Christians: Is God infinitely forgiving?

Question

Ok...what if you accept him and ask forgiveness while in Hell? Will he forgive you?

jin: So God is infinitely forgiving only if you ask him for forgiveness before you are in Hell. Otherwise he is not forgiving, right?

Catholic Crusader: So you are saying God is both infinitely forgiving and not infinitely forgiving. Do I have that right?

Daughter of the King: So he's NOT infinitely forgiving? I wish you guys would develop a consensus on this.

James: The premise is not incomplete. You could have answered it by saying "no".

Answer 1

from what i hear from fundies,,,

he is infinitely forgiving "before" death...

Answer 2

The point is that God is not only infinitely good. God is also just, righteous, holy, forgiving, gracious, and a host of other moral purities. Therefore, when addressing an issue dealing with God's behavior, if someone were to select a specific and very narrow aspect of God's character and then build an entire argument upon that "sliver of truth," (while ignoring other aspects) then the argument that follows is not representative of what God truly is and cannot accurately represent the character and actions of God. Therefore, the argument and its conclusion are highly suspect and the conclusions are naturally in doubt.

Nevertheless, God is not only good. He is also righteous. He has stated that He will punish those who are unrighteous. "Thus I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity," (Isa. 13:11). Therefore, those who are unrighteous should fear God since He has the right and ability to punish.

Also, if God is infinitely good, should He not also be infinitely righteous? Isn't righteousness a good thing? Of course it is. Therefore, if God is by definition good, then He must also be righteous. Then we can ask, if anyone is unrighteous should God punish him for his unrighteousness? Would it be a good thing to let someone do bad things and not get punished? I would hope that even the atheists would realize and accept the premise that people who do bad things should be punished and held responsible for their actions. If our judicial system were "infinitely good," we would have no prisons because we would have no justice.


The premise of the argument is incomplete and insufficient.

God Bless.

Answer 3

According to the Bible, the dead do not know anything while they are in the grave. "For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten.(Ecc 9:5)

And they will rise in Christ: "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first"

In other words hell is not an actual place you go to when you die. You stay right there. Death is a sleep. Like when they put you to sleep for surgery. You wake up and for you only a second has passed. "In the twinkling of an eye" says the Bible "we will see Him as He is" That's how quick death is.

God is infinitely forgiving and loving. He judges the heart. As long as you are willing to accept His forgiveness now while you are alive, and do your best with Him at the helm of your life, you will be saved and forgiven. Just like ppl that say "once saved always saved." Not true, if you commit adultery your wife will forgive you, but will you do it over and over again and ask for forgiveness each time? Same with God He compares us to the woman (his Church His people) and He wants a loving relationship with us. Not we do what we want, keep on sinning, knowing that we are sinning, and come back to Him thinking He will always take us back. That's taking advantage of God. Now is your time for forgiveness. Today is the day of salvation. Ask Him now.

Answer 4

No, forgiveness is required this side of eternity . It is like boarding a plane , no airline will let you unless you have a passport (your id -saved or not), ticket ( indicating your final destination heaven or hell) and boarding pass( that's the end of your journey here on earth and the start of eternity). You can chose what ticket to buy and you can change your passport id but once you get that boarding pass there is usually no turning back.The same with entering eternity. Once in eternity the rules that govern the earth are different, there is no ifs ands or but's. You are either in or out. So once you board that plane to paradise or hell that's it, you can not jump ship and your destination is usually fixed as there is not u turn once you life on earth is over. For those who get a second chance before they get to hell.... i.e if they call out to Jesus in those absolute final moments before the 'plane' lands then they can escape hell with that parachute of God's grace, once in hell that's it.

Answer 5

I am agnostic but I struggle with the concept of "forgiveness" because I can't agree more with Alexander Pope's famous quote: "To err is human, to forgive divine."

I think the most "godly" thing a human being can do is to forgive someone, even if that person is not sorry (for example, someone murdered your own son and you forgive that person).

But if god exists, do you really want a god who forgives everyone, no matter what they did, even if they are not sorry?

Answer 6

God is definitely forgiving, however, He is also Just. That means if you haven't asked for forgiveness while alive, you will go to Hell. Once there, there is no turning back.

Answer 7

Our greatest arrogance is to believe we can do anything so great as God cannot forgive when asked. We just need to be truly repentant and open to forgiveness.

Answer 8

Hey,you don't have to wait that long.Confess regularly in the church and next moment you are as innocent as a lamb.Repeat your acts if you wish and there is always confession available.This is the best part of Christianity, I like the most.No other religion provides this kind of service to it's believers.

Answer 9

if we accept His forgiveness. We cannot just 'BAM', "Hey I'm forgiven!" Christianity is more of a commitment (that most tend to fail in) and a lifestyle that requires forgiving others in return (that again most tend to fail).
Problem is, we dont. We are all sinners. But God forgave us and we work on our sanctification (that is becoming like Christ).

Answer 10

God is there always to forgive you, when you ask. When you are in hell you'll be eternally separated from God.

Answer 11

He will never remember the sins of a christian.

Those who reject Jesus have made a decision.
Read:
Luke 16:19-31