I have a drinking question for Christians?

Question

Here's my question: Would a terrible person who is a christian go to heaven while someone like, say, an honest buddhist monk, would go to hell to be tortured eternally? All because they accepted Jesus?

So is this quote accurate?
"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners... But for that very reason, I was shown mercy so that in me... Jesus Christ might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever."

Sorry, I forgot to credit the quote, which was kind of the key point. It's from Jeffery Dahmer (the cannabalistic serial killer from WI) when he was addressing the court in 1992.

So yeah Greg, he *was* a terrible person.

Who you callin' Christine, Eds?

Randy, I never claimed to be righteous and I'm not a christian, I just think the whole system makes virtually no sense at all.

Answer 1

Everyone will judged, it's hard to give you an answer so I'll leave that Up to God, for only he can tell you for sure who is going up, who's going down, and who needs to be cleansed before they enter into the Kingdom

Answer 2

The beauty of God is we can all be forgiven, no matter what we did. In this world that is hard for people to except because be have been raised with the punishment idea. What Jeffery Dahmer did was awful and sick I can't deny that but if he really did find his way to God who am I to deny him such a great gift. The things I did in my life have not compared to that but I was forgiven and I know how great that makes me feel, he must have been, speechless beyond belief. Christ even forgave the man on the cross next to him at the last minute.[which by the way means he had no time to do any good works] If someone is being true in their confession and need for Him God forgives anything. A Buddhist monk by the way could also go to heaven if he made the one true God the center of his life and was saved. Works do not get you into heaven, Grace does and God gives it freely to whoever asks for it. Remember too that Christ also said that when he returns many will say "Lord Lord" and I will say I know you not" because not all who claim to be Christians really are and only God knows who belongs to Him.

Answer 3

Hello,

That depends who you talk with in the Christian religion. Some denominations say that you can achieve heaven without being Christian by a baptism of desire where you live a good life and emulate God's teaching. Other denominations say that Christ made it perfectly clear that " I am the vine and you are the branches and you only get to the Father through me." Some sects have the concept of eternal security; once saved, always saved by believing in Christ, getting baptized and accepting him as your savior without any work but so many other denominations say faith without works contradicts what Jesus says and is nonsense.

In spite of what some say, ultimately on God knows who shall enter heaven and who will not. In my observation a Christian living an evil life "may" have some real problems when facing God. Also as I have said on other forums, it is not a person's fault that they are born into another religion and they too are indoctrinated from day one that their religion is the correct path to God and if they stray away, hell and torment await.

I "would hope" that this sort of factor, as well as good deeds and lifestyle will be taken into consideration for all people but as a few others indicate I have no clear answer to the question.

Michael Kelly

Answer 4

Yes, the quote is accurate. First thing first, realize that there is not one human in existence that is good or righteous. We all have sinned. So if sin is not accepted in Heaven then no one is going there if this was left up to ourselves. However, if we receive Christ, His righteousness becomes ours, because He paid the fine for our sins on the cross. Jesus took our punishment to give us eternal life. So all have sinned, even Buddhist monks, we all need God's gift of grace and love. I do not believe that someone cannot be a terrible person who has true saving faith in Christ. Those who are born in Christ are a new creation, so true Christ believers will by their actions produce fruit for God as they allow the Holy Spirit to work within their lives. Peace be with you.

Answer 5

How does this relate to drinking? Anyway, not all Christians go to Heaven, only the ones who have repented. Having faith is a requirement, so is living a morally upright lifestyle. If you are a Christian yet go around fornicating, stealing, lying, etc., there's no way you're gonna get through the pearly gates. Jesus said that you must be "born again," in other words, a new and changed person. However, I'm sure that a good Buddhist monk would be tortured less than a wicked Christian because the Chirstian knew what to do but didn't while the Buddhist monk never even knew who Jesus was to begin with.

Answer 6

Yes - it's possible. The thief hung next to Jesus went to Heaven. Being good does not get a person into Heaven because nobody is good enough. ( Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9) We need Jesus to get into Heaven (1 John 5:10-11).

One thing to note though is that if a person is truly a Christian, that person will start to change to good. If not, I would question if the person sincerely asked Jesus to be his/her Lord and Savior. Some people say a prayer for "fire insurance" and do not really believe.

Another thing to note is that some people plan on sinning their whole lives and then ask Jesus for forgiveness on their death bed. If they die in their sleep, they miss out. Also, they miss the opportunity to store up treasure in Heaven. (Luke 18:22) I also know that they miss out on the opportunity to know God better and that is one of my main joys in life.

Answer 7

In other words, you think that God is unfair because he has mercy on the bad people by giving them a get out of hell free card, if they are actually sorry, and feel remorse, for what they did. I suppose that you assume that you are one of the "good" people, and that you deserve to go to Heaven, but you think that it is unfair that some sinner gets into "your" heaven also, because they didn't put as much effort into being good as you did.

No matter how "good" someone is, he still has sins that he needs forgiveness for. The reason why the "honest" monk (or any other "good" person) does not get into heaven is simply that he never apologized to God for his sins, because he assumed that he did not have to.

"You have not, because you ask not" -Jesus

Assuming that you can be good enough to "earn" God's love, or to earn Heaven, is a form of pride since God does not owe anyone anything.

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To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'

"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'

"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

--Luke 18:9-14 (NIV)

Answer 8

A drinking question? Cute. Anyway yes, your questions do throw a conundrum in for Arminians and Pelagian/Semi-Pelagians. They can't answer your question with any logic because God MUST love everyone according to their theology. And if the condition attached is acceptance of Jesus as God as opposed to good works alone for the ticket to Heaven, then yup, we have a problem. Best answer I've seen so far that truly addresses this is the fact that all have sinned and no one merits Heaven on their own. This is supposed to be Protestant belief, by the way. And yet "all you have to do" puts God in the position of tugging at the heartstrings of vessels made for dishonor.

So what you're pointing out is that the theology is messed up, and you get a star for this. I hope you're seeing the red herrings and the arguments by laziness ("it's a mystery!") which make the atheist arguments almost plausible except for the bad philosophy involved with that.

I think you'll find your real answer in the Old Testament. What happened to Israel's enemies? We had a flood that destroyed everything except for 1 family. We have killing of chlidren, we have threats to smite the land, even threats to Israelites themselves if they didn't obey. Those enemies of Israel could have been Buddhist monks, for that matter. So what, they weren't God's people, and they died, they were stricken with diseases and pestilences, nasty stuff.

As you read through these OT books, I hope you will start picking up on the idea that none of this salvation stuff was up to man. It was up to God as to who He wanted in his kingdom, not us. Somehow this got warped in the New Testament to God loving everyone, when this clearly did not happen in the Old Testament. Why should it happen in the New? The message in the New Testament is that Christ died for those who WOULD believe, not everyone on a credit card to be paid off later. In other words, the idea of God's remnant still exists, the only difference being that it has been expanded to the Gentiles. God is still just as much in charge as He was in the Old Testament, he is not a begging, pleading God. He brings some to himself, others, he leaves in their sins. Those that he saves, are called the elect, and those elected on to salvation are the ones that serve him faithfully because their eyes have been opened by the Holy Spirit.

I believe that Calvinism answers your question, and that Arminianism, Pelagianism, and semi Pelagianism, and atheism for that matter, do not.

Answer 9

The Buddhist Monk had God tugging at his heart just like Jeffery Dahmer had God tugging at his heart. The difference is that Dahmer accepted Christ and believed on Him. The Buddhist monk would not reject Buddhism for Christ.

Jesus said, if you deny me, then I will deny you before the Father. Jesus said, you must be born again. Born first by water and your mother's womb. Born again by the Spirit of God which reconnects us to God.

Do not forget the Book of Jeremiah and the Potter and the clay. The Potter can make bad pots and good pots. He is the Creator. Many wish to deny God as Creator, but He proclaims His creation in everything that you see.

There is a choice in everything created.

Answer 10

Jesus transformed water into wine. It even turns out that Jesus drank wine on celebration (John two:one million-eleven; Matthew 26:29). In New Testament instances, the water was once now not very blank. Without trendy sanitation efforts, the water was once as a rule stuffed with micro organism, viruses, and a wide variety of contaminants. The equal is right in lots of 3rd-global nations at present. As a outcomes, folks as a rule drank wine (or grape juice) considering it was once a long way much less more likely to be infected. In one million Timothy five:23, Paul was once educating Timothy to give up consuming the water (which was once commonly inflicting his belly disorders) and as a substitute drink wine. In that day, wine was once fermented (containing alcohol), however always to not the measure it's at present. It is mistaken to mention that it was once grape juice, however it is usually mistaken to mention that it was once the equal factor because the wine almost always used at present. Again, Scripture does now not always forbid Christians from consuming beer, wine, or every other drink containing alcohol. Alcohol isn't, in and of itself, tainted via sin. It is, as a substitute, drunkenness and dependancy to alcohol that a Christian need to undoubtedly chorus from (Ephesians five:18; one million Corinthians 6:12).

Answer 11

It depends what you mean by "Christian",since not everyone who professes to be one really is......Ifyou have truly embraced the concept and follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, then how could you you be a terrible person? A true Christian is not someone who doesn't make mistakes or sin, it is a person who repents when they do and constantly seeks to become a better person by emulating CHRIST'S VIRTUES...kindness to felllow man, humility, thanking and worshipping God and aknowledging that by God's grace alone we exist on this earth.