Christians: Do you think I'm going to hell?

Question

I regularly give my time and money to organisations that help those in need. I am kind to animals and children. I am usually kind to those around me. I respect my parents. I am constantly reminding myself the good in all people and things, and I consistently attempt to foster a sense of love for all mankind in my heart. I seek out god in daily life, and make every attempt to get closer to Divinity. I avoid hypocrisy like the plague.

I, however, am not Christian. Broadly, I am a pantheist, specifically an eclectic pagan. yeah, I believe in Jesus, but I also believe in the other gods, and I think that the Buddha had quite a few brilliant ideas. I use ceremonial magick. I believe in reincarnation. I have gone on numerous vision quests. I can't actually bring myself to believe that there is only one right system of belief.

So, do you think I'm going to go to hell when I die just cos I don't believe that Jesus was the messiah, and where in the Bible does he actually say that?

Answer 1

I'm a Christian and I've never been for the whole "you're going to Hell if you do not believe exactly what I do" ideology. I believe that if you try to make the world a better place than you found it then you could not possibly be punished. Just my two cents.

Answer 2

I consider myself something of a Zen Lutheran, so I'm of a much broader mindset than perhaps your "typical Christian". However, I still think my opinions are worth your time.
I don't believe you are going to hell.
An interesting quote on this is Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV):
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
One can literally thank god that this is the case, as if we had to get to heaven through works alone, no one would be good enough.

So, I don't think you're going to hell. You have faith, just lots of it ^_^ And I find it hard to believe that God would forsake a good person with faith in God. However, do meditate more on Jesus and his place in your beliefs. The bible is also your friend in this case, and books like Romans, Revelations and potentially the Gospels should answer most of your questions.

I was not able to find in this short amount of time, a passage saying "you're going to hell" for any of the reasons you listed, though I'm sure someone else may.

So, happy travels and continue to examine your faith. It's good to keep thinking about it.

Answer 3

You are obviously aware that all people are created in the image and likeness of God and you seem to have a solid ethic as do may if not all faiths and you may treat the Earth as a living organism as does Christianity. However, pantheism would deny that there is an existing absolute picture of reality and Christianity makes a big claim for a proper picture of reality.That the Infinite-Personal-Creator made all in His image (male and female) meaning we are eternal souls (thinking and relational) that have a real sin problem for which He has provided a solution. The solution is true Truth that is highly validated. The solution is real in space and time. Jesus has atoned for all and is personally concerned about you. It is obvious that God has spoken to you about many things because you have some solid pieces to the puzzle of Truth but not the piece that holds it all together. The personal traits of God such as Goodness, Love, etc. are really alive in the knowledge of the Living God and not impersonal forces. May God continue to bless you on your journey.

Answer 4

I am not a Christian. However, I am under the impression that according to the Christian mythos only god can judge, so only god can answer this question.
Nevertheless, I am glad you asked it. It is one that I have often struggled with. How can people believe that an honest and good person, who tries to better humanity will go to hell?

I was raised to believe that as you sow so shall you reap three fold. I am nurse, I volunteer at my local animal shelter, try not to lie, I never steal, and I strive to treat all people with dignity and respect. My goal for this life is to leave the world a better place then I found it. Yet, because I am pagan I have often been told I am going to hell.

Answer 5

It sounds as though the voices of so many have said what you want to hear. and now you want to know the truth.
The questions you have are very basic ones, the answers should be easily recognized by reading what the Bible has to say. Have you read it? The warm fuzzies we get from hearing things we want to hear will not cut it. Nor will uninformed scare tactics necessarily be true. I recommend reading the first four books of the New Testament in the Bible for yourself so you can be assured of truth.

"No man comes to the Father but by me."
"There is no other name whereby we must be saved."
"Unless you are born again you will not see the kingdom of
heaven."
"You shall have no other gods before me."
"Not all who call upon my name saying, 'Lord, Lord' shall be
saved."
Salvation does not come by developing and practicing an all-embracing philosophy of life. The path to life is a narrow path that we all must follow. Read the sciptures and then decide for yourself if you think all the things you do are sufficient. In the final analysis it is God who judges and He has already made His desires known.

Answer 6

No hell is only designed for the wicked. You do not sound at all wicked to me. If you stay the way you are right now you when you die will go to a spirit Paradise. If you keep rejecting the Idea of Jesus being the savior even after talking to those who personally knew him like his apostles when he walked upon the earth until Judgment day then you will be damned. Now being damned is not consigned to hell but consigned to a place which is less than Heaven, but it is not hell. To dam something is to stop its progress like a dam holds water from flowing down the river, much the same idea.

Answer 7

Your story is much like mine before God shook me.

You may think you are a very nice person but God can weed out the truth that you have hidden from your self. That is what happened to me while I was in the army.

God began to move on me through various events in my life. One night, as I lay on my bunk, I began to reason with him. I gave him a shpeal much like your and urged him to prove to me that I was a sinner and need Jesus. I told him, “If I am a sinner, show me my sin.”

He immediately reminded me of something I did as a boy and then continued with many other things right up to the age I was, at the time, 24. They were things I had forgotten and felt weren’t important. God showed me how important they really were. Though I had not hurt anyone physically, He showed me how bad words and actions can hurt.

By hurting these people, I had sinned against him. My heart began to ache, and my temples throb with grief over what I had done. I cried and asked God to forgive me. As I was crying, I saw Jesus crucified and I knew that he was dieing for me. I knew that God was real. I knew he knew me well and I knew I was forgiven. I broke into a laugh of freedom and joy.

That was 30+ years ago and he has shown me every step of the way that he is with me. I am continually convinced that he is doing things in my life.

Jesus said to his decuples, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of God.”
The Pharisees were the religious leaders and they followed the law closely. But the righteousness of Jesus far out-weighs
theirs. It is by his righteousness that we can come before God.

No amount of good deeds and niceties will make the grade.
If you never enter the kingdom of God, it won’t be because of your practices now, good or bad, it will be because you haven’t accepted the sacrifice that God has offered you; himself.

Yes, it’s true. There is only one way; Jesus
Gypsy Priest

Answer 8

Never forget that Christianity is not the only religion in the world so don't think that you will. It doesn't have, never had and never will have a monopoly on faith. There is not one "right" system of belief : there only is if YOU think there is. What about the hundreds of millions of people (no, sorry, at least a few billion) in the world who are of different faiths? Are they condemned to Hell because they don't believe in Jesus? No, of course not. They have their own gods, their own version of the afterlife.

Bottom line : do what YOU believe is best for YOURSELF, not what you think you "should" do.

Answer 9

I am not a Christian, but I do believe that according to Christian theology (particularly Catholicism), everyone born of this planet is a SINNER unless they believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ, which proliferates from the ideas of Original Sin. So yea pretty much (According to Christian Beliefs) you will go to hell unless you accept Jesus Christ as GOD.

I, however, am a Muslim, with a completely different perspective on the criterion for getting into heaven or hell. The Quran does not say, ACCEPT ME or Burn in hell. But instead the criterion is mostly based on good works and having the moral capacity to do good in the world. Remember Islam is essentially a way of life, which is basically a groundwork for living a morally sane and justified life, not just personally but Islam brings forth solutions for societal ailments and etc. So my friend as long as you are just, sane, moral, and follow all the common sense acts. You are guaranteed heaven in Islam. Also point to be noted. Just because someone claims he is a Muslim, does not guarantee him/her heaven, meaning if someone prays 5 times a day and after doing so go and gets drunk, cheats on his wife and does everything the Quran forbids... then he in no way will be getting Heaven. Remember brother. According to Islam. A good aethiest will be a better candidate for heaven than a bad Muslim.
The 5 pillars of Islam are not Worship me Worship me Worship me or burn in hell.... But the majority is focused on making you a good person.

Answer 10

Well, clearly the salvation of your soul doesn't come from the things you do in life. It come from confessing that Jesus is your Lord and savior and inviting him to live inside your heart. That's why you have to read the bible well, Jesus said on to the men I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die meaning eternal life (John 11:25-26) Also in (Revelations 20:15) it talks about if your name is not in the book of life you will be thrown into the lake of fire. So those are the people that don't want God or do not believe in him

Answer 11

do you love a person so much that when that person dies your life becomes VOID, meaningless, it becomes sorrow and pain, a living death, life has NO value, and nothing in the world can compensate - nothing can comfort . THAT is what TRUE Love is.

This world is nothing - all it's good work - nothing - when the most precious thing, your living breath, your universe - the only thing that gives meaning in this world - the life of another - is lost to you.

John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

Because THIS is what True Love is - that your life is the value beyond all for the life of another - and without that life, YOUR life is DEATH

THAT is the Love of Lord Jesus

edit: i wrote that very much modified to the love in a marriage
but the same philosophy applies in friendship - its the bond of love and true friendship between that person and yourself - that is what makes life about that you will not believe death to part it -