going to hell?

Question

If you're a Christian and you know God forgives you of your sins, but sometimes afraid you'll go to hell because you've been a bad person every now and then?

How do you know if God hasn't forgiven you?

Answer 1

Are you really sorry? Now - imagine you are a judge, and say somebody told you some stuff and was genuinely sorry about it. Would you forgive them, or send them to hell?

You already know your answer. Why should God's be any different?

God is NOT a monster. He wants to save you. He died an agonizing death to save you, in fact. He didn't do this because it was fun, or even because he wanted to. He did it because he loved you.

Do you think after all that, he'd still send you to hell?

"God is love" the apostle John tells us. Believe him - the apostle is telling the truth, which is why his gospel account says, "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him." (John 3:17)

Answer 2

Because He promised to forgive you if you truly have repented. He knws what's in your heart and if you are truly sorry, He will forgive you. After all He does not lie and can't so have faith in His word. Being scared of Hell is what motivates some to not sin. If there was no hell would you care about your sin? Probably not. So every person is a sinner and needs help in not doing it and if you find yourself thinking" oh crap, I just did that against my Lord, I feel horrible", God has already heard the thought before you've even asked for forgiveness. I think it's pretty cool you care!

Answer 3

That's really hard because you just can't believe He can forgive everything, but the scripture says He forgives ALL our sins, and continues to forgive us as we ask because we are not perfect and will continue to sin. What makes us a Christian is not being perfect, it's being forgiven. John 3:16 says whosoever believeth on Him, you are part of "whosoever" Jesus died for us while we were still sinners, He loved us that much. It also says "whosoever believeth" (that's you and me) shall have eternal life, how long is eternity? It's forever. Trust Him, He won't let you down. What He promises, He can do.

Answer 4

You can't know if God hasn't forgiven you, because it doesn't happen... Unforgiveness is a sin, and God doesn't sin... EVER. He is a loving God, and He doesn't look at what you have done, He looks at your heart motive. If you repent and truly mean it in your heart, it doesn't matter how many times you mess up, He will ALWAYS forgive you, no matter what...

Having said that, the word "repent" in the Greek means to "turn 180 degrees", so when you repent, you should do everything you can to get back on the path that God has for you... does that mean you can't mess up anymore? NO, you are human, of course you are going to mess up, but when you go 10 steps forward, and 2 steps back, guess what - you have still gained 8 steps and as long as you keep going forward, that's all that matters.

The Devil just wants to put fear in you so that you will think you are going to hell... if you have given it over to God, and asked for forgiveness, the Bible says that you have a clean slate:

"Therefore, there is now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..." Romans 8:1

So once you repent, forget about it and move on, God has and so should you... He loves you so much that he chooses to forget what it is that you have done wrong once you repent...

Answer 5

Pray and ask His forgiveness for the things you've done. Then carry on and be the best person you can be. Read the Bible and gain more knowledge. Talk to Him everyday...He loves you and forgives you...thank Him for your life and ask each day for the courage, strength and faith it takes to get through each day. God Bless You. Don't be afraid, be happy that you know a loving, patient, forgiving God.

Answer 6

One of The True Christian Faith is one who has come to God in The Way He proscribes and has received His free gift of Salvation. Once one has received that gift it is his for eternity.

I will give you a link to a page on my website about forgivness. This might help you. You will also be able to find on my site a page on Who is a Christian. You may browz aroud if you like.

Those who have the assurance of their Salvation need not fear hell... their place in Heaven is a confermed reservation marked Paid in Full by The Blood of Christ.

http://pages.zdnet.com/mikevanauken/outreach/id118.html

you will find a link at the bottom of the page to anothers question about forgivness


All honest seekers welcome

Answer 7

Simply get rid of this dumb brainwash religion who keeps threatening you!

The "Hell" was invented around 1300 years ago to scare the simple (uneducated) rural people in Europe into christianity. All the stories about fire, sulfites, forks and stuff, that is all rubbish and nonsense!

I feel very sorry for you if you really think your imaginary friend will drop you into a fire pitch. The only people who actually did put people into fire were the clergy people who burnt people of other faiths. They usually were wealthy, and they collected the property of the victims. Guess why the church is so rich today? From donations???

Answer 8

I understand EXACTLY what you are saying. I have been there. I still go there every once in a while. It is called doubt. We all doubt because we are all human and we know that we are not worthy of God's love. But, He gives us His love freely. When we begin to have these thoughts, just remember the criminal on the cross who was hanging by Jesus. We are that person and he went to heaven. When you doubt just look up at the heavens and thank God that He sent Jesus to die for our sins and ask Him for forgiveness.


The devil loves to make us doubt!

Answer 9

The reason you feel the way you do is because Christendom has taught you that hell is a place of eternal torment, but that is not what the Bible teaches. Is it reasonable that a God who is spoken of as a God of love would torture his imperfect creation forever without mercy? If you study God's Word you will come to know that hell is only the common grave. The Bible hell is where all souls or people go who die. Hell is where the dead are laid to rest.
How do we know that hell is the grave? Well, we can read many verses in God's Word that assures us of that fact. Here are but a few:
Psalm 139:8--"If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there." (If hell is a fiery,hot place of torture, would David think God (Psalms 83:18) would be there ?
Amos 9:2--"Though they dig into hell, From there My hand shall take them; Though they climb up to heaven, From there I will bring them down." ( Can you dig into fire? No, but you can dig into the earth and God can find you no matter where you try to hide.)
Jonah 2:2--"And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice." ( The belly of the fish would have been Jonah's grave, if God had not rescued him.)
Revelation 1:18--"I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." (Why would Jesus need keys to hell? Because the dead do not have to stay in hell forever; they can be resurrected back to life.)
Psalms 146:3,4--"Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." [ The dead cannot feel anything, neither pain nor pleasure for they have no thoughts ]
Ecclesiastes 3:19-20--"For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again." [ So what happens to both people and animals when they die? They all go to the same place.]
Revelation 20:13-14--"And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." (Hell delivers up the dead, meaning a resurrection from the grave, and what happens to death & hell? They are thrown into the lake of fire, meaning total destruction.
The Bible teaches that there will be a resurrection of both good and bad people. Acts 24:15--"And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust."
I hope this helps you to see that even if you die, you have the wonderful hope of the resurrection and death is just a temporary condition.

Answer 10

God does not want you to fear. Dwell upon His mercies and grace, He is a loving God.

1st John 1:9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.

Salvation that comes from trusting Christ--which is the message we preach--is already within easy reach. In fact, the Scriptures say, "The message is close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart." For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:8,9

Hell is for those who refuse to turn from their sin, refuse to confess their sin to God.