Please answer, I would like your opinion?

Question

Does the standard of life you lead not mean a jot in the Christian faith uless you recognise Jesus? Could you live a life of philanthropy and endless kindness, only to (in the eyes of the Christian faith) be lost upon your demise from this earthly plain?

Did Jesus actually say this (please no long bible quotes)?

Surely if one person proclaims themselves a Christian, but still leads a bad life (perhaps in private), they will not end up in the same boat as someone who led a gentle, loving life but never even mentioned the name Jesus?

I was just wondering this Christian viewpoint, as I am curious. I don't mean to offend, should this be the case.

Thanks!

I asked for no LONG bible quotes, actually.

Answer 1

If you had a question about your new washing machine then you'd go to the instruction book & read it (hopefully) or you wouldn't find the proper solution. You wouldn't dismiss it would you?
The only way we can be pleasing to God is to read what he says about the matter in the scriptures & then apply it.
Please read Matthew 19:16-22
This man was a good man but Jesus indicated that this man’s being good was not good enough. Something was still lacking, something that kept his being good from being perfect, or complete. It was self-sacrificing love for God that would motivate him to become Christ’s follower. Self-sacrificing love that would also cause him to participate actively in preaching God’s Kingdom, the work that Jesus was training his followers to do. Since the scripture says that this man “was holding many possessions,” it is quite possible that they occupied much of his time. By following Jesus’ practical advice to rid himself of these material possessions, distributing them to the poor, he would be relegating material interests to a position of lesser importance than spiritual ones. This would permit him to keep on “seeking first the kingdom” with far fewer distractions.—Matthew 6:33.

So being good in God’s sight means more than just refraining from doing bad. It means actively doing good by being Christ’s follower. We can only do this is we learn more about him & his Father & then applying what we learn.

Of course you are right about hypocrisy.
This obviously isn't acceptable to God, in fact it's really worse for someone to claim he loves God & Jesus but leads a secret bad life. After all, God sees everything, even our hearts. Jesus condemned the religious leaders in his day and called them hypocrites & told them that they were in fact offspring of the devil. These ones who are like that are only deceiving themselves not God.

I didn't quote scriptures (as you asked) in the hope that you might check them for yourself. Please don't hesistate to email me if you need more scriptures to check.

:)

Answer 2

I'm not a Christian, though I have studied that faith, and was a practitioner for many years.
What you say about the need to accept Christ is true, and the Bible says that salvation is by faith alone, "lest no man should boast". It also says though, that "faith without works is dead", so in the interpretation there is a little wiggle room.

One might also argue that one who does no good works is not saved, as true salvation and faith in Christ would lead one to do such things. Christ himself also said "Do you love me, ... feed my sheep." It seems that Christians were not called to a life of complacency.

Outside of faith in Christ, Christians teach that none are saved. Calvanists would argue that one can do nothing at all to be saved, as God has already predetermined who is to be saved, and mortal will or choice has nothing to do with it.

In any event, I'm not a Christian, so this argument is purely academic.

Answer 3

Most religions provide ample excuses for practitioners to comit evil acts. For example:-
Roman Catholics have 'Confession' a rite which absolves them of any unspeakable act so long as they confess it to a preist..
I witnessed enough bigotry and intolerance, when I was a young church goer, to conclude that a person does not need religion to be good.
In fact most of the world's problems stem from religious intolerance or fanatisism of some kind. In many cases different factions of the same religion fight each other in the name of truth. Like the two musim sects in Iraq.
If there is a God and a life after death, then I would hope that the truly good people will benefit, regardless of religious beliefs.

Answer 4

You're not offending me....

But according to scripture, living a life of 'goodness' is not enough to reward a person with eternal life in heaven.

Only faith and trust in Christ will get a person there.

I know this offends some people but......if Pope John Paul II did not place his complete faith and trust in Jesus before he died....I'm sorry to announce that he is in hell.

Edit:
There are different levels of reward in heaven (1 Corinthians 3:9-15). Some works will not survive the test of fire on the Day of the Lord.

Answer 5

It depends on the type of Christian you are but most would believe that you can't get to eternal life without accepting God into your life and being a Christian. However, I think there are a lot that would argue that God asks us to lead a good life and if that doesn't include believing in him then, well, its still a worthy life that could get you into heaven. But I think they would be rarer than the other type of Christian.

Answer 6

I think we in the western culture have created a religion where Jesus was very anti-religious. You could follow the christian religion and not be a christian.

I think part of what Jesus taught is that it is not what you say you are, but what you do that identifies what you are. I believe there will be those who will die, not realizing they were a christian - but were. There will also be those who die thinking they were, but were not. Jesus said that many would come to him on (judgement) day and say that they did all sorts of good things in his name. He will say to them that he never knew them.

So - to answer the question on kindness. Both - you could be lost, you could be saved. The answer really comes down to did you accept Jesus - it is he who said that he was the way, that nobody comes to the father except through him.

So - let Jesus identify you, let your works identify you. Do not identify yourself.

Answer 7

How Utterly Ridiculous it is to spend your life valuing a silly name or two over being a good Pearson. Do you christians ever think about this and what it says about your God/Jesus character?

The whole spiel is just so TWISTED. Come on people just stop and thin about it for a little bit.

Answer 8

If a Christian lives by faith alone without charity it is no good
A person who does not know Christ yet leads a 'Christlike' life will find more favour in the eyes of God
Getting to know Christ tops it all

Answer 9

In Romans (and elsewhere in the Bible), the apostle Paul tells the Gentiles that whoever believes in God, and accepts the fact that Jesus died to pay the debt of their sins shall be saved. He says in Corinthians that we ALL fall short of the glory of God. ...Christians believe this -- that good works don't matter, it's the believing in Christ that matters. This is explicitly stated in the Bible, somewhere in the letters of Paul.

Answer 10

God requires that you love Him with all your heart. After that He asks for the familiar values to be observed to the best of your ability. He also makes it clear that we cannot foresee His decisions about us. He reserves the right to forgive or not as He sees fit in each individual case.