So one doesn't need to be a good person to be rewarded in the afterlife (see details)?

Question

So good deeds don't get you into heaven, faith (to your deity of choice) does the trick? I'm not intending to be inflamatory, but does this mean that some believe Paul Hill (the infamous Pensacola killer) is living it up in heaven and Mohandas Ghandi is being punished? I realize that is a little black and white and doesn't take into account a lot of factors, but you get the idea.

I'm usually a "live and let live" kinda gal here on Y!A and think that it is an interesting forum for the exchange of ideas; in addition, I am generally annoyed with the name calling that occurs without using supporting evidence. However, I can't seem to get my head around this concept so I'm looking for some input.

Oh, and one last thing, if you are a Paul Hill fan you can just skip this question or at least don't use it as your sick little soapbox.

Answer 1

The most frequent objection to the doctrine of eternal security is that it supposedly promotes the idea that Christians can live any way that they want to - and still be saved. While this is "technically" true, that is not the "essence" of eternal security. A person who has truly accepted Jesus Christ as his or her Savior "can" live a sinful life - but he or she "will" not do so. We must draw a distinction between how a Christian should live - and what a person must do in order to receive salvation.

The Bible is abundantly clear that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 14:6). A person is saved by faith - faith alone. The moment a person truly believes in Jesus Christ, he/she is saved and secure in that salvation. It is not that salvation is gained by faith, but then maintained by works. The Apostle Paul addresses this issue in Galatians 3:3, "Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" If we are saved by faith, our salvation is also maintained and secured by faith. We cannot earn our own salvation. Therefore, we cannot earn the maintenance of our salvation either. It is God who maintains our salvation (Jude verse 24). It is God's hand that holds us firmly in His grasp (John 10:28-29). It is God's love that nothing can separate us from (Romans 8:38-39).

Any denial of eternal security is, in its essence, a belief that we must maintain our own salvation by our own good works. This is completely antithetical to salvation by grace. We are saved because of Christ's merits, not our own (Romans 4:3-8). To claim that we must obey God's Word or live a godly life to maintain our salvation is equal to saying that Jesus' death was not sufficient to pay the penalty for our sins. Jesus' death was absolutely sufficient to pay for all of our sins - past, present, and future, pre-salvation and post-salvation (Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

So, with all that said, does this mean that a Christian can live any way he/she wants to and still be saved? This is essentially a hypothetical question, because the Bible makes it clear that a true Christian will not live "any way he/she wants to." Christians are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). Christians demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), not the acts of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). 1 John 3:6-9 clearly states that a true Christian will not live in continual sin. In response to the accusation that grace promotes sin, the Apostle Paul declared, "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" (Romans 6:1-2).

Eternal security is not a "license" to sin. Rather, it is the security of knowing that God's love is guaranteed for those who trust in Christ. Knowing and understanding God's tremendous gift of salvation accomplishes the opposite of giving a "license" to sin. How could anyone, knowing the price Jesus Christ paid for us, go on to live a life of sin (Romans 6:15-23)? How could anyone who understands God's unconditional and guaranteed love for those who believe, take that love and throw it back in God's face? Such a person is demonstrating not that eternal security has given him or her a license to sin, but rather that he or she has not truly experienced salvation through Jesus Christ. "No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him" (1 John 3:6).

Recommended Resource: Eternal Security by Charles Stanley.

Answer 2

You are not amused?!?!?!? then I must lighten you up. After all, it is my job :)

But first, to your question. Right now, no one is in heaven. Everyone is sitting in the Spirit World waiting for the Second Coming of Christ. Then, we will all be resurrected and judged. No one will be judged before then. All people must be held accountable for their actions before God, unless they have repented. And no, the little prayer that the born-agains say is not repentance. To repent you must confess your sins to God, and forsake them (never do them again). Each time you do something wrong, you must go through the repentance process. It may be a long and difficult process, depending on the transgression. People like Hill who repent once, and think that they are good for life thanks to Christ, are wrong. You must repent each and every time that you do something wrong, and continue to do it until you feel in your heart that God has forgiven you. And yes you can tell. Trust me, I have done it. I am sure Ghandi did some things that he shouldn't have, but I am also pretty sure that he lived a much better life than Hill. Hill has a lot of repenting to do.

Answer 3

Here's how it works: If you are truly evil and hurt or harm others in this life, you must repeat it until you become more enlightened; no one gets turned away from Heaven, that is a vicious lie perpetrated by rabid Christians to scare people into believing as they believe. I am Christian and I abhor that sort of tactic and the fact that anyone presumes to speak for God.
Once you learn how to live here, then you graduate and move into Heaven...the real hell is here on earth. Just read the news...God is not an angry Being; He is merciful and forgiving and He wants us to be with Him through Eternity.

Answer 4

If you are a Christian it is faith alone that saves you. Nothing more. If Paul Hill truly repented and gave his life to God before he died then yes he would be in Heaven. As far as I know Ghandi never accepted Christ which would probably put him in Hell. I am not God though and do not know where anyone went when they died. Only He knows. However I will say if you are not a Christian then yes you go to Hell. I know this sounds harsh but the truth can be harsh.

Answer 5

Works do not earn you a place in the Kingdom of heaven.

"lest any man boast" so it is by Grace alone, which is the mercy of God to forgive our sins that put us in "right' standing.

but it is Holiness that sanctifies us so we will see God.

this is only the beginning though. when one comes to "repentance" there are many other things required of a new born. would you expect your baby to remain as they are or do expect them to grow, develop into maturity? God expects the same of us. thus after receiving the grace we are to work out our faith in fear & trembling. if we do not grow up in our faith then we have received the grace in vain.

ones heart must be pure and thier works (deeds) must also be pure. works done from an inpure motive will be consumed. those done with a pure motive will be purified.

you see when someone fears God (loves,reveres) then they will act accordingly. they will submit & grow.

your question is one that asks ..... how can this one one or that one go to heaven? this a judgmental spirit on our part, we all have to fight not to think these things because we are all sinners & fall short of God's Glory. therefore we are not qualified to make judgements on holiness since we are using our own self as a standard, which is as filthy rags.

Answer 6

True repentence will be accepted by God, no matter who is asking.

God knows your motives, so if you're a convicted killer and repent at the last second before you die, I think God will take that into consideration when he judges you.

Good deeds on earth don't get you into heaven. You can't buy your way in. Faith gets you in. As a result of your faith, good deeds flow out of the gratitude that one has for being saved.

Answer 7

The data is basically historic, logical, yet no longer empirical. one million) there is rather sturdy and independently shown data that a guy referred to as Jesus existed 2) on the time a lot of human beings from all walks of existence believed that he complete miracles and having wide-unfold him have been prepared to possibility and go through dying to make optimistic human beings heard what he reported 3) between the flaws that this in any different case humble and sensible guy or woman reported replaced into that he replaced into God, a declare no longer made via the different “father” of the different faith 4) there is a few dispute to no count if this declare replaced into further via Jesus’ followers later on, however the reality of the situation is that the declare replaced into made interior of living reminiscence of Jesus’ existence and the Christian line is that one in each of those whacking large fallacy could have been contested via followers who had wide-unfold the actual guy generally the historic data is extremely sturdy. heavily greater proper in actuality than the data for Alexander the large. via no ability purely the bible. a sturdy and available account of the data is to be contemporary in “The Case for Christ” via Lee Strobel. he's a journalist that investigated the subject count and replaced into later converted to the religion. a sturdy, self reliant comparative prognosis of the historic context of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim religions might nicely be contemporary in “Judaism, Christianity and Islam” via Frank E. Peters.

Answer 8

If you read the end of Matt 25, the importance of good works in salvation is pretty obvious. The passage deals only with works, doesn't even mention faith (the necessity of faith is addressed elsewhere in Scripture). If you didn't do works of Christian charity for the needy here on earth, you didn't do them for Christ. Those who did the works will have eternal life, while those who didn't do them will go off to everlasting punishment. Pretty straightforward!!

Of course it isn't the works that save you. You can't earn heaven! Salvation is a free gift; but like any gift it must be accepted in order to be received. No-one who neglects good works can claim to have accepted Christ or His offer of salvation. Therefore, while works do not earn salvation, they are still essential in order to be saved. Faith without such works is "dead", as the Bible tells us, and dead faith doesn't save anyone.

Answer 9

"Regarding the debate about faith and works: It’s like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most important."
-- C.S. Lewis

One of the scissors blades is Christs atonement which redeems from death and saves from sin (but not automatically, we must repent), the other is our willingness to repent and to do good, our works (faith without works is dead as Paul said). Both are necessary, faith and works. Just to recognize Christ as the Savior is not enough; even the devils which he cast out recognized him and professed who he was, yet they have no reward.

Answer 10

God doesn't grade on a curve. All are sinners. Believers go to heaven, unbelievers go to hell.

That's Jesus' rules for His house.