We are to spread the gospel to every nation. The gospel in a nutshell is John, 3:16 " For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son. That whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
Notice that the gospel says LOVED, not scared and that it doesn't say go to Hell, it talks about "not perishing" or in other words not being destroyed.
It seems to me, we are suppose to be spreading the "good news" which is contradictory to saying someone is going to Hell.
So, here is the question: Taking into consideration what was mentioned above, if you are one that continues to preach Hell, do you feel like you are really spreading the gospel or good news? If so, what makes you believe that Hellfire is good news?
P.S. I am a Christian and am looking for well thought out answers. I am not fond of cut and paste.
2007-11-02 01:52:12 · 26 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
primoa1970- if Hell is the truth, why does this passage say perish? I understand that the fear of hell brought you to Seek Christ but if the fear of Hell were taken away, would you still want to stay a Christian and why? "feel free to edit your answer and add on, I do re-read the answers" I am curious.
2007-11-02 02:04:27 · update #1
lijique- I do know the passage you are thinking of about the rich man and Lazarus. Didn't this have to be a parable because most other places in the Bible refer to destruction, perish, 2nd death....not eternal burning?
Thank you ALL for your honest answers. They are all good and give reason for constructive thought!
2007-11-02 02:19:22 · update #2
lijique= lojic....sorry, my darn dyslexia got in the way again! I should have cut and pasted the name. :-0
2007-11-02 03:20:19 · update #3
Amen.......
But......
When I got saved, I was terrified about the prospect of hell. So it worked for me.
Hell is a scary truth.....and the truth is what sets people free.
Edit:
I think God still would have called me into His marvelous light regardless. Eternal life spent in heaven with Him will be far greater than anything else. And the word perish in that passage means to die the 2nd death....and be thrown into the eternal lake of fire....i.e. hell
2007-11-02 01:55:59 · answer #1 · answered by primoa1970 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Yeah, being a Christian is certainly about having a
new relationship with our Creator! It's about becoming
alive spiritually and having renewed minds in Christ
Jesus! It's also something to last from now and
forever (for real)! That IS good news! Part of the
knowledge of this is knowing our natural or fleshly
state and that of the world as well - to realize our
depravity, why there is death and decay.
Some don't want to admit they need God and
don't want to admit the state of depravity in sin.
That said, no, to save yourself from hell is not
a good motivation to become a Christian - the
real motivation is not fear, it is freedom, love,
and truth, of course. I am a Christian because
God loves me and I have a personal relationship
with Christ - it is so much deeper than just saving
myself from hell - VERY much deeper - I did not
even want to put those two ideas in the same sentence,
that's how different they both are! Our lives (as well
as deaths) ARE scary without God because of the
FACT that to be separate from God is to not
fullfill a purposefull, joyous, eternal existance we
all deep down know IS truth, light, and life (what we
really need most to fulfill a completed destiny).
God is the way, the truth, the light (life), no man comes
to the Father except through Jesus!
I don't go around telling anyone they will go to hell
if they don't repent. In, fact, I really don't think
that many Christians do this to be honest.
We are accused of doing this much more than
we actually do! Anything we do is exagerated
by the unbelievers (goes under a huge magnifying
glasss). Unbelievers don't want
to admit that they are sinners, that they
can't even become good on their own, or that the
only way is through Jesus. They look for any
excuse they can come up with. They don't want
to "take the medicine" of repentance and approaching
the thrown of grace.
I did not want to take that medicine at first either,
but once you hear the call of the Holy Spirit and listen
to it, you realize how silly it is to make all those
excuses!
This includes the one about the fear and/or punishment
of hell. It IS more of just an excuse.
However, yes, your point is still valid!
We are to be salt and light.
We COULD do this better - in both our
actions and words.
We should not take this for granted.
When Jonah preached in Ninevah he DID
warn the people about punishment and
they repented in sack cloth and ashes - I just
thought about that. So it takes humbelness
as well. Sure, if you preach to the pridefull,
preaching about hell will not work.
Pride is folly, though (for Christian as well
as non-Christian).
Jesus did not exclude preaching about
eternal punishment either, but He was
still salt and light and knew how to answer
every person according to what they needed
to hear the most!
2007-11-02 02:28:56 · answer #2 · answered by Nickel-for-your-thoughts 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
This may shock and amaze you..I am a Christian that has NEVER told anyone that they are going to hell. I have never knocked on a door, or cornered someone on the street. I don't even believe in the Eternal Fire of Hell. NOT all denominations are Evangelical Fundamentalist. I guess those are the only Christians people know of. How would you suggest that the "quiet normal" Christian let the world know we are not going to hit you with either Bible or Hell?
2007-11-02 02:11:01 · answer #3 · answered by PROBLEM 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Gospel were never intended for other nations except the Jews.Jesus insisted that he will not give bread of the boys to dogs, when a non-Israelite asked to be baptised.Islam is the version of Christainity intended for all the nations and the people.The excercise of spreading gospels to non Israelites is like defying the user's manual;as you said you should not do cut and paste in the Gospels from Quran.God due to His utmost mercy has created human beings to achieve spiritual height but not to rot or be burnt in the hell.Hell is like a repair shop, where those unfortunate people who could prepare themselves for spiritual flight shall be made capable of doing so by removing the effects of defective and unworthy parts for the spiritual flights.
2007-11-02 02:10:39 · answer #4 · answered by shahinsaifullah2006 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The way to win souls is to show people the beautiful side of being a Christian. Why would anyone be drawn to Christianity when looking at the Christians who walk around with frowny faces, who speak in a harsh, sharp-tongued and judgemental manner (too many of those). I know that I have been hurt more by Christians than non-Christians in this lifetime. I am a Christian and love God with all my heart, but people of the church are far from the loving people that they should be. It's beyond sad.
2007-11-02 07:54:11 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
This is sooo true. I got saved at the age of 7 because the pastor said I was going to hell if I didn't know god. At 7 years old that scares the crap out of you so that's why I think I did it. Now I'm 20 years old and I struggle with being straight with God because I never truly got saved because I wanted too it was just the fact of me being a scared kid. I've been in church for 15 years and I regret saying that I can barely recite you one scripture because my heart wasn't there.So yes preachers need to watch how they say things. Scaring people into Christ is bad because like me there heart will wonder from God because it never was truly there.
2007-11-02 02:10:58 · answer #6 · answered by ? 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I find this quite interesting. You speak of the Good news, but it seems to me that you really dont understand the good news. Yes, God does love the world that he gave his only begotten son. And those who believe in him will not perish? What will be perishing of? Is it Hell? Did he not send his son so they man can be saved from God's wrath and Hell? Didnt the doctrine of Hell originally preached by Jesus himself in the gospels? Or have you skipped those parts? This is the Good news : Mankind is increasing wicked and the only they know how to do is sin, and a Holy and righteous must exercise his justice on the wicked by sending them to hell to satisfy his justice, but instead had mercy on mankind and created a way to turn them from children of the devil to children of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you disagree with this, then im afraid your worship isnt going to a biblical God
2007-11-02 02:01:52 · answer #7 · answered by ReliableLogic 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Here is my reason... when you turn on the TV what do you see?... Its all the bad news that interest us.. we love to hear the horror behind it everything and just the same with God and all that, if we just talk about love and all that's beautiful, no one cares.. no one will listen... therefore its the horrible things that get our attention 'fear' of what might happen to us if we dont believe. Its messed up but that's our human nature.
2007-11-02 02:01:28 · answer #8 · answered by lostnlove 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
As a Christian, I'm not interested in scaring anyone. The human brain was not designed for fear.
But I do in fact desire greatly that all would avail themselves of the most wonderful gift that this life has to offer and that is the Love of God through the Salvation by the Lord Jesus.
If there is a scary note that indicated not to accept means an eternity in Hell, well, idk, but there you are.
I Cr 13;8a
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2007-11-02 07:48:13 · answer #9 · answered by ? 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
if the Truth which is God's Word scares someone how is it my fault , or anyone Else's for that matter for telling the Truth ? God's Word says what it says . seems to me if God didn't want us as Christians to tell people what a lost life leads to He wouldn't have told us . Isn't it about time that we Christians go back to telling and preaching All of God's Word and stop with this feel good Christianity. If we as Christians are going to tell the truth of God's Word ,we need to tell all of it , God loved us enough too.
2007-11-02 02:10:30 · answer #10 · answered by Homer Jones 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋