This is what I was taught as a child. In other words, it wasn’t good enough to be a good person, rather if one was unwilling to accept Christ as their own personal savior they would be damned to hell. Furthermore if you got “saved” and continued to live a “life of sin” you would go to hell as well. So I guess you were damned if you do or damned if you don’t, either way you end up in hell. Not my kind of ride.
Saving the argument about judgmental hearts and hypocrisy, the world needs more people who are like Jesus not who believe in him. He was kind, considerate, compassionate, humble, forgiving, and loving among many other qualities. According to the bible however, Jesus was God which would make the quest to be like Christ a bit futile.
If there is one God and he is just, it seems a bit cruel that he would create the world and all that’s in it, give man dominance over the world knowing they would fail even after he came to earth to save them, and then send them all to hell anyway.
I guess good people do go to hell and that’s a shame.
Dan Henderson 
I spent plenty of time as a youngster going to church with your family. Although I do not know for sure, it seems we have a very similar outlook on religion. I find that interesting.
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A Timeless Question.,
You know whats funny Daniel is that a very smart and successful guy (not unlike you) came to Jesus himself with the exact question millenniums ago in Matthew 19:16.
I have gone over and over this passage many times and have come to only one conclusion. The point is, none of us are good enough to go to Heaven and all are worthy of hell allowing none of us to judge each other. So God (assuming there is one and that this life & world isn’t just random chance) came himself in the form of a perfect man. He (being a loving God) decided that he would go to hell in place of all mankind redeeming everyone that would accept his sacrifice to eternal life.
My faith is very simple these days Daniel. God only wants us to treat him as such, love Him and depend on Him instead of ourselves alone or other men taking His place. Otherwise we are on our own in this life and the one to follow. For many that’s a chance they are willing to take assuming they (in our grand intelligence) have figured out this life and the one to come. For me I wont attempt to be a good but only to do as JESUS did in His own life. “Not my will but Your will be done God”.
Matthew 19:16
And, behold, one came and said to him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 17 And he said to him, Why call you me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if you will enter into life, keep the commandments. 18 He said to him, Which? Jesus said, You shall do no murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and your mother: and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 20 The young man said to him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 21 Jesus said to him, If you will be perfect, go and sell that you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
23 Then said Jesus to his disciples, Truly I say to you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say to you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 2 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? 26 But Jesus beheld them, and said to them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
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My belief is that unsaved people go to hell. People that are saved believe Jesus is God’s son, came and died for the remission of sin and rose from the dead. I believe it is a personal experience with Christ. I believe it is a transformation and with that transformation we do reform. I believe if you are truly “saved” then you do not want to sin. But then what is sin? The Bible talks about all kinds of sin. We don’t have to guess about those sins. James 4:17 says that if we know the right thing to do and do not do it then to us personally it is sin. If you believe in God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit then you must believe in the Bible. If you believe in the Bible then you must believe in it’s entirety. I have found in my life that I have never been “christian” enough for some people and too “judgmental” for others. I have finally come to the acceptance that my salvation is my personal relationship with God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. If my heart is pure in seeking God and his truth he will answer me. I need not lean to any human to give me the rules and regulations for my own salvation. Man did not save me but God’s son Jesus Christi did. I am to trust him ultimately. Not all that say Lord, Lord will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven (Mathew 7:21-23). It is our responsibility to know God for ourselves (2 Timothy 2:15). I love God and will continue to strive to be pleasing to him. God is spirit and we are spirit and human. There will always be a battle. I will always be a sinner. I will always struggle with my own personal nature.
I believe God is God, Jesus is God’s only begotten son and the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit. I do not know that “man’s” interpretations of the scriptures are correct in all areas of the Holy Bible. I personally have to talk to God about everything and get it straight from him, not man.
Marsha
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