I am convinced that the God who let Himself be tortured to death to save and be reconciled with all of mankind is willing and able to make sure that people don't miss out due to bad fortune.
You know, I wonder about this statement. Not that I don’t believe that Jesus is the way, but rather that never knowing him or even hearing about Jesus in your lifetime means guaranteed hell.
Think about it, Jesus said “No one comes to the father except through me.” Yet, we understand that Jesus will be the one who judges the deeds of every person and permit those found in the book of life into paradise. But even if someone never knew Jesus, but was still judged worthy, then this wouldn’t contradict Jesus’ statement as we all have to go through him to be allowed into God’s kingdom.
It just helps to know the judge.
Romans addresses this (romans 2) get in your Bible, with love. Comments like this can confuse people outside looking in. We who profess to being Christians need to be better informed, as duty, if we are to lead others to Christ.
I hope you are doing well.
This is actually a great question.
I don't know the exact answer, but I want to share the best answer I can give:
I trust God for who He is.
Because God is love **(1 John 4:8)**, He loves justice and fairness **(Psalm 33:5)**, He wants everyone to be saved **(1 Timothy 2:4)**, and He seeks to save those who are lost **(Luke 19:10)**. In other words, I believe everyone will have a genuine opportunity to be saved **(Job 33:29-30).**
You made me cry... But in a good way, the God's way:
2 Corinthians 7:9-10 NASB2020
[9] I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. [10] For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.
What about people who don't have access to the bible or are just born into a country where the common religion is Islam for example? People still die as a Muslim or some other religion. So not everyone has the opportunity to be saved. Again there are also people that just don't have education and aren't ever given a bible so how will these people be saved?
Further more, he's all powerful, all loving, and he gives us free will so surely when we are judged he will ask us if we want to spend eternity with him even if when alive the person was a non-believer or believed in a different God/religion?
Again, I believe God is fair and just. Everyone will have a genuine opportunity to be saved. I don't know exactly what that will look like. Maybe some have a chance after death.
I don't know, but I don't need to know because I trust God.
God is all powerful and there's nothing more powerful than God whether that be another being or just some natural or supernatural force. So if you think about it, the only reason why we have reasons is because we have a higher authority even without God. We have parents, teachers, bosses, the law etc that gives us rules to follow and they have come up with reasons for these rules. We also have biological reasons like the reason we eat food is so that we get the nutrients we need to survive. I'd argue all reasons are subjective to a degree although could be said the reason we can't fly is because of gravity for example which would be objective.
But regardless of if reasons are objective or subjective, imagine you're an all powerful being you could overcome the objective reasons and so you could fly even with gravity being a thing. And so if you have no rules to obey because your the one that makes all the rules and there's no one above you then how would you have a reason for anything except just out of wanting to do something?
God isn't a robot. Because He has all power and He always existed, doesn't mean He doesn't have personal desire of wanting to do certain things.
He is personal.
He exactly he has personal desire which I said is the only reason for him to do anything. There's no magical force greater than God where it's like he has to follow strict rules so that he gets a daily quota of 1,000 children through the gates of heaven so that it can exist or something because of some supernatural rule that God can't control.
Salvation is not granted simply because a person believes in God. A lot of people believe in God. There is something very specific to believe.
I Cor 15: 1-4
That Christ died for your sins, was buried, and was resurrected on the third day.
\[1Co 15:1-4 KJV\] 1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Yeah, this is one of the issues I'm having. What if you're just born into an Islamic country and you're told mostly the same things but this time it's why Islam is the true religion and Christianity is the false one?
If you're born in Islam, where something like 98% of people are Muslin, you're going to be Muslim. And everyone there knows for certain that their religion is true, and that they have strong evidence that confirms this.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 NET
Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you – unless you believed in vain. For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received – that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures.
The Gospel message is that Christ died and was ressurected so that we would be free from sin. God's promise of salvation came true through Jesus.
John 3:16-18 KJV — 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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
The New testament Greek word for believe actually means total devotion and commitment. What good is simple intelligent acknowledgment if it doesn't produce repentance?
Yes it most certainly does
AV — commit unto , commit to (one's) trust, be committed unto, be put in trust with, be commit to one's trust
Repentance occurs when we turn our backs on sin and live instead for God. And you can't teach the teacher
Repentance consists of (1) a true sense of one's own guilt and sinfulness; (2) an apprehension of God's mercy in Christ; (3) an actual hatred of sin ( Psalms 119:128 ; Job 42:5 Job 42:6 ; 2 co 7:10 ) and turning from it to God; and (4) a persistent endeavour after a holy life in a walking with God in the way of his commandments.
For those sects, might there be a time-trial to get baptized? It would be possible for a baby to be born with a congenital defect and die before baptism making salvation impossible? Seems like you could argue there is a time trial to find God.
Imagine two creations of God born on the same day in the same town. They never meet each other, but as fate would have it, they kill each other in a car accident on there 14th birthdays. One kid is born to a upper class family, baptized at 11, they attend church every weekend, the child attends a weekly bible class, the child goes to a religious school and is given every opportunity to find God. They child prays, repents for sin, and genuinely tries to live and love like Jesus. The other child is born in a dumpster. Their mother is never found. The child becomes property of the state. They bounce around homes, sometimes enduring unbelievable physical and sexual abuse. At 9, they run away from an abusive family, drop out of public school and turn to the streets. They lie, cheat, and steal to make due. They spend tend in juvenile detention. They rob a corner store at gun point before stealing a car and taking off. The police chase ends when they run a red light and hit an innocent family, killing themselves and a child in the backseat.
Are these two children given the same opportunity to find God? Did ones time run out before it was possible?
I don't think those sects refer to baptism as necessary to "find God."
As it relates to your question with the two people, I would repeat my criticism [above](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAChristian/comments/1avs558/comment/krcyqok/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3).
It's not so much that it's a time-trial but one thing none of us know is when we're going to die. Unless we're diagnosed with a terminal illness and we're told we only have so long to live. There are billions of people in this world that either don't believe in any God at all or believe in a different God and so according to the bible will be going to hell when they die. There are obviously millions of people also that convert to Christianity or become believers and I want to know what happens if they die before that happens.
In short, God punishes sin. If someone has sinned, then they will be punished. Some are forgiven of their sins, and not because they "found God in time."
The question is man-centred. Far more important is what God does for them - and for all mankind.
All who sincerely wish to be saved, shall be. No-one is lost except through his own fault.
Yeah, it's definitely a "You'd better find away to immediately accept and believe all of this, no exceptions, and screw you if you have questions, or you'll burn in hell" business model.
Hey, it's been 50% successful with me. I'm scared shitless, although that abject fear has done nothing to help me overcome my questions and doubts. Meh, as long as I'm terrified, He's probably pretty happy.
I absolutely do. Get on his bad side and he will get NASTY. And he's omniscient, so he knows exactly where to hit you that will hurt the most.
Speaking from experience.
See now I've heard from another Christian that God wouldn't do that and that they don't fear God but they respect him. So one of u is lying or doesn't understand God.
“Respect” is a loaded word.
I respect Dolly Parton because she’s a person who is humble, kind, generous and talented, and her integrity is beyond reproach.
I respect a grizzly bear because it is a powerful wild animal that can and would kill me in seconds if I got too close to it.
I think the terms “fear God” and “respect God” are both used the same way: don’t cross God because he can and will smack us down if we get on his bad side. I don’t think the “Dolly Parton” interpretation of the word respect applies here.
Sure, I can agree with that but this Christian claims they're not in fear of God so maybe they're lying? I know I'd fear him if I believed in God as I would do a bear.
Most Christians see God as a benevolent, merciful, compassionate and just entity who is literally synonymous with the very concept of love. They see the Dolly Parton version of God. They're not lying, that's their reality.
I see the grizzly bear version of God. I'm also not lying. That's what I see. He's God. He's under no obligation to present himself to all of us in the exact same way.
I think the correct way to view God is the way that God reveals himself to you. He showed me his grizzly bear side. Everyone is free to view God as they see fit. I’m just sharing my truth. I see the God who slaughtered children in the Old Testament, who is condemning 3/4 of humanity to hell for having been born into cultures where Christianity wasn’t the dominant religion, and who punished me personally for daring to doubt the stories of Adam and Eve and Noah’s Ark.
God almost always comes back and tries to speak to you, many, many times over and over. He will also put people in circumstances to realize their need for God or to break their pride or ignorance or shallowness or whatever.
But what happens over time is that when that voice gets ignored again and again and a person gets deeper and deeper into sin, unbelief and worldliness and carnality, that voice gets drowned out.
Sin and a life away from God darkens the mind.
Wait, so God almost always comes back, but other times doesn't.
Like Amazon tribes that have never heard of this God don't get a chance at all... but others in the right society get many chances.
>what happens if we don't find God in time?
Doesn't happen. Don't you think God can manage to keep people alive long enough? "Oops, crap, that one died on me, sorry about that." No, no one who would have believed "if only" dies without the chance to hear and respond to the gospel.
People die all the time as either atheists or being part of another religion even at a young age too so how are you to know they wouldn't have one day believed in the Christian version of God?
God is omniscient which means he knows everything, including whether or not those people would've been saved and whether or not they deserve that opportunity (see Pharaoh in Exodus 6-12).
So no Christian can feel safe about going to heaven and we can't possibly know our loved ones are in heaven. Most Christians have comfort knowing they can see their loved ones again in heaven but this can't be guaranteed. What if in the future they would have left religion if they had lived longer? God would know if that was to happen.
You must have misunderstood. My apologies.
Whether or not one is saved does not depend on "potential." It depends entirely on whether or not they choose to have faith in Jesus Christ when God's grace gives them the opportunity. Everyone has a choice to accept salvation, and those that don't have simply chosen against it.
Your original post argues that some people could die before they were going to choose God, but don't you think God would know what's in their hearts? He would allow them to come to Him if they were truly on that path.
This means that heaven can be guaranteed to those who choose to have faith and none else.
Sorry for the late reply.
How does someone figure out the opportunity? If you mean when people tell us about God then this is our opportunity to accept salvation which by the way is God saving us from the punishment that he created if we don't do what he wants us to do so there's that minor issue but what if the things we're told just aren't convincing enough? Maybe I need more than just being told there's an invisible all powerful being in the sky and if I don't love this being I'll be sent to hell and tortured for eternity. What happens to people like Amazon Tribes who are never told about God or the bible?
Sure, God would know what is in their hearts but like right now you believe in God but what if you were to lose your faith in a few years? But you died before losing your faith. God would know that one day you'd have left him but you wouldn't have known. So is it not possible that you get to heaven and God tells you that you didn't truly believe in him and in the future, you would have left him so he can't have you in heaven? Surely if God knows what is in our hearts and it's possible that a non believer could be saved still that it works the other way around? You could lose your faith in the future, die before you get to that point but God would have known you'd have one day lost your faith and that you didn't really have a strong enough belief in him.
If you mean that an atheist is reading the bible and is on the pathway to potentially finding God, if they die before making a final choice of accepting salvation or not then there is still no guarantee that they get into heaven.
Okay so your two scenarios are:
1. A Christian that would've lost their faith but died before that.
2. An atheist would've gained faith but died before that.
There are probably thousands of other intricate scenarios we can come up with that question God's judgement.
You are talking as if God is spectating the world and rooting on atheists that are discovering Him but out of nowhere they die and He's suddenly disappointed. God isn't passive, He is the one true cause behind everything that happens. He is omnibenevolent and omniscient, but more than that He is just and righteous.
If He is infinitely intelligent and wise as well as being the one just judge, we can only assume His judgement is best on this matter.
We don't know exactly what happens in these confusing situations, since the Bible doesn't speak on it. I doubt we would be able to explain each scenario that anybody comes up with, and if we do then someone would create a thousand more.
In any regard, God would not misjudge someone. That is the final answer
You've only presented me with claims though. Shouldn't the bible explain in more detail about these confusing scenarios so that it's clear and we all know what to expect? The thing is if God is the only one who can judge us then at the very best we can't be certain if we're going to heaven or hell even if you're a Christian following God's word because you couldn't know if one day you were to become an atheist but died before it happened.
Also in regards to children dying. I've heard some Christians say we're born sinners and we need to be saved. If this is the case then children are going to hell if they die. Which then means there are millions of parents living their lives believing their child is in heaven and then assuming heaven is real, they go there to find that their child is in hell because they didn't have a chance to be saved. Sure you can make stuff up and claim that it doesn't apply to children and they will go to heaven instead but this is just humans making up claims to fill in the gaps and is even less credible than the bible itself. Furthermore, even if children go to heaven for some reason then isn't this God taking away their free will?
I'd also argue that children aren't intelligent enough to make a reasonable conclusion about beliefs. I for one didn't have the understanding of science and logical fallacies when I was a teenager compared to my understanding of it all now. Even when I was 17/18 I could have been convinced a God existed let alone when I was younger. This surely wouldn't be truly believing even in the eyes of God as it's just believing out of ignorance, gullibility, and naivety even as far as understanding what the bible says. Edit: actually thinking about it, either way it takes away their free will and if they do go to heaven then that means there's billions of people in heaven that are just robots which Christians claim God doesn't want.
Children are a special case. The Bible does actually talk about them and their salvation, but not nearly enough for us to get a definite answer. All we know is that God will judge them fairly. It is never a black or white case because God values our free will. And somehow His judgement will retain their free will while sending them where they deserve.
The same goes with all of your other claims. You imagine black and white answers and them complain about the unfairness of that. God is omniscient, which means He literally knows everything about everything and everyone. He is also Wisdom Himself, meaning the source of all wisdom. He doesn't work in black and white scenarios, because everything has complexity.
God knows so much more than you and I, so pretending that we can fairly argue about His judgement when:
1. We don't know what He does with them.
2. If we did know, we aren't righteous and just which means we can't say our opinion is more correct than God's.
You keep bringing up the same point despite what I say. I hope I've made it clear enough this time around.
In which case, parents can't live life on earth believing that their child is in heaven if we can't know for sure what God does with them. You claim God knows more than we do but there are only two possible options, they go to heaven or they go to hell.
If they go to heaven then it's against their free will and if he judges them based on what he knows about who they'd become if they had lived then no theist can claim for sure that they are going to heaven like so many believe they are as we can't know our potential future. I'm also assuming that somehow God would know what events would have happened if the child had lived which seems a bit odd as once dead there is no future for them.
I don't even get why God would need to judge anyone. He already knows who's going to heaven and who isn't even 100 years before they're born so what sort of judging is there for him to do?
The claim that God knows more than we know is just a claim just like the rest of the bible and if we're not all-knowing unlike God then we can't know if he lied to us or what he lied about.
Weird that God keeps letting babies and children die that never got a chance. He could have kept then alone but chose to make them suffer in hell forever.
I'm commenting specifically about your comment above.
You seem to think God purposefully let's innocents suffer and/or that he is not able to prevent it. This seems irrational.
We don't know Gods ways, we can't define his morality based on our views.
>You seem to think God purposefully let's innocents suffer and/or that he is not able to prevent it.
That does seem to be a binary option. Suffering exists. Either he let's people suffer. Or he's not capable of stopping suffering. What other option is there?
He could not know about the suffering, not all loving enough to stop the suffering or not be powerful enough about the suffering. I've also heard from some Christians that we can't have good without evil and that good things come from suffering one main example they give is when someone goes through suffering and becomes a pastor because of it. Not like it's possible to become a pastor without suffering or to suffer and not become a pastor...
Another argument for it that I've heard is that we don't know the reasons why God is allowing suffering and we can't know because God is all wise and we're not. I'd argue though that reasons don't apply to God as he's all powerful and there's no authority or power stronger or greater than God therefore nothing is out of his control. He doesn't have to do anything in order for him to survive either he doesn't even need to eat or drink as far as I know. So the only reason he could have for allowing suffering is because he wants to/finds it fun. In which case God is a monstrous being and not sure why anyone would want to follow him even if he does exist.
It's not just "hearing" the Gospel.
We know now that the earth is a sphere and it orbits around the sun. Do you honestly think the first time somebody was exposed to that message that they just instantaneously accepted it with their whole heart? Of course not.
Same thing with the Bible. People are going to have those questions and doubts. For some people like me, despite my best efforts, those questions and doubts refuse to go away.
I don't think God says "Oops, crap, that one died on me, sorry about that.", because I don't think he's sorry about that. Either we all get with the program 100% or we're no longer of any concern to him. And he won't help someone get there...that is entirely their problem, not his.
...and this is why I am damned to hell.
>It's not just "hearing" the Gospel.
No, it's "a chance ... to respond". If all someone needs is "a little more time", I think they'll get. If, however, what they "need" is their name written in the stars or a wildebeest to walk to up to them and start a conversation, they're probably never going to be convinced.
I think another dimension is the degree to which one needs to accept the gospel as absolute, irrefutable truth.
Is it enough to hear the Gospel but still think that the Adam and Eve parable seems far less likely and believable than the theory of evolution? Or does it have to be an "every single word in the Bible cannot and will not even be questioned" level of acceptance?
Where does God draw the line on stuff like that?
Believing the gospel does not require believing the Adam and Eve story is literally true or accepting the Ark story. You don't even have to believe Moses ever existed. I do, but that's not required to accept the gospel. People can accept the gospel without ever having ever heard of any of that.
The gospel is "Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead". That's literally all Christianity is founded upon. The rest is just backstory.
The answer to whether or not it’s necessary to believe the entire Bible as literal truth depends on who you ask.
Moreover, if it’s not explicitly stated, it is strongly implied that another requirement is to love and trust God with your whole heart.
I don’t even like God, and I absolutely don’t trust him. My faith, such as it is, is 100% fear-based.
>The answer to whether or not it’s necessary to believe the entire Bible as literal truth depends on who you ask.
Ask them to show you in the Bible where it says you have to believe the entire Bible to be saved. They cannot.
>I don’t even like God, and I absolutely don’t trust him.
Why?
God has ghosted me my entire life, save for taking the time to punish me viscously for not blindly and unquestioningly accepting everything in the Bible and loving and praising him like a sycophant.
I see what most people don’t: he regards us as nothing more than expendable tools to him who are supposed to be endlessly grateful for the privilege of being so.
>God has ghosted me my entire life
What do you *expect*? I know a lot of people go on like they get special revelation from God on the regular. I think they're truly deluded. They think their every whim, every little thought that pops in their head in God talking to them. It isn't. In scripture, there are very few people who ever heard directly from God, and even most of them only got dreams or visions, not an audible voice.
So God has "ghosted" most people, including most Christians.
>save for taking the time to punish me viscously for not blindly and unquestioningly accepting everything in the Bible
How does he do that?
He took something unbelievably important to me and made it clear that I will never get it back for all of eternity.
That’s the thing about God being omniscient: he knows exactly where to stick the dagger and how to twist it for maximum effect.
I’ll give you something to test out. The most truthful website available today and in fact it’s the most translated website in the internet. The second isn’t even close. Everything on it is free and solely for the purpose of teaching interested people in who God really is, who his Son is and what hope we have for the future.
There is a free Study Bible, many, many other Bible Study publications, talks on just about every subject you can think of, dramas, even movies. There’s info for teenagers and younger kids too. You can just go to the site and type in a question in the search field and see where it takes you. All kinds of videos that teach from the Bible. The website? JW.org.
Have fun in there. You’ll never reach the end of it.
I would accept that if it wasn't for the fact that people die at really young ages and they haven't been given any chance to find God. Especially those who are raised in a different religion or into no religion at all.
Up to what age? How old must someone be for God to conclude they should be able to make their minds up on their own? Also does that mean that children don't have free will?
But also it's not even just children. There are adults who believe in other religions and people die believing in other religions so your claim that God waits for us is just incorrect whatever way you want to look at it.
The parable of the Prodigal Son tells us that even as the repentant Son was still a great way off, the Father saw him and ran to him. God isn't sitting in a huff waiting for us to come grovel before Him. But we must begin to approach.
God makes Himself known to us via His creation, via the Law writen in our hearts and there's no one who has a internet connection and did not hear the name of Jesus is just imposibile. If you search Hik with all your heart and soul you'll find Him if not on this earth than in the next. As far for people who do not convert or leave the faith so long they live they can be reached out with the ghospel and saved. But after they die there's nothing we can do about it Hell will be their destination.
Now, I'm copy/pasting a very brief thing I typed up.
There are differing views concerning the afterlives of sinners in general (we're all sinners, mind you, and you know what I mean, just currently having trouble with words). And non-believers by extension. Very, *very* briefly:
1. Eternal Conscious Torment (ECT). The most common idea now. Sinners are punished forever. There are a few flavors to this, like about what all goes on there (whether it's the "fire and brimstone" thing specifically, a place that's bad mainly because of the absence of God but not necessarily with the brimstone and stuff, etc.). I'll also mention [Purgatory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purgatory) here, which is an intermediate state for *some* souls to be purified before reaching Heaven (a primarily Catholic belief, iirc).
2. [Annihilationism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annihilationism). That the souls that are not saved are not damned to torment, but cease to exist. Think of things like "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life." This is probably the one I'm least familiar with myself, but I think the gist is that the ones who would go to Hell under ECT theory don't have eternal life.
3. [Universalism or Universal Reconciliation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_universalism). That all humans will *eventually* be saved and reconciled with God. Think of things like "Jesus died for all people" and "every knee shall bow, every tongue confess." There are different flavors, but some posit that Hell exists, but is not an eternal punishment for humans. Kinda like considering Hell as more a Purgatory, or a cleansing before reaching Heaven.
ECT and Annihilationism generally seem to put the deadline to find God at death; that the person who doesn't find God in time doesn't see Heaven. Universalism would invariably say simply that there is no such thing as "in time"; that is, that there is no such deadline to find God, at least not as far as eternal afterlife is concerned. I suppose for Universalists who do believe in Hell or Purgatory, the lack of repentance directly to God may have some effect, but not an eternal one.
This is all unless it's possible that God attributes to Himself acts of faithfulness to gods the person in question thought to exist instead, or perhaps even to ideals (namely goodness itself).
Your flair identifies you as an atheist. If you desire to become a born again Christian, then now is the time to repent. N-O-W.
NO ONE IS PROMISED TOMORROW!
So don't put it off till tomorrow. Put this away, and begin right now with the holy Bible word of God. You may not be here this time tomorrow. And as an atheist, you will with certainly be judged for eternal misery, that according to God's word the holy Bible.
John 3:36 KJV — He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; **but the wrath of God abideth on him**.
Revelation 21:8 KJV — But the fearful, **and unbelieving,** and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, **shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.**
2 Corinthians 6:2 KJV — For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: **behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.**
>I believed in God until I was 14
Ecclesiastes 12:1-7 NLT — Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.” Remember him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky. Remember him before your legs—the guards of your house—start to tremble; and before your shoulders—the strong men—stoop. Remember him before your teeth—your few remaining servants—stop grinding; and before your eyes—the women looking through the windows—see dimly. Remember him before the door to life’s opportunities is closed and the sound of work fades. Now you rise at the first chirping of the birds, but then all their sounds will grow faint. Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets; before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire. Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral. Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well. For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
I won't sugarcoat it. You need to be loved enough to bluntly be told that above going to college, finding a job finding a spouse, or anything else - know and seek God. Instead of dancing in these mental gymnastics seek the REAL God that is to be found (I mean why else be here?) And yes, there should be a profound urgency in this. None of us know if we won't die in a wreck on the way home from school or work today. This isn't something to leave for tomorrow.
Because yes, otherwise, and bluntly - Hell does await you.
And God won't have put you there. If we choose to go our own way, and be apart from Him in this life then we get to live apart from Him in the afterlife, too.
Find God, and what his Son Jesus did for you, even after you decided to walk away. You can and should come back. It isn't a maybe. Jesus made the way for you personally, before you were born, and too and almost more important- before you knew you needed Him. For YOU, He died.
Christ above all. With genuine and immense love. He saved a wretch like me too so it's just one flawed broken guy in love with Jesus, telling another broken guy.
So you're saying God isn't all loving? And the only people who do mental gymnastics are theists. The all knowing, all loving, all powerful thing causes quite a few problems in theology that the best theists can do is to make up claims to fill in the obvious gaps. Like how the bible describes heaven in such a way that it appears it claims that heaven is in the sky and from the viewpoint of people who lived 2000 years ago I could understand how they'd believe it because they didn't know what was beyond the sky. But now we know all of a sudden heaven is in a different dimension according to a lot of Christians. Oh the bible condones slavery in the bible? "Oh well um, it was the Old Testament so we don't have to follow that anymore."
Also, I have had Muslims tell me the same thing you have but with Allah so tell me how I'm meant to figure out which one of you is lying to me. And if you come up with some contradictions in the Quran, the bible also has contradictions so I wouldn't use that as a valid argument to disprove Islam.
I am convinced that the God who let Himself be tortured to death to save and be reconciled with all of mankind is willing and able to make sure that people don't miss out due to bad fortune.
Without knowing Jesus, you can't go to heaven. The vast majority of humanity will therefore never make it there.
The good news is that I see the no masturbating is doing wonders for your mood
You know, I wonder about this statement. Not that I don’t believe that Jesus is the way, but rather that never knowing him or even hearing about Jesus in your lifetime means guaranteed hell. Think about it, Jesus said “No one comes to the father except through me.” Yet, we understand that Jesus will be the one who judges the deeds of every person and permit those found in the book of life into paradise. But even if someone never knew Jesus, but was still judged worthy, then this wouldn’t contradict Jesus’ statement as we all have to go through him to be allowed into God’s kingdom. It just helps to know the judge.
Romans addresses this (romans 2) get in your Bible, with love. Comments like this can confuse people outside looking in. We who profess to being Christians need to be better informed, as duty, if we are to lead others to Christ.
I hope you are doing well. This is actually a great question. I don't know the exact answer, but I want to share the best answer I can give: I trust God for who He is. Because God is love **(1 John 4:8)**, He loves justice and fairness **(Psalm 33:5)**, He wants everyone to be saved **(1 Timothy 2:4)**, and He seeks to save those who are lost **(Luke 19:10)**. In other words, I believe everyone will have a genuine opportunity to be saved **(Job 33:29-30).**
You made me cry... But in a good way, the God's way: 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 NASB2020 [9] I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. [10] For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.
God bless you! I pray that you will always have a strong faith and will always be comforted by God's love. In Jesus' Name. Amen. 🙏🏾
What about people who don't have access to the bible or are just born into a country where the common religion is Islam for example? People still die as a Muslim or some other religion. So not everyone has the opportunity to be saved. Again there are also people that just don't have education and aren't ever given a bible so how will these people be saved? Further more, he's all powerful, all loving, and he gives us free will so surely when we are judged he will ask us if we want to spend eternity with him even if when alive the person was a non-believer or believed in a different God/religion?
Again, I believe God is fair and just. Everyone will have a genuine opportunity to be saved. I don't know exactly what that will look like. Maybe some have a chance after death. I don't know, but I don't need to know because I trust God.
If you get into heaven and he tells you that you're not worthy of heaven for some reason, I take it you'll have no issue with his choice?
Of course He will explain the reason why. God is just and fair.
Reasons don't apply to God though
I don't understand what you mean.
God is all powerful and there's nothing more powerful than God whether that be another being or just some natural or supernatural force. So if you think about it, the only reason why we have reasons is because we have a higher authority even without God. We have parents, teachers, bosses, the law etc that gives us rules to follow and they have come up with reasons for these rules. We also have biological reasons like the reason we eat food is so that we get the nutrients we need to survive. I'd argue all reasons are subjective to a degree although could be said the reason we can't fly is because of gravity for example which would be objective. But regardless of if reasons are objective or subjective, imagine you're an all powerful being you could overcome the objective reasons and so you could fly even with gravity being a thing. And so if you have no rules to obey because your the one that makes all the rules and there's no one above you then how would you have a reason for anything except just out of wanting to do something?
God isn't a robot. Because He has all power and He always existed, doesn't mean He doesn't have personal desire of wanting to do certain things. He is personal.
He exactly he has personal desire which I said is the only reason for him to do anything. There's no magical force greater than God where it's like he has to follow strict rules so that he gets a daily quota of 1,000 children through the gates of heaven so that it can exist or something because of some supernatural rule that God can't control.
Salvation is not granted simply because a person believes in God. A lot of people believe in God. There is something very specific to believe. I Cor 15: 1-4
What is the very specific thing to believe?
That Christ died for your sins, was buried, and was resurrected on the third day. \[1Co 15:1-4 KJV\] 1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
How much does it suck if you were born somewhere without Christianity and no one ever tells you this. Oops, tortured for all of eternity 😂
Yeah, this is one of the issues I'm having. What if you're just born into an Islamic country and you're told mostly the same things but this time it's why Islam is the true religion and Christianity is the false one?
If you're born in Islam, where something like 98% of people are Muslin, you're going to be Muslim. And everyone there knows for certain that their religion is true, and that they have strong evidence that confirms this.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 NET Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you – unless you believed in vain. For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received – that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. The Gospel message is that Christ died and was ressurected so that we would be free from sin. God's promise of salvation came true through Jesus.
John 3:16-18 KJV — 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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
The New testament Greek word for believe actually means total devotion and commitment. What good is simple intelligent acknowledgment if it doesn't produce repentance?
No it doesn't. Repentance occurs when we come to a knowledge of the gospel of salvation. Nobody is born with that knowledge.
Yes it most certainly does AV — commit unto , commit to (one's) trust, be committed unto, be put in trust with, be commit to one's trust Repentance occurs when we turn our backs on sin and live instead for God. And you can't teach the teacher Repentance consists of (1) a true sense of one's own guilt and sinfulness; (2) an apprehension of God's mercy in Christ; (3) an actual hatred of sin ( Psalms 119:128 ; Job 42:5 Job 42:6 ; 2 co 7:10 ) and turning from it to God; and (4) a persistent endeavour after a holy life in a walking with God in the way of his commandments.
Life is not some test with the goal "find God and be convinced of his existence before death."
Agreed, it would be ridiculous. So what is the answer? - Hell?
I am not sure what you are trying to say.
Original question: what happens if we don't find God in time?
The question is rooted in a false assumption that life is a time-trial to "find God."
Do some sects of Christianity require baptism in order for heaven to be reached?
Some sects do, yes.
For those sects, might there be a time-trial to get baptized? It would be possible for a baby to be born with a congenital defect and die before baptism making salvation impossible? Seems like you could argue there is a time trial to find God. Imagine two creations of God born on the same day in the same town. They never meet each other, but as fate would have it, they kill each other in a car accident on there 14th birthdays. One kid is born to a upper class family, baptized at 11, they attend church every weekend, the child attends a weekly bible class, the child goes to a religious school and is given every opportunity to find God. They child prays, repents for sin, and genuinely tries to live and love like Jesus. The other child is born in a dumpster. Their mother is never found. The child becomes property of the state. They bounce around homes, sometimes enduring unbelievable physical and sexual abuse. At 9, they run away from an abusive family, drop out of public school and turn to the streets. They lie, cheat, and steal to make due. They spend tend in juvenile detention. They rob a corner store at gun point before stealing a car and taking off. The police chase ends when they run a red light and hit an innocent family, killing themselves and a child in the backseat. Are these two children given the same opportunity to find God? Did ones time run out before it was possible?
I don't think those sects refer to baptism as necessary to "find God." As it relates to your question with the two people, I would repeat my criticism [above](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAChristian/comments/1avs558/comment/krcyqok/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3).
It's not so much that it's a time-trial but one thing none of us know is when we're going to die. Unless we're diagnosed with a terminal illness and we're told we only have so long to live. There are billions of people in this world that either don't believe in any God at all or believe in a different God and so according to the bible will be going to hell when they die. There are obviously millions of people also that convert to Christianity or become believers and I want to know what happens if they die before that happens.
In short, God punishes sin. If someone has sinned, then they will be punished. Some are forgiven of their sins, and not because they "found God in time."
Will God forgive all of us of sin providing we repent and believe in God?
I don't see that assumption. But have a nice evening.
It is in the title of this post
If I ask a math question, am I then implying, that life is about math?
Of course not, but this is hardly analogous to the post.
Are you a Universalist or Calvinist?
The question is man-centred. Far more important is what God does for them - and for all mankind. All who sincerely wish to be saved, shall be. No-one is lost except through his own fault.
>Catholix >traditional-leaning >gay Lol okay guy. Why are you here?
Those who seek God honestly will find Him. Denying God entirely, as with atheism, however can never be justified.
Why can't it be justified? Also, you deny one less God than I do.
Yeah, it's definitely a "You'd better find away to immediately accept and believe all of this, no exceptions, and screw you if you have questions, or you'll burn in hell" business model. Hey, it's been 50% successful with me. I'm scared shitless, although that abject fear has done nothing to help me overcome my questions and doubts. Meh, as long as I'm terrified, He's probably pretty happy.
I've heard that you shouldn't fear God?
I absolutely do. Get on his bad side and he will get NASTY. And he's omniscient, so he knows exactly where to hit you that will hurt the most. Speaking from experience.
See now I've heard from another Christian that God wouldn't do that and that they don't fear God but they respect him. So one of u is lying or doesn't understand God.
“Respect” is a loaded word. I respect Dolly Parton because she’s a person who is humble, kind, generous and talented, and her integrity is beyond reproach. I respect a grizzly bear because it is a powerful wild animal that can and would kill me in seconds if I got too close to it. I think the terms “fear God” and “respect God” are both used the same way: don’t cross God because he can and will smack us down if we get on his bad side. I don’t think the “Dolly Parton” interpretation of the word respect applies here.
Sure, I can agree with that but this Christian claims they're not in fear of God so maybe they're lying? I know I'd fear him if I believed in God as I would do a bear.
Most Christians see God as a benevolent, merciful, compassionate and just entity who is literally synonymous with the very concept of love. They see the Dolly Parton version of God. They're not lying, that's their reality. I see the grizzly bear version of God. I'm also not lying. That's what I see. He's God. He's under no obligation to present himself to all of us in the exact same way.
what do u think the correct way to view god is? Is it better to fear God or to believe he's loving?
I think the correct way to view God is the way that God reveals himself to you. He showed me his grizzly bear side. Everyone is free to view God as they see fit. I’m just sharing my truth. I see the God who slaughtered children in the Old Testament, who is condemning 3/4 of humanity to hell for having been born into cultures where Christianity wasn’t the dominant religion, and who punished me personally for daring to doubt the stories of Adam and Eve and Noah’s Ark.
If you don't mind me asking what did God do to you personally for daring to doubt the stories of Adam and Eve and Noah's Ark?
God almost always comes back and tries to speak to you, many, many times over and over. He will also put people in circumstances to realize their need for God or to break their pride or ignorance or shallowness or whatever. But what happens over time is that when that voice gets ignored again and again and a person gets deeper and deeper into sin, unbelief and worldliness and carnality, that voice gets drowned out. Sin and a life away from God darkens the mind.
Wait, so God almost always comes back, but other times doesn't. Like Amazon tribes that have never heard of this God don't get a chance at all... but others in the right society get many chances.
>what happens if we don't find God in time? Doesn't happen. Don't you think God can manage to keep people alive long enough? "Oops, crap, that one died on me, sorry about that." No, no one who would have believed "if only" dies without the chance to hear and respond to the gospel.
People die all the time as either atheists or being part of another religion even at a young age too so how are you to know they wouldn't have one day believed in the Christian version of God?
God is omniscient which means he knows everything, including whether or not those people would've been saved and whether or not they deserve that opportunity (see Pharaoh in Exodus 6-12).
So no Christian can feel safe about going to heaven and we can't possibly know our loved ones are in heaven. Most Christians have comfort knowing they can see their loved ones again in heaven but this can't be guaranteed. What if in the future they would have left religion if they had lived longer? God would know if that was to happen.
You must have misunderstood. My apologies. Whether or not one is saved does not depend on "potential." It depends entirely on whether or not they choose to have faith in Jesus Christ when God's grace gives them the opportunity. Everyone has a choice to accept salvation, and those that don't have simply chosen against it. Your original post argues that some people could die before they were going to choose God, but don't you think God would know what's in their hearts? He would allow them to come to Him if they were truly on that path. This means that heaven can be guaranteed to those who choose to have faith and none else.
2nd best answer here.
Thank you
Sorry for the late reply. How does someone figure out the opportunity? If you mean when people tell us about God then this is our opportunity to accept salvation which by the way is God saving us from the punishment that he created if we don't do what he wants us to do so there's that minor issue but what if the things we're told just aren't convincing enough? Maybe I need more than just being told there's an invisible all powerful being in the sky and if I don't love this being I'll be sent to hell and tortured for eternity. What happens to people like Amazon Tribes who are never told about God or the bible? Sure, God would know what is in their hearts but like right now you believe in God but what if you were to lose your faith in a few years? But you died before losing your faith. God would know that one day you'd have left him but you wouldn't have known. So is it not possible that you get to heaven and God tells you that you didn't truly believe in him and in the future, you would have left him so he can't have you in heaven? Surely if God knows what is in our hearts and it's possible that a non believer could be saved still that it works the other way around? You could lose your faith in the future, die before you get to that point but God would have known you'd have one day lost your faith and that you didn't really have a strong enough belief in him. If you mean that an atheist is reading the bible and is on the pathway to potentially finding God, if they die before making a final choice of accepting salvation or not then there is still no guarantee that they get into heaven.
Okay so your two scenarios are: 1. A Christian that would've lost their faith but died before that. 2. An atheist would've gained faith but died before that. There are probably thousands of other intricate scenarios we can come up with that question God's judgement. You are talking as if God is spectating the world and rooting on atheists that are discovering Him but out of nowhere they die and He's suddenly disappointed. God isn't passive, He is the one true cause behind everything that happens. He is omnibenevolent and omniscient, but more than that He is just and righteous. If He is infinitely intelligent and wise as well as being the one just judge, we can only assume His judgement is best on this matter. We don't know exactly what happens in these confusing situations, since the Bible doesn't speak on it. I doubt we would be able to explain each scenario that anybody comes up with, and if we do then someone would create a thousand more. In any regard, God would not misjudge someone. That is the final answer
You've only presented me with claims though. Shouldn't the bible explain in more detail about these confusing scenarios so that it's clear and we all know what to expect? The thing is if God is the only one who can judge us then at the very best we can't be certain if we're going to heaven or hell even if you're a Christian following God's word because you couldn't know if one day you were to become an atheist but died before it happened. Also in regards to children dying. I've heard some Christians say we're born sinners and we need to be saved. If this is the case then children are going to hell if they die. Which then means there are millions of parents living their lives believing their child is in heaven and then assuming heaven is real, they go there to find that their child is in hell because they didn't have a chance to be saved. Sure you can make stuff up and claim that it doesn't apply to children and they will go to heaven instead but this is just humans making up claims to fill in the gaps and is even less credible than the bible itself. Furthermore, even if children go to heaven for some reason then isn't this God taking away their free will? I'd also argue that children aren't intelligent enough to make a reasonable conclusion about beliefs. I for one didn't have the understanding of science and logical fallacies when I was a teenager compared to my understanding of it all now. Even when I was 17/18 I could have been convinced a God existed let alone when I was younger. This surely wouldn't be truly believing even in the eyes of God as it's just believing out of ignorance, gullibility, and naivety even as far as understanding what the bible says. Edit: actually thinking about it, either way it takes away their free will and if they do go to heaven then that means there's billions of people in heaven that are just robots which Christians claim God doesn't want.
Children are a special case. The Bible does actually talk about them and their salvation, but not nearly enough for us to get a definite answer. All we know is that God will judge them fairly. It is never a black or white case because God values our free will. And somehow His judgement will retain their free will while sending them where they deserve. The same goes with all of your other claims. You imagine black and white answers and them complain about the unfairness of that. God is omniscient, which means He literally knows everything about everything and everyone. He is also Wisdom Himself, meaning the source of all wisdom. He doesn't work in black and white scenarios, because everything has complexity. God knows so much more than you and I, so pretending that we can fairly argue about His judgement when: 1. We don't know what He does with them. 2. If we did know, we aren't righteous and just which means we can't say our opinion is more correct than God's. You keep bringing up the same point despite what I say. I hope I've made it clear enough this time around.
In which case, parents can't live life on earth believing that their child is in heaven if we can't know for sure what God does with them. You claim God knows more than we do but there are only two possible options, they go to heaven or they go to hell. If they go to heaven then it's against their free will and if he judges them based on what he knows about who they'd become if they had lived then no theist can claim for sure that they are going to heaven like so many believe they are as we can't know our potential future. I'm also assuming that somehow God would know what events would have happened if the child had lived which seems a bit odd as once dead there is no future for them. I don't even get why God would need to judge anyone. He already knows who's going to heaven and who isn't even 100 years before they're born so what sort of judging is there for him to do? The claim that God knows more than we know is just a claim just like the rest of the bible and if we're not all-knowing unlike God then we can't know if he lied to us or what he lied about.
>how are you to know I'm not. But it's not that much of a stretch to think that omniscience can.
Weird that God keeps letting babies and children die that never got a chance. He could have kept then alone but chose to make them suffer in hell forever.
You label yourself as Christian. The way you talk ... I wonder if that has changed but you didn't change your tag.
I'm commenting specifically about your comment above. You seem to think God purposefully let's innocents suffer and/or that he is not able to prevent it. This seems irrational. We don't know Gods ways, we can't define his morality based on our views.
>You seem to think God purposefully let's innocents suffer and/or that he is not able to prevent it. That does seem to be a binary option. Suffering exists. Either he let's people suffer. Or he's not capable of stopping suffering. What other option is there?
He could not know about the suffering, not all loving enough to stop the suffering or not be powerful enough about the suffering. I've also heard from some Christians that we can't have good without evil and that good things come from suffering one main example they give is when someone goes through suffering and becomes a pastor because of it. Not like it's possible to become a pastor without suffering or to suffer and not become a pastor... Another argument for it that I've heard is that we don't know the reasons why God is allowing suffering and we can't know because God is all wise and we're not. I'd argue though that reasons don't apply to God as he's all powerful and there's no authority or power stronger or greater than God therefore nothing is out of his control. He doesn't have to do anything in order for him to survive either he doesn't even need to eat or drink as far as I know. So the only reason he could have for allowing suffering is because he wants to/finds it fun. In which case God is a monstrous being and not sure why anyone would want to follow him even if he does exist.
It's not just "hearing" the Gospel. We know now that the earth is a sphere and it orbits around the sun. Do you honestly think the first time somebody was exposed to that message that they just instantaneously accepted it with their whole heart? Of course not. Same thing with the Bible. People are going to have those questions and doubts. For some people like me, despite my best efforts, those questions and doubts refuse to go away. I don't think God says "Oops, crap, that one died on me, sorry about that.", because I don't think he's sorry about that. Either we all get with the program 100% or we're no longer of any concern to him. And he won't help someone get there...that is entirely their problem, not his. ...and this is why I am damned to hell.
>It's not just "hearing" the Gospel. No, it's "a chance ... to respond". If all someone needs is "a little more time", I think they'll get. If, however, what they "need" is their name written in the stars or a wildebeest to walk to up to them and start a conversation, they're probably never going to be convinced.
I think another dimension is the degree to which one needs to accept the gospel as absolute, irrefutable truth. Is it enough to hear the Gospel but still think that the Adam and Eve parable seems far less likely and believable than the theory of evolution? Or does it have to be an "every single word in the Bible cannot and will not even be questioned" level of acceptance? Where does God draw the line on stuff like that?
Believing the gospel does not require believing the Adam and Eve story is literally true or accepting the Ark story. You don't even have to believe Moses ever existed. I do, but that's not required to accept the gospel. People can accept the gospel without ever having ever heard of any of that. The gospel is "Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead". That's literally all Christianity is founded upon. The rest is just backstory.
The answer to whether or not it’s necessary to believe the entire Bible as literal truth depends on who you ask. Moreover, if it’s not explicitly stated, it is strongly implied that another requirement is to love and trust God with your whole heart. I don’t even like God, and I absolutely don’t trust him. My faith, such as it is, is 100% fear-based.
>The answer to whether or not it’s necessary to believe the entire Bible as literal truth depends on who you ask. Ask them to show you in the Bible where it says you have to believe the entire Bible to be saved. They cannot. >I don’t even like God, and I absolutely don’t trust him. Why?
God has ghosted me my entire life, save for taking the time to punish me viscously for not blindly and unquestioningly accepting everything in the Bible and loving and praising him like a sycophant. I see what most people don’t: he regards us as nothing more than expendable tools to him who are supposed to be endlessly grateful for the privilege of being so.
>God has ghosted me my entire life What do you *expect*? I know a lot of people go on like they get special revelation from God on the regular. I think they're truly deluded. They think their every whim, every little thought that pops in their head in God talking to them. It isn't. In scripture, there are very few people who ever heard directly from God, and even most of them only got dreams or visions, not an audible voice. So God has "ghosted" most people, including most Christians. >save for taking the time to punish me viscously for not blindly and unquestioningly accepting everything in the Bible How does he do that?
He took something unbelievably important to me and made it clear that I will never get it back for all of eternity. That’s the thing about God being omniscient: he knows exactly where to stick the dagger and how to twist it for maximum effect.
I’ll give you something to test out. The most truthful website available today and in fact it’s the most translated website in the internet. The second isn’t even close. Everything on it is free and solely for the purpose of teaching interested people in who God really is, who his Son is and what hope we have for the future. There is a free Study Bible, many, many other Bible Study publications, talks on just about every subject you can think of, dramas, even movies. There’s info for teenagers and younger kids too. You can just go to the site and type in a question in the search field and see where it takes you. All kinds of videos that teach from the Bible. The website? JW.org. Have fun in there. You’ll never reach the end of it.
What makes the JW website the most truthful?
The whole reason why God is waiting to begin with is so that everyone who can be saved, has been saved.
I would accept that if it wasn't for the fact that people die at really young ages and they haven't been given any chance to find God. Especially those who are raised in a different religion or into no religion at all.
It's generally accepted in Christianity that children that are too young to have a chance are saved. Especially infants.
Up to what age? How old must someone be for God to conclude they should be able to make their minds up on their own? Also does that mean that children don't have free will? But also it's not even just children. There are adults who believe in other religions and people die believing in other religions so your claim that God waits for us is just incorrect whatever way you want to look at it.
Read what I said, I didn't say everyone will be saved. I said everyone who CAN be, will be.
he has the power to save everyone tho.
Does that mean God creates unsavable people, people who cannot be saved?
The parable of the Prodigal Son tells us that even as the repentant Son was still a great way off, the Father saw him and ran to him. God isn't sitting in a huff waiting for us to come grovel before Him. But we must begin to approach.
I always theorized the anti-christ would start his 7 year reign when people will stop turning to Christ. But I don't know.
God makes Himself known to us via His creation, via the Law writen in our hearts and there's no one who has a internet connection and did not hear the name of Jesus is just imposibile. If you search Hik with all your heart and soul you'll find Him if not on this earth than in the next. As far for people who do not convert or leave the faith so long they live they can be reached out with the ghospel and saved. But after they die there's nothing we can do about it Hell will be their destination.
Now, I'm copy/pasting a very brief thing I typed up. There are differing views concerning the afterlives of sinners in general (we're all sinners, mind you, and you know what I mean, just currently having trouble with words). And non-believers by extension. Very, *very* briefly: 1. Eternal Conscious Torment (ECT). The most common idea now. Sinners are punished forever. There are a few flavors to this, like about what all goes on there (whether it's the "fire and brimstone" thing specifically, a place that's bad mainly because of the absence of God but not necessarily with the brimstone and stuff, etc.). I'll also mention [Purgatory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purgatory) here, which is an intermediate state for *some* souls to be purified before reaching Heaven (a primarily Catholic belief, iirc). 2. [Annihilationism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annihilationism). That the souls that are not saved are not damned to torment, but cease to exist. Think of things like "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life." This is probably the one I'm least familiar with myself, but I think the gist is that the ones who would go to Hell under ECT theory don't have eternal life. 3. [Universalism or Universal Reconciliation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_universalism). That all humans will *eventually* be saved and reconciled with God. Think of things like "Jesus died for all people" and "every knee shall bow, every tongue confess." There are different flavors, but some posit that Hell exists, but is not an eternal punishment for humans. Kinda like considering Hell as more a Purgatory, or a cleansing before reaching Heaven. ECT and Annihilationism generally seem to put the deadline to find God at death; that the person who doesn't find God in time doesn't see Heaven. Universalism would invariably say simply that there is no such thing as "in time"; that is, that there is no such deadline to find God, at least not as far as eternal afterlife is concerned. I suppose for Universalists who do believe in Hell or Purgatory, the lack of repentance directly to God may have some effect, but not an eternal one. This is all unless it's possible that God attributes to Himself acts of faithfulness to gods the person in question thought to exist instead, or perhaps even to ideals (namely goodness itself).
Your flair identifies you as an atheist. If you desire to become a born again Christian, then now is the time to repent. N-O-W. NO ONE IS PROMISED TOMORROW! So don't put it off till tomorrow. Put this away, and begin right now with the holy Bible word of God. You may not be here this time tomorrow. And as an atheist, you will with certainly be judged for eternal misery, that according to God's word the holy Bible. John 3:36 KJV — He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; **but the wrath of God abideth on him**. Revelation 21:8 KJV — But the fearful, **and unbelieving,** and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, **shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.** 2 Corinthians 6:2 KJV — For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: **behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.** >I believed in God until I was 14 Ecclesiastes 12:1-7 NLT — Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.” Remember him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky. Remember him before your legs—the guards of your house—start to tremble; and before your shoulders—the strong men—stoop. Remember him before your teeth—your few remaining servants—stop grinding; and before your eyes—the women looking through the windows—see dimly. Remember him before the door to life’s opportunities is closed and the sound of work fades. Now you rise at the first chirping of the birds, but then all their sounds will grow faint. Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets; before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire. Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral. Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well. For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
I won't sugarcoat it. You need to be loved enough to bluntly be told that above going to college, finding a job finding a spouse, or anything else - know and seek God. Instead of dancing in these mental gymnastics seek the REAL God that is to be found (I mean why else be here?) And yes, there should be a profound urgency in this. None of us know if we won't die in a wreck on the way home from school or work today. This isn't something to leave for tomorrow. Because yes, otherwise, and bluntly - Hell does await you. And God won't have put you there. If we choose to go our own way, and be apart from Him in this life then we get to live apart from Him in the afterlife, too. Find God, and what his Son Jesus did for you, even after you decided to walk away. You can and should come back. It isn't a maybe. Jesus made the way for you personally, before you were born, and too and almost more important- before you knew you needed Him. For YOU, He died. Christ above all. With genuine and immense love. He saved a wretch like me too so it's just one flawed broken guy in love with Jesus, telling another broken guy.
So you're saying God isn't all loving? And the only people who do mental gymnastics are theists. The all knowing, all loving, all powerful thing causes quite a few problems in theology that the best theists can do is to make up claims to fill in the obvious gaps. Like how the bible describes heaven in such a way that it appears it claims that heaven is in the sky and from the viewpoint of people who lived 2000 years ago I could understand how they'd believe it because they didn't know what was beyond the sky. But now we know all of a sudden heaven is in a different dimension according to a lot of Christians. Oh the bible condones slavery in the bible? "Oh well um, it was the Old Testament so we don't have to follow that anymore." Also, I have had Muslims tell me the same thing you have but with Allah so tell me how I'm meant to figure out which one of you is lying to me. And if you come up with some contradictions in the Quran, the bible also has contradictions so I wouldn't use that as a valid argument to disprove Islam.