Heaven

[Fredkrueger100]

I believe in heaven 100%. I try and live my life as good as I can according to the bible. When the time comes I hope my name is called. I also know that the believers who aren't faithful will be punished more severely than those that have never believed. I feel for the ones that aren't living for God. The end won't be pretty.

 

[cheese79]

I believe, and pray that I can join God in heaven.


If I'm wrong, and there is no God, no big deal, I've still lead a great life and loved it all....good and bad...


Now if you non-believers are wrong, it will not be good... plain and simple...


I'll stick with my faith. .. Good Luck to you.

this 1000%

 

[Super Dave]

You might be there now.

 

[338Shooter]

I believe there will be a heaven of some sort. The only thing I believe about that heaven is that anything I've ever heard anyone else believe about it is probably way off. I tend to lean more toward grave sleeping and heaven actually being on earth, not up in outer space somewhere. We will all die and when it is time we will wake up here in heaven. There will be rules and jobs, and if you mess up you get tossed out. Other than and maybe even including that, I'm probably wayyyyyy off. I doubt there is a place in any dimension of any universe where everything is made of things we've deemed as valuable and desirable for our souls to go live after our bodies die and we gather around and sing songs all day to the creator of such things. To be honest, I think if that was the case, maybe I'd pass on the opportunity. I'm gonna keep believing in salvation and trying to honor the commandments and see what happens.

 

[carleb]

I believe in heaven. I think it's there for my spirit to be in union with God. I also believe the path to get there is Christ. And....I suspect it's beyond my ability to comprehend. And....it's good and will make my being complete. Beyond that, I don't really care. A life with God does not constrain me, it sets me free. If you think that is some type of voodoo idea, well that is up to you.

 

[Werewolf]

It's the place Jesus prepared for us. It's where God is. It's where we will fall at His feet and worship Him for eternity. Maranatha!!!!!

Coz

So...
Before Jesus there was no heaven?

 

[donner]

I believe, and pray that I can join God in heaven.


If I'm wrong, and there is no God, no big deal, I've still lead a great life and loved it all....good and bad...


Now if you non-believers are wrong, it will not be good... plain and simple...


I'll stick with my faith. .. Good Luck to you.

This type of thinking gets to one of my biggest issues with Christianity (or some Christianity). The following isn't directed at penismightier, either, but he opened the door, so quoting him is easiest.

I've never been comfortable with the idea that a person can live an equally good, just and caring life but be damned to hell for not believing in Christ. Despite what some people would tell you, an atheist, agnostic, jew, muslim (yes, even them), buddhist, doubting Christian or anything else can still lead a life that'd be considered good by the Christian standard. Yet, the notion that being a non-believer would eliminate them from Heaven makes me question the need to to lead such a life in regards to where someone would spend eternity.

Again, it's an internal issue i wrestle with, but i just can't get comfortable with the notion of needing to hedge the bet in regards to heaven vs hell for someone that by all other metrics would qualify as a good person.

 

[TerryMiller]

So...
Before Jesus there was no heaven?

The Son was with God and the Holy Spirit in the very beginning. The Son coming to the earth in the form of Jesus Christ was prophesied in the Old Testament and He fulfilled the prophesy as told in the New Testament.

Jesus said in the New Testament that His Father had many mansions and that He (Jesus) was going to prepare a place for His followers.

 

[soonerwings]

This type of thinking gets to one of my biggest issues with Christianity (or some Christianity). The following isn't directed at penismightier, either, but he opened the door, so quoting him is easiest.

I've never been comfortable with the idea that a person can live an equally good, just and caring life but be damned to hell for not believing in Christ. Despite what some people would tell you, an atheist, agnostic, jew, muslim (yes, even them), buddhist, doubting Christian or anything else can still lead a life that'd be considered good by the Christian standard. Yet, the notion that being a non-believer would eliminate them from Heaven makes me question the need to to lead such a life in regards to where someone would spend eternity.

Again, it's an internal issue i wrestle with, but i just can't get comfortable with the notion of needing to hedge the bet in regards to heaven vs hell for someone that by all other metrics would qualify as a good person.

This is how I tend to think about it . . . God (if you believe in the God of the Bible) is infinitely good and holy. As is stated in 1 John (if I remember correctly) there is no darkness in him at all. Man is flawed. Every man (other than Christ) has sinned. Like it says in Romans, ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Now, let's think about it mathematically for a second. If God is INFINITELY holy and a man sins even once, then he is INFINITELY separated from God. Since all men have sinned at least once, we are all INFINITELY separated from God at the onset. The difference between those who have lived good lives and believed vs. those who have lived good lives and not believed is simple. The ones who have believed have accepted God's word as true and have recognized that they are flawed and are not worthy to stand in the presence of God. They realize that they cannot ever earn their way into the presence of an infinitely holy God and that the only way to stand in his presence is by his grace. The ones who have not accepted Christ believe that they can somehow do enough good to "earn" their way into the presence of an infinitely holy God. In effect, they are saying that they can be "like God." It's very similar to original sin.

 

[donner]

This is how I tend to think about it . . . God (if you believe in the God of the Bible) is infinitely good and holy. As is stated in 1 John (if I remember correctly) there is no darkness in him at all. Man is flawed. Every man (other than Christ) has sinned. Like it says in Romans, ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Now, let's think about it mathematically for a second. If God is INFINITELY holy and a man sins even once, then he is INFINITELY separated from God. Since all men have sinned at least once, we are all INFINITELY separated from God at the onset. The difference between those who have lived good lives and believed vs. those who have lived good lives and not believed is simple. The ones who have believed have accepted God's word as true and have recognized that they are flawed and are not worthy to stand in the presence of God. They realize that they cannot ever earn their way into the presence of an infinitely holy God and that the only way to stand in his presence is by his grace. The ones who have not accepted Christ believe that they can somehow do enough good to "earn" their way into the presence of an infinitely holy God. In effect, they are saying that they can be "like God." It's very similar to original sin.

Thanks for the response. I guess i still don't get some of it then. It appears, from my reading of your post, that grace alone can get you into heaven and that leading a good life doesn't really matter so long as you are repentant and accept God. Almost like a checkbox. 'Did this person believe. If yes, check here and proceed. If no, move to the right and down.'

Also, i don't understand how not believing in the Christian God (or having serious doubts) would equate to considering themselves on the same level as God (or as you said, 'like God').

But anyway, i'll keep pondering this myself i think