It would appear that you can pretty much do anything in life, and you'll get to 'heaven' by asking forgiveness. It would seem that the greatest evil man can do, is not to accept jesus.
Other faiths place great importance on helping others and aren't so fear-based.
2007-06-13 05:37:48 · 41 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Seems to me a case of 'Believe and you're in' with no actual accountability for what you do
2007-06-13 05:44:51 · update #1
You are misinformed, friend. There are literally thousands of passages in the Bible that instruct Christians to forsake sin and strive for perfection. I Corinthians 13 is all about Christian love and shows Christians how God expects them to act toward others. That Christians fall short of this in many regards isn't indicative that we can "pretty much do anything in life, and you'll get to 'heaven' by asking forgiveness". But because our sins are forgiven, when we err (and we WILL err because we're human), we don't have to worry that God will cast us in hell for it. That is why Scripture speaks of the peace Christians have. We know that when God looks down on us, He sees the pure blood of Christ, rather than the imperfect sinful creatures we were before we were saved, and this gives us peace.
2007-06-13 05:53:48 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
Fear? There's no place for fear in a life that is lived in the love of Jesus. I wish you could come to know the peace that comes from accepting that sins, genuinely repented, will not count against you in the day of judgement.
And if you live in his love, that love will naturally show itself in the way you behave towards others.
Pointless? If you think that then you have never really understood what Christianity is all about. It is a life lived with Christ, not a cynical attempt at manipulating God's offer of forgiveness.
2007-06-13 06:15:16 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is one of the great misconceptions held by Christians.
It is too bad for us it is not so easy, but the road to truth is a rocky one and the battles must be fought continually, or evil will never be overcome, and the law of sin and death would remain for eternity, if it were possible. If Christianity appears to be based on fear, then it has missed the mark, and is in name only. Fear germinates where understanding is not present. That is why we have been told to get understanding.
2007-06-13 06:14:28 · answer #3 · answered by ? 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
When you ask for forgiveness, you have to really mean it. God knows if you are only asking in order to get to heaven. The reason that you can always ask for forgiveness and you are forgiven is that God is a God of mercy, and doesn't want to prevent anyone from being with him (i.e. in heaven- which I believe is a state of being with God). Christianity does place great importance on helping others; Jesus said that the first law is to love God, the second is to love others as yourself. If you love God, you inevitably want to help others, as God can be seen and found in other people. Again, Jesus said that whenever you help somebody you are really helping God. Christianity is not 'fear-based', it is actually centred around love. It is true that the Bible says to 'fear' the Lord, but I think this refers to showing respect for God, and accepting that He is the ultimate reality.
Sorry this is quite long- I hope it answers your question!
2007-06-13 05:58:07 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
"I believe in one kind of death bed repentance, but not the denominational kind." Any sincere Christian who repents, whether at death or before, God forgives, but He will not forgive the one who has never become a Christian. "Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him." (John 9:31). "One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination." (Prov. 28:9).
This must be determined by the written Word of Christ. His Word is the only means by which we can have certainty concerning eternal life. John said, "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life..." (1 John 5:13). We should not let the "death bed" thought add emotionalism and detour us from the issue.
Repentance alone is not what makes one a Christian. Acts 2:38 teaches that repentance and baptism are necessary for remission of sins. Mark 16:16 makes faith and baptism necessary. In Rom. 10:9 a verbal confession is essential. Thus, all of these things are required and since baptism is the last act of obedience for conversion, one is saved at its point, not before. This is all I have the right to say about one's condition whether healthy, sick, or dying.
The thought that there no need to serve God a whole lifetime, just wait until the end, repent and be saved. One would be surprised at the immense number today who have likewise put their trust in this idea.
There is no passage anywhere that would uphold the faith and hope of such people. What makes one think he can be stubborn and rebellious to God's laws all his life and at the last minute repent and God will accept him? What makes him think God will give him opportunity to repent? On several occasions in the Old Testament, God's people were rebellious and would not listen to God's reproof. When calamity came upon them, and they finally decided to call upon God, said He would not hear them (Prov. 1:24-28; Ezek. 8:17-18). Death bed repentance is not taught in the Bible, but rather, "Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth..." (Eccl. 12:1).
2007-06-13 05:47:09 · answer #5 · answered by tebone0315 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Regret is not the same as repentance. A lot of people thinking that way, will try to repent when they are old and find they can't as they will be filled with so much unbelief and anti-God hostility, and will have health issues that divert their attention. Besides, they are foolish in that they might not live as long as they expected.
The believer also gets a reward for accomplishing God's purpose for his life. That requires work at one's faith, leading to good deeds.
2007-06-13 05:44:19 · answer #6 · answered by Cader and Glyder scrambler 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
God is the judge, not us. Second, there is no hell and people don't go to heaven when they die. Jesus will come back to earth at some point in the future (we are not told when, only that it will happen "like a thief in the night", we only know that it is soon as there are signs today that point to prophecies of the Last Days). When Jesus returns, ALL those that have ever believed in God will be raised from the dead and judged. Those judged worthy will live forever in the Kingdom on earth, and those judged not worthy will be destroyed in the fires of Gehenna (which translated incorrectly by ancient Greek philosphers into English and was interpreted as Hell, but it is actually a place on earth). No child molesters are in heaven right now - they are rotting in their graves, waiting for Jesus to return, who I am sure will judge them harshly.
2016-04-01 05:29:43 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree with that, but that isn't true Christianity. If a person sins their whole life then repents before death, their repentance probably isn't very honest and is therefore null and void. These new-agey obnoxious born-agains have this preachy idea that you can do whatever you want so long as you repent, but that isn't what God intended! The original intent was that God is forgiving, as long as the person is sincere.
2007-06-13 09:07:45 · answer #8 · answered by nomadic 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If the point of accepting Christ was simply to gain salvation, then your question would make sense. But that is not the point.
Ephesians 2:8-10 (New International Version)
8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Therefore, there is a GREAT emphasis on doing good works. But unlike other religions who teach that good works are the key to salvation, Christ teaches us that He is the way to salvation, and good works are what we do BECAUSE we are saved.
Salvation is not based on what we do, because we can never do enough--even one sin is enough to erase ALL the good deeds. Only the grace of Christ saves.
If you are saved, and do no good works, you will still be saved, but your rewards in Heaven will be lacking.
Once again, the point of salvation is not eternal fire insurance. It is to free us from the guilt of sin so that we may serve others with a glad and joyful heart.
2007-06-13 06:11:08 · answer #9 · answered by Todd J 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Consider this. The Bible teaches that you can only repent and be saved if the Holy Spirit of Christ persuades you. If you constantly reject the Holy Spirit of conviction soon the Holy Spirit may depart from you. When the Holy Spirit departs from a person it is because that person has FINALLY AND TOTALLY rejected Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. If you know now that you need to be saved and accept Jesus Christ as Savior and YOU DO NOT then I really doubt that you will change your mind (repent) on your death bed.
2007-06-13 05:46:53 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
No ! thats silly what you've just said
Please do read the Bible, not meaning to sound sarcastic but it will help you understand.
The Bible clearly has rules saying we shouldn't commit sins (10 commandments) its wrong we are hurting Jesus. If people want to go out killing people and know they will be forgiven by God then they really have the wrong attitutde, if you are a proper christian you will know what you do to others you do to Jesus so you wont even do bad stuff anyway. It's not a pointless faith, at all. people just dont understand what God as asked of us.
2007-06-13 05:44:00 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋