Why would a higher power such as "God" require faith in an idea to allow entrance to a heaven?

Answer 1

Faith is not an "idea". And faith isn't some magical ingredient either. It does, however, lead to a confident attitude toward God. Faith motivates our minds to the assurance of God's power and will to act in our lives. Faith becomes more than a mental conviction as it grows into a commitment, not only to trust God to involve Himself in our lives, but to do His will. We can rest assured that God's will does not include frivolous or unproductive behavior—only "godliness [that] is profitable for all things."

God's Word elaborates on living faith. It assures us that "the just shall live by faith" and "we walk by faith, not by sight" when we repent of our sins and begin to live dedicated, godly lives directed by our Savior. People who live by faith as followers of Christ and members of God's Church are "believers" in Him.

God's Word has a good reason for calling them believers.

"You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons [fallen angels] believe—and tremble!" (James 2:19). We must go beyond the level of the faith exhibited by demons.
Bible defines faith this way: "Now faith is the substance [realization, confident assurance, solid ground] of things hoped for, the evidence [conviction, reality, proof] of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is our assurance of the existence of things we cannot see.
A flawed understanding produces a faulty faith.

True, living faith requires much more than words. It requires commitment and evidence of that commitment. Our faith lives when we respond obediently to the love of Christ by keeping His commandments (John 14:12-15). We are not saved by grace through inactive faith.

Answer 2

I think a better question is why do killers and rapists who have faith in God's idea get into heaven? Because let's not forget that people such as Ghandi and Albert Einstein are now in hell according to Christian doctrine.

Answer 3

Think of it this way...
Would you want to live forever in a society such as we have today? With wars, school shootings, gangs, drugs, etc? Where the rich toss in their fancy beds trying to figure out how to extort even more money from the poor, while the children of the poor are dying of starvation and easily prevented diseases?
Most sane people would answer, "No! Of course not!"
That is why God must prepare us for eternity...otherwise, we would soon destroy heaven itself, with our outrageous greed and our petty jealousies.

Answer 4

No, no. God wants EVERY body in heaven. But we have broken His Laws, he have rebelled against His authority, and he have committed high treason. THAT is what keeps us out of heaven.

God even cried out, "I do NOT take pleasure in the death of the wicked!" He said He doesn't want ANY one to perish, but that ALL should come to repentance. He said "Please choose Life that you may live" (Jesus said "I am Life").

You see, if you don't want to live under the Laws of a country, government, or kingdom, you can live somewhere else, and God gives us that option - to live where He isn't - once we leave this life and move into eternity, that is.

The only caveat, however, is that when you abdicate from a country and it's laws, you also abdicate from all the resources of that country or government.

Now then, you see, the Bible says that "ALL good things come from God."

That means, if you choose to live OUT side God's rightful authority, you CAN, but you can not expect any of the benefits of God's Kingdom, which includes "All good things."

What is good here on earth? Let's see.

There's friends - that's good - so there won't be any friends for you.

Love is good, so there won't be any love there, either.

Freedom from pain, Joy, peace, happiness, comfort, and above all else, HOPE! For all eternity, living with no hope!

It requires faith because we have so long lived by our senses, we have forgotten how to recognize Truth from within our spirits.

Furthermore, it takes faith to believe that one man's death is sufficient to pay the penalty for everybody's sins.

The offer is real, but to procure His Salvation, His forgiveness, His infinite Love and Mercy, you need to acknowledge and admit you sinned (broken God's Laws), and turn from them. You need to actually ASK God to forgive you, and He will! He will give you a new heart, and love, joy and peace.

Like I said, the offer is real - Jesus really did die to pay the penalty for YOUR crimes (sins). But He didn't stay dead - He rose from the grave on the morning of the third day, thus proving once and for all time that He truly IS who He claimed to be.

The offer is real, but it expires when YOU do. Right now, He will be your Savior. If you wait to meet Him AFTER you die, He will be your judge for rejecting His offer. "How can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation" "For there is no other name given among men whereby we can be saved."

Answer 5

It's more than faith; it's certitude. Heaven is the heaven of God's presence not some stupid mansion with streets paved in gold. And it's because God's presence is in reality our home, to be God's his lover is our purpose, our reality. The lover seeks the beloved. The presence of the beloved is the heart's greatest desire. A myriad lives would the lover forsake to be in the abode of the beloved.

Answer 6

I'm assuming you're talking about the christian faith where one need belief in Jesus Christ's death on the cross. His death in christianity is perceived as the gift of salvation where one need make the conscious decision to accept this gift. The decision of receiving this gift is also known as the christian faith where we belief in the existence of this gift and hence receive it in the belief of its existence.

Because God allows us free choice, even He cannot force us to accept a gift without our choice to do so. But faith does not simply mean believing in its existence with mere words but also to ACT with our deeds in a manner which reflects the faith that we have in this gift. That translates to living a life that is in accordance to how God calls christians to live upon receiving this gift.

Answer 7

without faith nothing can get accomplished. and i don't just mean getting into heaven. people seem to really have a limited view on what faith is. Thomas Edison had faith he could create the light bulb. after many wrong tries he did. without faith he would have never even started on that journey.

Answer 8

For the same reason that a foreigner has to swear an oath of allegiance to become a citizen of America. The American government has set down laws that the foreigner has to agree to obey. God has set down laws for His kingdom. He requires an oath of allegiance to become a citizen. Same principle.

Answer 9

Believing in His Son, and trusting Him, takes faith, If you do not believe, then you have no faith. Faith is the substance we believe in, which we have not seen.
A skydiver jumps from a plane with the faith that his chute will open, if he didn't have that faith, he would probable not make that step.

Answer 10

"...faith in an idea..." ? Hm. Firstly "God" as you put it, is much more than just "a higher power". Second, what do you mean by "idea"?

God is not in "hiding" from us. It takes faith because of the finiteness of the human condition - and the limitations of the physical body to actually "see" God with our physical senses. It takes faith, an inner knowingness to understand and trust both the spirit within and God's great Spirit which is everywhere, all-knowing, all powerful, and all time and all eternity - infinite.

There is a great distance between the finite and infinite - from the finite perspective; finite exists within the infinite and only a fragment of infinite can exist in the finite. People, human beings, or mortals, are finite. Time and space conditioned. God is in eternity as well as time and space. You can know God because he sends a piece of himself to dwell within you and guide you through life.

We live and move and breathe and have our being in God. But it is not the other way around exactly. God sends a portion of his spirit to dwell within. It is true the kingdom of heaven is within you. God is within you. Nothing more nor less than faith can assure you of this very fact.

And it is by faith that one can recognize this great truth - faith alone. Taking that one simple great leap of faith allows the spirit within to awaken your spiritual eyes and ears - so you can move onward through the progressive path of the purpose of your life.

Only that which is good, true and beautiful; that which is real or reality can exist in 'heaven'. If something is untrue, or false then it doesn't exist in God and therefore is only a transient experience or unreality fixture of mind in time and space. It can become something that is either error, evil, sin or iniquity. These things are the potential hazards of beings such as humans who are by design "experiential".

All that is good, true and beautiful, all living reality within the mortal soul survives time and space and moves on through the progressive path . Lies and deceit for example are false, and therefore not real, and they do not exist in God, therefore they can not survive to 'heaven'. Unreality does not exist from the eternal perspective, and is therefore something that faith too will allow the human mind to embrace or reject.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paper 5:

The inability of the finite creature to approach the infinite Father is inherent, not in the Father's aloofness, but in the finiteness and material limitations of created beings. The magnitude of the spiritual difference between the highest personality of universe existence and the lower groups of created intelligences is inconceivable. Were it possible for the lower orders of intelligence to be transported instantly into the presence of the Father himself, they would not know they were there. They would there be just as oblivious of the presence of the Universal Father as where they now are. There is a long, long road ahead of mortal man before he can consistently and within the realms of possibility ask for safe conduct into the Paradise presence of the Universal Father. Spiritually, man must be translated many times before he can attain a plane that will yield the spiritual vision which will enable him to see even any one of the Seven Master Spirits.

Our Father is not in hiding; he is not in arbitrary seclusion. He has mobilized the resources of divine wisdom in a never-ending effort to reveal himself to the children of his universal domains. There is an infinite grandeur and an inexpressible generosity connected with the majesty of his love which causes him to yearn for the association of every created being who can comprehend, love, or approach him; and it is, therefore, the limitations inherent in you, inseparable from your finite personality and material existence, that determine the time and place and circumstances in which you may achieve the goal of the journey of mortal ascension and stand in the presence of the Father at the center of all things.

Although the approach to the Paradise presence of the Father must await your attainment of the highest finite levels of spirit progression, you should rejoice in the recognition of the ever-present possibility of immediate communion with the bestowal spirit of the Father so intimately associated with your inner soul and your spiritualizing self."