Is Jesus' blood sacrifice REALLY necessary, when non-Christians are still going to heaven this day?

Question

In every other major religion, so long as you have a sincere heart and do good deads while following the 'wrong' God, you can make it to heaven. They also say if you follow the 'right' God, if you're wicked, you'll go to either hell or be purified.

Christians say you need Jesus for His blood sacrifice as prophesised in the OT.

However, if you grew up in say, Tibet or the Amazon, and never knew of Jesus, you can go to heaven anyway because of your 'ignorance'. *This shows we do NOT* need Jesus' blood sacrifice to be saved. God instead will use your actions and good heart to bring you to heaven. It's NOT essential because non-Christians past, present and future go to heaven.

This is how it's always been in Judaism- the ones who started the whole blood sacrifice idea. They realised it's impossible for the whole world to follow one religion, and they had no interest in banishing anyone to eternal hell for mere thought crimes.

They moved on, but why do Christians refuse?

You're looking but not reading. There are many people that have never heard of Jesus. NO mainstream Christian says those people will go to hell, because they can't be punished for something they're completely ignorant about. They are going to heaven, without believing in Jesus. The blood sacrifice is not necessary fo them- Tibetan buddhists don't even know what a blood sacrifice is!

How many times do I have to spell it out to you? Not ONLY Christians are making it to heaven. The Jews before Jesus could make it to heaven. All other religions before Jesus could make it to heaven. None of them had heard of Jesus.

There are people who don't know about Jesus today. They can't be punished for something they don't know. So they are making it to heaven.

(And there are many who are most definately turned off the idea of believing in Jesus based on the cold-hearted beliefs of many Christians).

Answer 1

If one believed that a blood sacrifice was necessary before God would forgive you, then even one example where God forgave without a blood sacrifice would prove that this idea is UnBiblical. There are many such examples, but the most interesting is found in the Book of Leviticus. The reason this is so interesting is that it comes right in the middle of the discussion of sin sacrifices, which is found in the first chapters. In Leviticus 5:11-13, it states, "If, however, he cannot afford two doves or two young pigeons, he is to bring as an offering for his sin a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering." One can also see that one does not need a blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins in the Book of Jonah 3:10. There, the Bible simply states that God saw the works of the people of Ninevah. Specifically it says that the works God saw were that they stopped doing evil, and so God forgave them. There are plenty of other examples, and the idea that one needs a blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins is UnBiblical.
What, EXACTLY does God say about human sacrifice in the TaNaCH? In Deuteronomy 12:30-31, God calls Human sacrifice something that He hates, and an abomination to Him, "for every abomination to the Eternal, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. In Jeremiah 19:4-6, God tells us that Human sacrifice is so horrible a concept to Him, that it did not even come into His mind to demand it from His creation, "They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind." We see the same thing in Psalm 106:37-38, and in Ezekiel 16:20. This means that God would not accept Jesus's death on the cross as a blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. The very idea of that God would accept a human sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins is UnBiblical.
The concept of Original Sin simply states that because Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they brought Death into the world. Every human being dies because Adam and Eve committed a sin, and for their sin, all humans are punished with death. However, the Bible describes something entirely different. Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden because if they remained, they could eat the fruit of the Tree of Life, which would make them IMmortal. If Adam and Eve had to eat the fruit of the Tree of Life to become IMmortal, then they were created mortal to begin with. They did not bring Death into the world, and we don't die because they sinned. As a matter of Biblical fact, the answer to Question One shows that one person cannot die as the punishment for the sins committed by another. We die because Death is a natural part of existence, and has been since from the moment the first human beings were created. That is why God told the animals, before Adam and Eve ate the fruit from The Tree Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil, to be fruitful and to multiply, since they needed to replace themselves. God also told the same thing to Adam and Eve before they ate that fruit as well.

Answer 2

Obviously I'm not God, so I can't answer your question with any kind of certainty, especially since this is an issue that I have discussed and debated for most of my life, but perhaps I can add something to this discussion.

The Christian belief that Jesus is the only way for redemption and Heaven comes from, among other verses, John 14:6 "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me"

Christians also believe that no one can ever be good enough to work off all their evil deeds - it's impossible to remember and catalogue every bit of evil you've ever committed, much less try to atone for it all. (on a tangential note, Kafka's "The Trial" makes a similar commentary on the human inability to atone for everything, it's a very interesting read)

Now, I don't agree with your statement that "non-Christians are still going to heaven this day" because there's no way for you to prove that. Unless you've actually been to heaven, that is a statement that can neither be proved nor disproved. By the same logic, though, I cannot prove that I am right, because I have not been to heaven either.

This gets us into a very convoluted world in which very little can be proved. I'll offer what I can here:
- God is loving
- God offers grace
- God does not condemn the truly repentant
So far, we are in agreement.

However, God also made it very clear throughout the Bible that worshiping other gods is not an acceptable alternative path. Jesus sent the disciples to all corners of the Earth to spread the message of Christianity - He would not have done that if any sincere belief could redeem a person and bring them to Heaven.

That paradox is about all the finite human mind can grasp. God is, of course, far bigger and far wiser than any human could attempt to be. Part of faith involves believing that a just, loving, and gracious God would not condemn people who had never heard of Him - we cannot know every way that God reveals Himself. Stories abound of people who live in areas that have never heard the Christian message but have a vision or a dream or a prompting that causes them to seek out God. The decision over who goes to Heaven is a huge one. I leave those kinds of decisions to God, because no human has the capacity to make them.

In the meantime, Christians must presume (based on the Bible) that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. That does not mean calling down fire and brimstone on everyone else, nor does it mean that Christians should preach intolerance and hate. Christians, like God, should love all humans because they are human, and at the core are no different. For Christians, the basics are to love God and to love people, and let God take care of the decision-making, as is His right.

This is a fascinating topic of discussion, thank you for bringing it up.

Added: to the poster above me (I hope it was me you meant, if not, I apologize) thank you. I'm glad we have a forum to discuss and debate these very complicated issues.

Answer 3

Without the Shedding of Blood their is no Remission of Sin;Prior to God coming to Earth an
being born as Pertaining to Scripture ,That was set forth by the Prophets;He was the Perfect Sacrifice;He never Sinned and Defeated Satan as a Man,He is Qualified to be the Saviour and Judge of those that Reject Him;The People that had the Law passed to them thru Moses,Had a Day called the day of Atonement;The High Priest
could only enter The Most Holy Place , one day out of the Yr;He had to Approach This Inter Area thru the Tent Of Meeting and later the Temple,thru the Veil with the Blood of a Perfect Lamb for His Sin and the Sins of Israel;Should He miss any step,He would be dragged out,dead;This once a Year Event only pushed the Sins ahead untill Jesus the Christ,was Offered up;His own Blood was Acceptable to God as cleansing for all who would Recieve it;God has accepted The Blood,but Sad to say,Majority of Man doesn"t,Those that insist on "My" Way" are Walking all over Jesus Blood to get to Hell;
What will be the Question on that Day?
I don"t need to know about some other Group in
time past; God says Today cause that is all the assurance You have,Tomorrow is Promised to No One;

Answer 4

Where to begin? OK, it's not about religion-it is about relationship-a relationship with Christ,believing He died for our sins. All of us, even Charles Manson. But you have to truly accept Him as your Savior, and live for Him. There is nothing we can do, our works are dung(poop), like filthy rags.
We can not earn our way to heaven, the only way to the Father is through the son. Not even Mother Theresa could of earned her way,and she did a lot, but she did it for her love for Jesus,doing what Jesus commanded us to do. She believed that Jesus was Savior. That's why she is in heaven now. Now the blood-sacrifice was a commandment to the Jews to atone for different kinds of sin, but He knew before hand that Israel could never keep it. Back in the beginning of the book of Gen. God had Abram cut an animal in half, back then when someone made covenant (contract) they would walk down, hand in hand, in between animal that had been cut in two, a part on each side. Knowing that man could never keep a convenient,promise,etc...He put Abram asleep and walked down the middle Himself. And kept that promise with- now called Abraham.
This is also considered by some, to be a foreshadowing of the need for Jesus to be that final sacrifice. The debt was paid. That's why in the bible Jesus is at times called the LAMB that takes away the sin of the world

Answer 5

I don't believe all of this, no. I do believe that Jesus died for OUR sins. Yes, Jesus was fully God, so he was perfect. I don't agree with "The reason why a sacrifice was absolutely necessary and no other method could have been used to forgive is because God loves us." Up until then animals sacrifices had been fine and would have continued to be fine, but this happend to end the sacrificial system forever. I also do not agree with.. "Would you expect God to let a serial killer off because he said he was sorry? No. There needs to be a punishment..." This is in NO WAY TRUE. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9 FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, not just some all. God would forgive that person if he asked for it. I do agree with the next to some extent with the next phrase, that says "But, God loves us even more still and he didn't want to FORCE us to accept Jesus, so he left it up to us to decide whether or not we want to convert to Christianity." He will NOT force Himself on you, but sends you signs everyday and lets you know that he is there everyday and that He loves you. If you die and are not a Christian, you will not make it to Heaven. You have to ACCEPT JESUS into your heart to go to Heaven, that is the gist of it.

Answer 6

Honestly, I can't believe all of these answers that say that "Jesus is the only way to Salvation."

THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE, and it is an exceptionally childish way of looking at things. If you are a bad person, you are not saved just by believing in Jesus. Sorry. If you are a bad person, believe it or not, you are going to hell. Bad people who believe in Jesus are going to hell. Bad people who don't believe in Jesus are also going to hell.

You're abso-freaking-lutely right. I'm fed up with all of these people trying to convert me because I'm not Christian. They make me wonder, is it a Christian thing to go forth and tell other people that not believing in what you believe in is wrong? Can someone please show me where it says in the Bible "Go forth and preach, for your religion bests the religion of all others!" ?

Any takers?

NO, of course not. Why? Because it doesn't say that. It does say "treat others as you would like to be treated," however. I bet if there weren't so many Christians in the world they wouldn't appreciate being told how their beliefs are wrong, but most people choose to ignore that. What kind of a God would do that? "Worship me only in a certain way, and only by worshipping me in that particular way shall you be guaranteed eternal life." Yeah, whatever.

Religion is meant to make people into good people. Instead of doing that, it's just creating a bunch of bigots and miscreants who think that by virtue of belonging to their religion they'll be "saved."

Added: poster below me, I just read your answer, and I have to admit, I thought it was rather wonderful. Thank you.

Answer 7

You misunderstand the whole sacrifice of Jesus. People who are Baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are saved and beginging the journey to God via Heaven.
"Baptism of dis ire" those who would have been Baptized if they had not died beforehand those who have been isolated and have not heard of Jesus or refuse to accept Him as God's Son wait until the parouisia, the final judgement they don't go to heaven just Hades, a limbo, purgatory.
it's all about preaching the Word and asking those who believe to repent, change there ways.

Answer 8

Yes, His ownself as a sacrifice was neccesary. He had to be an atonment for our sins. There is Power in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
God bless. Peace unto you.

Answer 9

Only Christians can go to Heaven and we are just trying to help athiests out by telling them about God. It is wrong for some Christians to force people to believe, but we're not all like that. Christians have good intentions, they just don't seem to be taken that way. All of those other beliefs are false. There is only one Heaven and you have to believe in God, ask for forgiveness, and try to do what's right to get there. Jesus took the death penalty for our sins and he loves us.

Answer 10

who told you that not knowing is a free ticket to heaven? God knows the heart of every human. so if that human would have him he will make sure they hear the gospel. with the logic you use why would God want to spread the gospel if all he had to do is not tell anyone and all would go to heaven.